The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-11-13
HAVE WE ESCAPED ITa
Is FAYE's COMET RESPONSIBLE FOR
THE RECENT PHENOMENAL

Skies.
A prolonged period Of drought, the burn
Ing up of the crops, the awe inspiring rum
bio OF earthquakes, horalding men knew
not what destruction, the unusual brillian-
cy Of tho aurora borealis and the prophetic
announcement Of O world destroying comet
have startled and tcrrorized us. History
fails TO record anything more striking Or
remarkable In this country. And not
alone In America, but In Europe, have
these striking natural events been an alb
sorbing topic, almost to the exclusion Of
all others.
For two months and more have men In
tcntly vrpfchcd tho skies n scanned the
weather reports, hoping TO see some signs
OF rain. MGR whose wealth Is In the earth
and whose Subsistence depends upon what
her bosom brings forth have prayed and
prayed for rain, but not a drop fell until
tho last day In October. From the west
came tho cry that tho crops would be an
utter failure. Tho long drought had with
cred up everything, and farmers were In
despair.
Europe was no better Off. The Distress
ing drought prevailed there, and ruin
stared innumcrable families in the face.
Men on tho other side of the Atlantic
turned their faces westward, and when
they sow tho Same condition of affairs
here, they wondered what tho world was
coming 90. Then they remembered Flam-
marion's prediction and saw that some Of
his prophecies were being fulfilled.
AS IL 10 add TO the bowildermept IL not
10 tho terror of the timid there came seis-
mic disturbances In the Mississippi valley.
Tie shock of earthquakes unnerved even
strong men, and they marvoled what next
was coming from tho strange and mysteri-
Gus forces Of nature.
Up I'm the northwest another phenome-
non attracted attention. II was o brilliant
aurora, ono Of the finest and grandest
known I'm many and many a year. These
remarkable happenings and STRANGE sights
have predisposed mon to gloom, and they
arc ready for any further terror, even the
destructive comet which, it is said, is to
put an end 10 all things.
1t will be remembered that Flammarion,
In his prophetic account Of the end OF the
world, tells how a prolonged period Of
drought Is TO accompany the advent of the
comet which is TO deal destruction TO this
orb.
a y NDintN. nlOCp aDDtnl hAit VIM
announced in tho latter part of September,
Is not indeed that fatal Genet. Professor
Flammarion himself has assured us that
the world is safe from It's impact. Yet
Faye's comet has been preceded and fol-
lowed by ore OF the greatest ~droughts
known In tho history of humanity.
Throughout n largo area Of the northern
hemisphere tho autumn Of 1895 has been a
period Of phenomenal rainlossness. Great
Britain complains that this has been the
dricst autumn since 1865. The west Of
Scotland has especially suffered From
Germany comes the statement that this
has been the driest foil of the present GEN.
tury. Franco reports that the autumn sct
In with moro than 40 days Of absolute
rainlessnoss, q phenomenon almost uEprtc-
edented. The Danube, the Rhine and the
Seine are at the lowest ebb recorded for a
long stretch of time. A water famine is
ono CT tho dread possibilities OF the imme-
diatc future.
The same possibility confronts us In this
country. AS tho weather bureaus official
reports show, New York usually receives
3.9i inches Of rain In tho first months Of
this season. But In September last the
fall was only .05 of OF inch. This Is bad
enough. Bnt worse reports come from the
interior of the country and from tho west
ern seaooast. On the southern plateau Of
the Rocky mountains the mean rainfall
during all of September was only .l2 of
an inch: on tho south Pacific coast it was
only .03.
From the Ohio valley a great cry
for water. The wells arc dried up. The
fields are sun baked and cracked. The
herds arc furnishing for drink. Springs
mn Hwy riNare bava dytnd1a1 into
creeks, and creeks are but shallow bitches
paved with smooth round pebbles and
gritty sand. In tho great Ohio river n
number of strange new islands, sand bars
and rocks have made their appearance
above the surface of tho water. Here and
there the river Is CONSTRUCTED to a narrow
ribbon. Here and there less than q foot of
water nows over tho bottom Of the chan
mel. Evon n voyage by skiff Is impractical
BILE, when under normal conditions boats
of considerable bull could make their way
under sail. Acres upon acres of coal
bargos are collected in the pools formed by
the dams IL tho upper river, waiting for
sufficient water TO float them down the
stream. The constantly rcceding waters
left pools, which rapidly dried up, leaving
thousands of dead fish to rot upon the
sur baked river bed.
Tho Mississippi itself, tho great Father
of Waters, has fallen to a level lower than
any yet recorded i'm its entire history.
Even the great lakes have suffered. Shoal
places are encountered by vessels in local
tiles where they had mover been expected,
with much resultant damage TO shipping.
II may be remembered that among the
portents which Elammarlon mentioned In
his END OF the World arc strange celes-
tial and terrestrial phenomena. These
have not been wanting in the present in
stance. A fine display Of aurora borealis
was reported from the west on Monday
last. Some weather prophets who arc
more fanciful than scientific look upon
them as indications of coming rain. The
better opinion is that they arc prophecies
OF colder weather.
As TO the earthquake, IL has boon felt
over a large portion of the United States.
an extraordinary feature In connection
with these seismic disturbances is reported
from Indiana. A number OF the small
strpams I'm that etatp xxhoco sourca fo IN