Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-08-12

less than "a, 900, 900 OF the human race
have perIshed. The best known, ~
well Is the most terrible Of all earth
quakes, was that Of Lisbon, which
began on the first of November, 1860
1t was at the great festival OF All
Saints, and the churches were full OF
worshipers, when, with rumbling
noise like the sound of distant thun-
der, a terrlfic shock overcame the city,
Ieveling houses and making great rents
in the ground. More than G0,O0o per-
sons were buried In the ruins; the fall
en- buildings took fire, which co m
pIeted the work OF destruction, and
the city was given up to death and
desolation for two whole days, during
which more than fifth part OF Its en-
tire population persisted. The sea was
In terrible commotion. At Cadiz, on
the coast, a wave rushed in from the
sea sixty feet high and carried every
thing away In its course. Slight
shocks, decreasing in intensity, were
felt up to December, when they died
away.
In this hemisphere earthquakes APP
pear to be of greatest severity In the
A ndes regions OF South America,
where some of the most fearful exam-
Piles of that phenomena have been ex-
perlenced. The comparative fewness Of
inhabitants OF the region affected pre-
vented any great fatalities, except in
the destruction of Lima and Caracas,
above referred to, and Of Venezuela
In 1865. One Of the most remarkable,
as well as horrible earthquakes, was as
recent as 1865 when the city of africa,
In Peru, was totally obliterated. The
city of Catocachy disappeared
and lake covers the spot where
1t once stood. The towns Of
Ibarra aud Ottavalla were swallowed
up, and of their 10000 inhabitants not
one was ever heard from afterward.
The sea rose TO great height, and
furious wave carried the United States
ship Wateree, then anchored in the
harbor of africa, two miles inland.
Perhaps the greatest earthquake
that ever occurred In the United
States was the series of shocks which
prevailed In the vicinity of New
Madrid In 1911. The shocks continued
for several days and the sparse settle
ment of the country alone prevented
terrible fatalities. The Mississippi
river was uphesved from its bed, and
returning In II monstrous wave carried
boats on its surface miles inland and
left them stranded on land. The crust
of the earth was broken, and great
assures made, from which sand from
the interior of the earth was thrown.
Hundreds of these sand blows,n as
they are called, are now to be seen in
New Madrid county, some of them an
acre In extent, composed of pure white
sand, while all around them is
loamy black soil. Some OF the fissures
never closed, but filed with water,
and yet stand rs small lakes, which,
it Is said, have been sounded to
depth of hundreds of feet and no bot
tom found. Reelfoot lake, in Tennes-
see, was formed by the sinking of the
earth. and Is several miles in extent.
The whole face of the country was de-
pressed several feet, and this portion
of Missouri is yet known as the Sunk
Lands.n
For number of years earthquakes
have been comparatively infrequent |
in the United States, though in Mex
leo and ON the Pacific coast there have |
been several shocks. The New York |
shock will excite general attention,
not on account of its power but be- |
cause such things are almost unknown |
In that region. The extent of the dis |
aster that would ensue were that city |
visited by such an earthquake as those |
OF South America can be compre-
hended when the comparative popu- |
iousness of the country is considered.
New Workers will very likely have
light slumbers until this alarm dis
away. The earthquake Is a thing they |
caunot guard against.