Arizona silver belt., 1895-04-20
COULD HAVE A WAVE.
Lake Michigan Gould Rise Up and
 - Surprise Chicago.
All It Needs Is An Earthquake to Set It . Going.-what an Apeient Mar incr Says About Such
 Matters.


 "Apropos of the recent Atlantic tidal wave" said an ancient mariner to Chi. cago Tribune uan tho other day, ''an account uf one nearer home might be of interest at this time. It isn't neces- sary to have m ocean of water to pro ducc one of these wnFes 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 l started to tell you has an earthquake as the prime cause, tidal wave as the immediate effect, and ruined town as the result.
 New Madrid, Mo, was destroyed by the great shake, as 1t was called In the year lS1l. Tho 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 ns 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 10 there was terrible shock and jarriug 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, hut soon stopped. In the morning loud roaring and hissing were heard and there was Q tremendous boiling up of the waters of the Mississippi in huge swclls tossing the boats about so vio- lcntly that tho men were thrown about on the decks. The water in the river changed to reddish hue, then became black with mud thrown up from the the bottom, while the surface, lashed by the agitation of the earth beneath, was covered with foam which, gath. cring into masses the size of a barrel, fuatcd 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 filled with Q thick yapor of gas. At New Madrid several boats were ear. ried by the great waves up onto the bank of the river just above the town, and were left high and dry e 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 E scs discharged tainted the air with noNious ciluyia, and so strongly im- prcguatcd the water of the river for one hundred and fifty miles below that it could hardly be used for any purpose for many aays.
 New Madrid, which stood on a bluff twenty feet above the summer floods, sunk SO low that thc next rise covered ittoa depth ofGvc feet The bottoms of several lakes in the vicinity were eiS- vatcd and have since been planted with corn. People lived along tho river in those days more than in the country, so the big water disturbance did proba. bly, more damage than the Bhal,es' where there was no water So you can easily sec how there can be a tidal wave without an ocean and that we may have one of our own some day When it comes it should be . good one, so those eastern people will bc satisfied we did not manufacture it Co get even.