The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-29
Earthquakes.

of the old-time Hoosier, though probably he
| does not try the remedy of thirty grains of
| quinine b'gosh." But yet to lose faith In the
solid earth, to feel as though the bottom was
dropping out of everything, to be seized by the
dreadful uncertainty of results, must be perpet-
ually trying even to the most experienced.
| Seismology is fne study for the
| imagination, for it's facts are plen-
ty, but its competent observers are
very few. The average man is incapaciated for
cool and careful observation when tossed about
By the throes of fairly good earthquake. The
| proper training may be hard on the men but
will be the making of good observers of the few
who survive. Hence, venture the prophecy
that seismology will always be more blessed by
theorizers than by observers. for the theorizers
represent all mankind, from the one who firmly
believes that the recent disaster was caused by
the stirring up of the neither fires, to the man
who hangs his faith sun spots. 1t only
takes an incident like the Charleston
earthquake to discover how dreadfully
superstitious the average man still
is. 1t must be confessed that the press both
pampers and preys upon this superstition. for
theory is too wild, and no superstition too gross
W 10 ocLieu publicity, anu WHere one reduer
smile as was intended, hundred will take it all
as gospel truth. Science may be laughed at by
the many, but no prediction in the name Of
science is too absurd for general belief. People
still take extensive stock in cairvoyants, from
Madame Franchet to Professor Virgins, and
will wonder at, look forward to, and almost ex-
pect the fulflment of their absurd prophecies.
when they fail to come to pass, people draw
sign of relief and are then ready to treat the
next prophecy in the same way.
Doubtless this Goth of September will be
ushered in with the evil forebodings Of thou
sands, and the day spent in a fearful looking
forward Nothing is more certain than that an
earthquake may occur at any time, and nothing
| can be more certain than that no man can predict
its coming. 1t lisa sad comment upon the general
intelligence Of our people that scientific men
may be sneered at and their most carefully OBJ
tanned results called visionary, while the widest
nonsense of some ignorant impostor will find its
advocates by the thousand The wilder the non
sense the more numerous its advocates The
story of earthquakes, so far as it has been told,
is very short one. to be speedily continued. it
is hoped, for our knowledge concerning them
has rapidly increased in the past few years. To
Mr.. Mallett, of England, in 1917, must be given
the honor of beginning the study of earthquake
phenomena upon scientific principles and since
that time several distinguished students of
earthquakes have come forward. In Japan, that
land of oriental Yankees and frequent earth
! quakes, chronological society was instituted in
| 1880 for the investigation of earthquake phe-
nomena, and its published transactions are full
of interesting information If we mistake not
the president OF the Rose Polytechnic,
whose coming to the State is warmly welcomed
by Indiana SCIENTISTS had considerable share
in this society, while engaged in his work in Ja-
pan. The immediate cause of an earthquake is
the coming to the surface of a wave of shock
which is travelling through the earth's crust
This wave-like movement has been studied, as
to its direction, its rate, its horizontal and
teal elements, the depth ard position of its
origin, its dependence upon different
strata, in Short all it's properties that
could be approached. But the question is still
an open one as to what is the original cause of
this shock which has been sent crashing it's way
through our rock strata, heraldng its approach
by the sound of it's progress, and rocking and
perhaps cracking the surface. Given the wave,
| all tho phenomena are we'll explained but what
caused it9 The answer to this is all within the
region of conjecture Numerous causes can be
assigned, any or all of which may be concerned,
for it is quite unlikely that all earthquake shocks
have the same kind of origin. The col
lapsing of underground caverns. the ex-
ploson of subterranean cases. would,
and undoubtedly do, give rise to shocks,
but it is not presumed that they are
to be looked to in all cases, and probably not at
all in extensive earthquakes, such as that of
Aug 81. In addition to these possible causes
| is another one more far reaching and more tire
| mendous in its possible results, and that is the
enormous strain which is brought upon every
part Of the earths crust by the cooling and hence
shrinking interior That this strain exists is
| we'll known, that it is constantly accommodating
! is evident and that it must at some time be re-
| leved by yielding somewhere is reasonable
presumption. sudden yielding will result in
| in shock which may be of any extent, the
after-settling ard readjustng of the crust to its
new relations will result in minor shocks at
greater or less intervals, and so we find all the
| phenomena of the Charleston earthquake ex-
planned. OF course, there endless details to
he noted and explained, but such may be taken
as representing the general scientific thought
upon the subject.
If now. one were going to prophecy upon these
data, he would say that the chances for an
earthquake in the near future in this country
have been diminished rather than increased.
Nevertheless, if an earthquake should happen to
occur to-day, it will no more prove that Virgins
knows anything about it than if it does not hap
pen; but of that fact people would be hard to
convince. If the Canadian prophet should be
caught to-day in the shocks OF his predicted
earthquake, he would be as much amazed and
! terrified as was the witch of Endor at the APP
| pearance of Samuel
sr,anial Tho or,iSxillo Co..r;ar oil