The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-09-23
gMaersp.t gntelligeaser,
IS IT AN EARTHQUAKE YEAR9
Startling Predictions Made by the soien-
tiffc Fraternity.
From the Ne,v York Star.

Startling Predictions Made by the Scien-
tiftc Fraternity.
From the Ne,v York Star.
The recent great earthquake, which
cost the Queen City of the Carolinas
s15,oo0,0OO in property and the lives of
some sixty of her inhabitants, has had
the effect Of thoroughly arousing scien-
fists throughout the land from their
lethargic slumbers. The earthquake
caught them mapping. The seismoscopes,
which had been carefully dismembered
and slowed away some months after the
seismic disturbances in the Summer of
1884. have been busted and put together
in the observatory in Washington, and
the members of the signal corps, under
Gen. Hazen, Major Powell and Prof
Mendenhall, are sitting up nights waiting
for developments. Theories, explana.
tions and representations rain down
upon the ill.fated city of Charleston like
ripe apples before North wind in a
New Jersey orchard. The Mother Carey's
chickens of science fit hither and thither
over the country screeching their proph.
eciessof woe and desolation. Every one
Of them, both big and little, has his own
particular theory to account for the recent
terrestrial phenomena but upon one
point their unanimity of expression is
remarkable. They all agree that Ameri-
ca;has not seen the last of the earthquake
during the current year. Recent dis.
patches from various sections of the
country go far toward substantiating the
opinion of the scientists that this is an
earthquake year. The recurrence of the
shocks at Charleston at intervals of about
sixteen hours tends toward confirming
this belief. Since 1888, the first 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 NJ. Davis, of Har-
yard 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 it was much more disas-
trous in its effects, and much more wide
reaching than the terrible earthquake OF
1866, which was followed within period
of,a month Q and q. half by two other
severe shocks. Prof. Davis is now busily
engaged collecting material preparatory
to formulating his theory of earthquakes,
and in the interim he has refused to
assert in specific terms that succession
of shocks might be expected. He has
hinted as much, however, and host OF
bolder savants have not hesitated in
placing themselves on record as adherents
to the belief, which the cautious Profes-
>sor eunciated only by,innuendo.
.Rtof. MCGEE; whose displacement"
theory has been so thoroughly ventilated
in the columns of the daily press, has
asserted 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 .hoots at the "dis.
:placement"l theory but expects a recur-
renee of the disturbances, although not
in such severe form.
g Msjor Josephssss. Powell of the United
States Signal LCorpahas made terrestrial
and atmospheric phenomena his especial
study, he does not believe in "displace-
ment," but has a theory of his own to
account for the Charleston manifestation.
In brief, his theory is that the disturb
ance Was due to the recent spouting of q
number Of dried up geysers in the far
West. The superheated gases and boil.
ing water, could not find sufficient out
let there, SO 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 q series of cavings
in. As it did not appear reasonable to
Major Powell that all this pent-up liquid
and gaseous matter could have escaped
in and about Charleston, he predicted on
September continuance of shocks not
only at Charleston and vicinity but on
the entire Eastern slope. This prediction
has in part been verified. II remains to
be seen whether it will be sustained to its
fullest extent. - A'-'.- = :. Z. '4~''-''
The most definite and exact prediction
which has yet been enunciated by the
scientific fraternity comes from Prof. E.
P. Hammond, sojourning+ in3far-off Ore.
gou. he declares that on September II
and Is, there will be cyclonic disturb.
ances throughout the Western portion Of
the continent. AS if that wasn't suf6-
cient to raise the hair of the settlers and
miners as neatly as if Sioux brave
superintended the job, Prof. Hammond
adds that "terri6c cyclones, earthquakes
and tornadoes," will devsstate the United
States in general and the Pacific seaboard
in particular on September 26, 27 and %.
His predictions cannot be dismissed in
summary fashion, as he has been de.
voted student of seismology for many
years, and, residing in country where
such disturbances are of frequent occur.
renee, he has had opportunities for
observation such as areaforded to few
sc;ent;sts sRnt the most STARTLING cOrrob.