The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-02-23
COULD HAVE A WAVE.
Lake Michigan Gould Rise Up and
Surprise Chicago.
All 1t Needs is an Earthquake to Set It
Going-What an Ancient Mar
liner Says About Such
Matters.

! wave,'' said an ancient mariner to Chi
cago Tribune man the other day. IAN
, account of one nearer home might be
of interest at this time. It isn't neces-
sary to have an ocean of water to pro-
duce one of these taves by long odds.
Old Lake Michigan could get up a
prime article in that line and show Chi
cago few things heretofore unthought
of. All that would be necessary would
be an earthquake in the lake and then
| there would be from six to ten feet OF
| water here in no time. The story that
started to tell You has an earthquake
, as the prime cause, a tidal wave as the
, immediate effect, and ruined town
as the result.
"New Madrid, Mo-, was destroyed by
the great shake as it was called, IN
the year 1911. The whole Mississippi
valley was affected. The center OF vio-
, lence was at Little Prairie, near New
Madrid. The vibrations were felt over
the Ohio valley as high as Pittsburgh.
New Madrid suffered more than any
other town on the Mississippi. At that
time Indians were dangerous and the
persons engaged in carrying produce in
boats to New Orleans kept in company
, for mutual defense. In the middle Of
December 16 there was a terrible shock
and EARRING of the boats so that the
crews were all awakened and hurried
on deck, thinking of an Indian attack.
The noise and commotion were dread
ful, but soon stopped. In the morning
loud roaring and kissing were heard
and there was tremendous boiling up
of the waters of the Mississippi in huge
swells, tossing the boats about so VIC
lently that the men were thrown about
on the decks. The water in the uver
changed to reddish hue, then became
black with mud thrown up from the
the bottom, while the surface, dashed
i by the agitation of the earth beneath,
was covered with foam, which, gath
ering into masses the size of barrel,
foated along the trembling surface.
'The earth opened in wide assures,
and closing again threw the water,
sand and mud in huge jets higher than
the tops of the trees. The atmosphere
was filed with a thick vapor of gas.
/! AU NEW MduI1N oCVCAoA OOe1oo Wa Se0A
ried by the great waves up onto the
bank of the river just above the town,
and were left high and dry consider:
able distance from the water. Many
boats were wrecked on the snags
while others were sunk or stranded on
the sand bars and islands. The scenes
for several days during the repeated
shocks were horrible. The sulphurated
gases discharged tainted the air with
noxious effluvia, and so strongly i'm.
pregnated the water Of the river for one
hundred and fifty miles below that il
could hardly be used for any purpose
for many days. .,,a =, !
| New Madrid, which stood on a oluo
twenty feet above the summer nooos
sunk SO low that the next rise covered
it to depth Of five feet. The bottons1l
several lakes in the vicinity were ele
waited and have since been planted will
corn. People lived along the river IL
those days more than in the country
so the big water disturbance did proba
bly, more damage than the shakes
where there was no water. So you cal
easily see how there can be tidal wave
without an ocean and that we MAY
have one of our own some day. Whe1
it comes it should be a good one, 81
those eastern people will be satisfied
we did not manufacture it to get even.