Western cyclone., 1886-10-28

In the Earth'S Interior
'To)k'ng about earthquakes sbid
Prof. Van Benthusen 10 reporter for
the New York MAJ and E.rprcss, "calVs
TO miud IA question which, standing
clone, 5 of sta' ling significance 10 the
J 1ple of this ointment. Ii is one that
hes keen III der discussion for many
years, but believe that the problem wns
solved when the shock occurred in 1884.
The palGcular pie > where that earth
quake oIie 'natad affords little room for
speculation The main fact proved b,
that shock was directly to the point that
The interior of the earth is in highly
heated state.
There "a no facts to dispTove az this
assumption, but mauv to support it. It
it IS not in fluid condition SO largely as
to inter ere with IFS Iigidity, which is
count i equel t. a ball Of steel, this il
fa'd to be because Of the great weight
with which tue exterior pres ssea toward
the center. Notwithstanding the fact
elref ~ mentiored, "a cooling proc 50 j.
steadily going on. Biologists claim that
it hes requ;'. / twenty millions of
yens to acquire its present external
form of sohdity, and that during this
| eIiod the mounte'ns were forme and
the holloW6 of lie st / mp 10 by sort Of
q mixing OF the sr,face as the globe of
liquid fire and heated gases contracted
70 its present shape. According 10 thia
ideD the solid clust OF the earth extends
down from ten To forty niles, there
being beneath that a greater or less
thickness of plastic material from melte
rocFs, etc, under high pressure, while
the crust of the earth js always in high
state of tension from the gradual cooling
C the interior, causing cavities aud al
lowing the superincumbent earth to
crowd down closer to it's heated core.n
Another theory propounded by the
preseason, and one which admits OF very
tie criticism, IL to the effect hat the
{ cess Of water, also by percolation from
he earth's surflce to these subterranean
ovens, it is thought, may in some cases
cause explosions, dielocating vast quan-
titles of material, and perhaps by open
ing communication with The still hotter
portion vet lower down be the cause of
some Of the most destructive volcanoes.
These explanations, While being TO
small extent Hypothetical, accord with al
that is Foown by acknowledged authori-
ties. Another significant point il that
they afford the best theory yet advanced
to account fJr the earthquake which il
now agitating the minds If people over
the globe The geologisl. waxing warm
To his subject, insisted TINT we lave
hardly made scratch upon the crust of
the earth The further we go down tho
warmer it ia. An illustration of this i
supplied IN the fact That the 81 ieaian
wells supp yiuF the city oi pars from
depth Of nearly eighteen hundfei feet
yield water az degrees Fahrenheit, and
the lower levels ~ the Comtt1 1ck mines
have an almost uniform temperature of
/ 80 degrees Fahrenheit II il estimated
/ that the heat increases III the rate AZ one
degree for every City feet, and tbis
would give temperature to melt the
hardest rocks IN less than ten miles. On
this theory the hpresent volcanic and
/ earthquake regions o. the globe are 10
Gated along the axis II thoee supposed
wrinkles or couuEatlons from the con
traction Of the crust, thought to be II
present IN the tate ~ greatest tension
/ The most marked of these are down the
east coast of Asia, including the Japan
and Philippine islands, and extending t0
Java, where the great earthquake of 1883
occurred. Another also extends down
+ the Pacific coast of North and South