The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-10-14

then be encouraged to write 1Or Tue ue'
partment"-furnish bits of news or ex.
perience or ask questions-all of which
could be revised by the "editor," if ne
cessary, and the benefits of this feature
would not be the least important. There
are two counties in the State that already
have these departments in one OF their
papers, and they rank in the fore front as
regards educational matters. How soon
will the remaining thirty.two counties
follow suit?- Carolina Teacher.
The Kentucky Earthquake.
The Magazine of american History for
October furnishes US with the following
graphic description, by the celebrated
naturalist, John j. Audubon, OF an
earthquake which occurred in Kentucky
while he was pursuing his pathological
researches there in 1926.
Travelling through the Barrens of
Kentucky in the month eof November,
1926, was jogging on one afternoon
when 1 remarkeda sudden and strange
darkness rising from the Western hori-
zon. Accustomed to our heavy storms
of thunder and rain, took no more
notice of it, as I thought the speed Of
nv horse might enable me to get under
the shelter of the, roof of an. acquaint-
auce who lived NOT far distant before it
should come up. Ihad proceeded about
a mile when heard whatI imagined to
be the distant rumbling Of q violent, tor;
nado, on which Tispufred on my steed
with wish to gallop as fast as possible
to the place Of shelter. But it would
not do; the animal knew better than !
what was forthcoming, and instead OF
going faster, SO nearly stopped, that re-
marked he placed one foot after another
on the ground with as much precaution,
as if walking on smooth sheet of ice.
/ thought he had suddenly foundered,
and; speaking 10 him, was on the point
of dismounting and leading him, when
all of o sudden he fell groaning pite'
ously, hung his head, spread out his four
legs as if to. save himself from falling,
and stood stock still, continuing to groan.
1 thought my horse was about to dles,
and would have sprung from his back
had minute more elapsed, but at that
instant all the shrubs and. trees began to
move from their roots, the ground rose
and fell: in successive burrows, like the
ruffled waters of a lake, and / became
bewildered in my ideas, as |, too plainly
discovered that all this awful commotion
in nature was the result OF an earth
quake. q,
kind before, although, like every, other
person, knew of earthquakes by de-
scription. But what is description COM
pared with reality? Who can tell OF the
sensations experienced when found
myself rocking as it were on my horse,
and with him moved to and fro, like
child in cradle, with: the mostimmlnent
danger around, and expecting the ground
every moment to open and present to my
ewes such an abyss as might enguif my,
self and all around me. The fearful
convulsion lasted, however, only a few
minutes, and the heavens again bright
ened as quickly as they had become
obscured; my horse brought his feet to
the natural position, raised his head and
galloped off as if loose and frOlicking
without rider.
"Shock succeeded shock almost every
day and night for several weeks, dimin'
ishing, however, so gradually as to dwin.
die away into mere vibrations.
I can never foget the effects of one of the
slighter shocks, which took place when |
was Of a friends house, where | had gone
to enjoy the .merriment that in our West.
ern country attends wedding. The
ceremony being performed, supper over
and the fiddles tuned, dancing became
the order of the moment. This was mer-
rily followed up to late hour, when the
party retired to rest. 4
Morning was fast approaching when the
rumbling noise that precedes the earth.
quake began so loudly as to waken and
alarm the whole party, and drive them
out of bed in the greatest CONSERVATION;
X Every person, old and
Young, filled with alarm at the creaking
of the loq house, and apprehending in
slant destruction, rushed wildly out to
the grass enclosure fronting the house.
Here we all met in such condition as
rendered it next to impossible to discrim,
mate any of the party, all huddled
together in their light garments. The
earth waved like field of corn before
the breeze, the birds left their perches
and flew about, not knowing whittier.
"The shock at length ceased and the
frightened people fed to their several
apartments. These earthquakes pro-
duced more serious consequences in
other places. Near New Madrid and for
some distance on the Mississippi the earth
was rent asunder in several places, one
or two islands sunk forever, and the in-
habitants fed in dismay towards the
Eastern shore"
No earthquake was felt in this State in
| 1925, but Audubon could not have more
accurately described the recent quake
had he been present.
The Barrens of Kentucky spoken of
lie in the Western part of the State, be-.
tween the Green and Cumberland Rivers.
The Mammoth Cave is on the Eastern
edge of the Barrens.
IL has been reported to the Camden
Journal that on the Goth >of July light.
ming struck tree in low bottom on a
place belonging to Mr. j. E. G. Mellow
ell. about fourteen miles above Camden
The tree was set on fire, but nothing was
thought of it until a few days after, when
smoke was still seen 10 be rising from the
place. Upon investigation it was found
of the ground burning briskly. The fire
is still burning, and has spread over
more than a half acre of space, but is
deep down under the surface of the
ground. The smoke rises through The
crevasses and holes in the surface, and
the ground is said 10 be very hot all
around there.