Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-09-17
AN EARTHQUAKE YEAR.
startling Predictions Made by The
Scientific fraternity Of
This Country.
tesfine earthquakes Expected IN the
Northwest this month--A Rather Ue,y
Outlook, ~ Prophets speak Truly.

cost the Queen City OF the Carollnas sls
VoV,OOO In property and the lives OF some
sixty OF her Inhabitants, has had the 81.
iect Of thoroughly arousIug scientists
throughout the land from their letharaic
slumbers. The earthquake caught them
mapping. The seismoscopes, which had
oeen carefully dismembered and slowed
away some months after the seismic dis
.uroance IN the summer OF 1854, have
ocen busted and pnt together In the oh
servatory In washington, and the mem.
oers OF the signal corps, under Gen.
hazen, Maj. Powell and Prof
menuennall, are sitting up
nights waiting for deyelop.
ments. Theories, explanations and
Demonstrations rain down upon the III
iateu city OF Charleston like ripe apples
before north wind In New Jersey
orchard. The Mother Careyis chickens
oil science dit hither and thither over the
country screeching their prophecies OF
woe nnc desolation, Every ore OF them.
ootn Dig and little, has his own .particu.
lar theory to account for the recent ter.
restlal phenomena; but upon one point
tneir unanimity OF expression is remark.
able. They all agree that America has
not seen the last Of the earthquake dur
ing the current year. Recent dispatches
from various sections OF the
country go far towards sub.
Stimulating the opinion OF the
scientists that this is an earth
quake year. The recurrence of the
shocks at Charleston at intervals OF
about sixteen hours tends toward con-
flrming this belief. Since 1888, the tirst
year when any historic record was kept,
the Atlantic seaboard has been shaken
thirty.six several times by earthquakes.
Basing their opinions upon the mass Of
data which has accumulated in the past
week, Prof. William M. Davis of
Harvard university and other scientific
observers do not hesitate to proclaim
that the recent earthquake is the greatest
one which has In historic times
visited the eastern seaboard OF the
United States. They say that 1t
was much more disastrous In its eff
fects, and much more wide-spreading than
the terrible earthquake of 1888,
which was followed within period
Of a month anda half by two other
severe shocks. Prof. Davis is Tow busi-
ly engaged collecting material prepare
tory to formulating his theory OF earth
quakes, and In the interim he had refused
to assert in specific terms that a success
sion OF shocks might be expected He
has limited as much, however, and host of
holder savants have not hesitated In plac.
ing themselves on record as edherents TO
the belief, which the cautious professor
enunciated only by innuendo.
Prof. MCGEE, whose "displacementn
theory has been so thoroughly ventilated
in the columns OF the daily press, has as
serted that the last great "seaward slip"
may quite probably be the precursor of
others. Prof. Mendenhall Of the signal
office, Washington, became familiar with
earthquakes during three years. resi-.
dence in Japan. He boots at the "die.
placement theory, but expects recur.
renee Of the disturbances, although not III
such severe form.
Maj. Joseph S. Powell Of the United
States signal corps has made terrestrial
and atmospheric phenomena his especial
study He does not believe in misplace
ment," but has theory Of his own TO ac-
count for the Charleston manifestation.
In brief, his theory is that the disturbance
was due to the recent spouting OF num-
Der Of dried-up geysers In the far West.
The superheated gases and boiling
water could not hnd sufficient
outlet there, 80 they worked
their way across the continent
until they struck the Atlantic side, where
the earth's crust is thin and sensitive.
The result was an upheayal, followed by
series OF caviDgs-in. As IT did not APP
pear reasonable TO Maj. Powell that all
this pent-up liquid and gaseous matter
could have escaped In and about Charles
ton, he predicted on September | con-
tinuance Of shocks not only at Charles
ton and vicinity but on the entire eastern
slope. This prediction has In part been
verified. II remains TO be seen whether
1t will be sustained to the fullest extent.
The most definite and exact prediction
which has yet been enunciated by the
scientific fraternity comes from Prof. e.
P. Hammond, sojourning in far-oh Ore
gon. He declares that ON September IA
and los there will be cyclonic disturb
ances throughout the western portion of
the continent. as II that wasn't sufficient
to raise the hair OF the settlers and miners
as neatly as II Sioux brave superintend,
ed the job. Prof. Hammond adds that
"terrifc cyclones, earthquakes and lorna
does" will deyastate the United States in
general and the Pacific seaboard In
particular on September 26, "a and 20.
His predictions cannot be dismissed
IN summary fashion, as he has been a
devoted student OF seismology for many
years, and, residing IN q country where
such disturbances are Of frequent occur
renee, he has had opportunities for OBJ
servations such as are Afforded to few
scientists. But the most startling cor
roboratlons OF Prof. Hammond's forecast
is furnished by Prof Andrew Jackson
Devoe, the self-taught meteorologist Of
New Jersey. He Is Of medium height
and apparently about thiriy.seven years
OF age. His eyes are gray and bright,
They have peculiar interpretive look,
such as Is often remarked In the
eyes of students and Of men who live a
good deal by themselves. His brow Is
high but narrow, his nose aquiline, his
mouth fringed with slight brown mus
tache. Notwithstanding the fact that his
theories are Numerically opposed 70 the
deductions drawn by the most prominent
scientific observers, II is impossible 70