Thomas County cat., 1886-11-04

failed alike in establishing any law by
which the dread calamity may be pre-
dicted.
The Cause of earthquakes is also I'M
known. Although theories without
number have been advanced upon the
, subject, the most rigorous of human
intellects have labOred in vain to form
some adequate estimate concerning
their origin and ca: Sc. The Chaldeans
were in the habit of attributing them
to the influence of the stars. The an
cient philosopher supposed them to be
the imprisoned floods and winds in the
center of the earth. which rent the
earth in their efforts to get out. Des
Cartes first advanced the theory of in
famed gas seeking an outlet, and
Mons. Thomas in his excellent work,
| 'Memoire sur les causes des Trembie-
ments de Terre," thought they were
caused by large quantities of bitumi-
nous and sulphurous gas becoming sud-
denly intlamed.. breaking forth in vio-
lent fermentation, but modern geo.O-
gians assert that the globe upon which
We live is nearly thin crust of solid
matter, inclosing mass of molten fire
that has constant tendency to ex-
| plode. and that the restless fires now
and then burst their limitations and
come forth in streams of burning lava
| from volcanoes, or shake and rupture
the outer crust in their imprisoned
| fury.
! Whether earthquakes can be pre-
vented by any human means is gues-
ton that has occupied scientific minds
in every age. Pliny tells that ancient
writers on the subject thought they had
| lighted upon certain prevention of
the destructive cOnvulsions of the earth
that had baffied the devices of the
learned. If the earthquake came from
imprisoned air and water, what more
natural than to seek a means of vent
for the prisoners. They began therefore
to dig deep pits along the sea-shore.
and these reaching intu the depth of
the earth acted as safety-valves for the
accumulated vapors. This project was,
however, abandoned. fearing it would
produce the very evil it was intended
to remedy.
| Volcanoes have often been supposed
to be an outlet for these gases and a
protection against earthquakes. as the
lands of the earthquake are those of
the volcanic crater and burning mount
ain. Humboldt, Daubney and others
have accepted the theory that Italy
and Sicily were shielded from danger
by the constant eruptions of Vesuvlus
and Etna, for it was observed that
when these mountains began to pour
| lovo tho oarfh found
repOse. Yet those who look upon the
volcano as a protection from the earth
quake must be led to doubt their eff
ticiency when it is remembered that
Vesuvius and Etna have failed to save
Southern Europe from the most dire
destruction. One of the greatest earth
quakes of the Pacific coast was ushered
in by a general eruption of all the fiery
peaks of the Andes. One after an
other the mountain tops famed forth
in long and terrible line, sending up
masses of molten or red-hot rocks,
and blackening the sky with sulphur
Gus gases, and against the dark sky
lurid tongues of flame shot up in weird
splendor, and streams of burning lava
scanned the mountain sides, while far
below them the upheaving earth was
shaken and riven, and covered with
the ruin of mems works, while man
himself lay PROSTATE in death, and the
tidal wave swept away all the traces
of the earth's desolation. How the
mysterious attendant, the tidal wave,
is connected with the earthquake, is
scarcely known. 1t is produced by a
disturbance at the bottom of the ocean,
and in all instances of an
earthquake the ocean gives more
or less indications of disturbance.
vessels have been shaken and
struck as by an invisible blow. when
far from port. Smoke and flames have
issued from the midst of the waves:
the sea has been discOlOred, and the
waters roll black as ink, volcanoes
rise above them for moment, and
then. as at Juan Fernandez, disappear.
Or islands start up and are slowly
nodded from the lire stained rocks
to the fertile habitations of man. and
it is quite probable that this rise and
fall of the oceans Ded produces the
tidal wave. The history of the earth
quake dates back for nearly three thou
sand years. Among the most ancient
those of mythology are probably de-
rived from 4 more authentic source
than the imaginations of poets or tra-
ditional lore. Thucydides gives an ac-
count of a shock that was unheeded by
the combatants when Hannibal was
conquering at Thrasymene, and the
great earthquake that shattered Tyre
and the cities of Asia in the fourth year
of Tiberius. The first ominous quiver
that half ruined Pompeii and Hercu-
laneum in the year g.. twelve years
before the final eruption OF the hither
to harmless Vesuvius. Tie fearful
earthquakes in the reign of Justinian
in t527. .565), of which Gibbon gives an
account. Nivenzio gives a lamcntable
account of the earthquakes that have
devastated the different sections of the
world since the discovery of America.
Lima alone has suffered fourteen
times from this cause. The city of
Lima has been painted by those who
visited it when it was under Spanish
rule in the last century as one of the
fairest of cities. Its climate was
like that of an Arabian paradise, so
balmy and soft. No chilling breath
of winter ever visited its people. No
rain ever fell there. but instead an inn
| palpable vail of mist that came from