Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-09-19
EARTHQUAKE SENSE.
Ar ABLE LETTER PROM CHARLESTON
BY II. @. O.
He Locks Upon Them as Geological Affairs
0nly-some Good and Prac-
teal Advice.

Charleston, S. c., under date Of Sep
tembtr Slh, II. G.. G. says:
The Mojor insisted upon coming here
at OF ce 70 assist Professor Mendenhall
IN digging hole in the ground to fad
out the cause Of the earthquake, and
although no had to drop his inyes,igs.
lions of the Kingston ses-serpent he has
been enthusiastic over the possible re-
suits Of our joint labors. There is no
thing talked Of here row but the Won
deriUl phenomena reported by northern
correspondents. and every morning 1--we
minutes after the New York papers
come in We al get together and swap
scientific information and theo-
ries. Dick says that he thinks
what the Chsrle3ton people need
most now is a good supply Of clubs
TO knock some Of the noisy religion out
Of the darkies, so that nervous persons
can sleep. lie says it is Of course ter
Iibly pathetic to learn By way Of New
York that the portico of Mrs. Ginger-
snaps house il liable to fall al any
minute, and probably cannot be rebuilt
unless Congress takes special action;
and very narrowing to hear that Major
'Jones's tomcat has been so nervous
since the last shock that fears are en-
ter,ained be will never return to the
house. but that after carefully review
irg all the injuries as they really
exist he Is of the opinion that nine
itnths Of them were due 10 the surpri-
sing inactivity and terror of the people.
Urdoubtedly the earthquake was a Sc
rlous calamity, but by no means as ap-
palling or destructive as the Chicago
fire or the pestilence in Memphis or
New Orleans. E-rolya score OF deaths
were its direct result, and the majority
Of casualties were the result of panic
ard an unnecessary exposure of inva-
lids to the elements. A history Of
e,rthGual es shows that after heavy
couyulsion there are series OF lesser
shccks, which are probably caused by
the final settling Of the displaced strata
into their new position, and seldom has
second throo of any Importance followed
a destructive upheal. The great earth
Quake of October s, 1865, which shook
the entire Pacific coast, was succeeded
by petty rumblings and tremors at
intervals for a week. There were
thirty distinct movements of the earth
during the twenty-lOur hours after the
upheaya' in San Francisco October Il,
1865. The town of lnyo, Cal, was
leyelled by terrific conyulsioI in 1872,
and feeble quakes followed for amo1th.
The vast throe which swept away
africa ard Arequipa, in South America,
in 1868, sending o 40-fOot tidal wave
inland for six miles, had no successor
Of any Importance, although sub,erra-
nesn rumbliDgs and unessiness were
uerceptihle for weeks after. The dan
ger, therefore, of second visitation II
very slight, and in California and Japan,
whore earthquakes are fashionable, the
rc5idents feel relieved after 3 heavy
shock, and set about repairing the
damage at once, confident that the up
heayal has served as ssfety-valye and
promises immunity for some time to
come.
OF course it is very interesting to
note the effect Of the shock upon per-
sons gifted with muscular msginations.
We read with tumultuOus enthusiasm,
for instance, OF a railway train jump
ing three successive lofty uDdulations,
much as the Kingston sea-serpent might
ride the pillows at Coney island. This
is very thrilling, but unfortunately
long series of seismographic obserga-
tons by competent observers has shown
that while the general extent of motion
in an earthquake is scarcely an
inch, it rarely if ever makes
foot, latterally or vertically. We
hear, too. Of witnesses who felt san
intense spell Of heat" just before the
shock; others who saw huge canopy
of fiery light overspreed tho sky
others who had their feet blistered by
sulphurous fires bursting from the soil;
others who have noticed tremendous
showers of meteors either accompany
irg or succeeding the cOnyulslOn.
Several centuries back there would
have been seen. scoTling archaDgel
with flaming sword, and q multitude
Of ghosts capering in the cemetery, all
tending to show that the end Of the
world vas set down in the immediate
calendar, and that now was the time to
| e.ihscrihe IA the cathedral fund or build
another monastery.
Facts gathered from many observa-
lions show concluslyely that an earth
quake is purely o geological affair and
bears little relevancy to the moral
standing Of the community it happens
TO trouble, and there are scientific men
who hesitate to believe that it is spe-
cially concocted for the purpose Of
whoopiDg UP colored backsliders to
camp.meetiDg enthusiasm. While this
shock was most remarkable in the ex-
tent Of territory it covered its effects
locally were comparatively slight. The
upheayals Of water and sand reported
between here and Summerville are
Of frequent occurrence in earth
quakes, aud are caused by the enor-
nous pressure ofthe moving strata upon
The sub.efranean waters forcing them
through faults " to the surface. That
the motion was rotary to some degree
there can be no question, bu. this has
often been the case. Professor David
IN, Of the coast survey, displayed q
seisnographic chart before the Califor-
MIA Academy Of Sciences in September,
1870, showing that sharp shock which
occurred that year had been vertical,
lateral, and rotary at once, so that it
might have been called species Of
corkscrew conyulsion. The recent
earthquake presented no startling fea-
lures except in the marvellous extent Of
territory it affected. 1t travelled the en-
lire extent of the Appalachian fault"
and its motion impaired percepsi-
BILE vibrations to nearly one half
tho continent, but no volcanic or
unusual phenomena attended its course.
The earth is gradually cooling, as it
has been for several hundred million
years ; in cooling it contracts contract
ING, it leaves the cooled strata unsup-