Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1897-01-08
COULD HAVE A WAVE.
rere Michigan Gould Rise Up and
Surprise Chicago.
All II Needs Is nm Earthquake to Set 1t .
,oing-What an Ancient Mar.
inor Says About Such
Matters.

"Apropos Of the recent Atlantic tidal
~rave." said an ancient mariner to q Chi
o.oo Tribune man the other day, IAN
.ocount of one nearer home might be
~ interest at this time. 1t isn't neces-
sarv to have an ocean of water to pro-
auce one of these waves by long odds.
Old Lake Michigan could get up a
nrirne article in that line and show Chi
caeo few things heretofore unthought
~ All that would be necessary would
he 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, 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-
,ence 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 terrible shock
and jarring 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.
full, 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 vio-
lently that the men were thrown about
on the decks. The water in the river
changed to a reddish hue, then became
black with mud thrown up from the
the bottom, while the surface, dashed
by the agitation of the earth beneath,
was covered with foam, which, gath
ering into masses the size of q barrel,
foated along the trembling surface.
1.-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.
At New Madrid several boats were car
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 it
could hardly be used for any purpose
for many days.
New Madrid, which stood on bluff
twenty feet above the summer floods,
sunk so low that the next rise covered
tito depth of five feet. The bottoms Of
several lakes in the vicinity were ele-
waited and have since been planted with
corn. People lived along the river in
those days more than in the country,
80 the big water disturbance did proba-
bly, more damage than the Shakes
where there was no water So you can
easily see how there can be q tidal wave
without an ocean and that we may
have one of our own some day. When
it comes it should be a good one, so
those eastern people will be satisfied
we did not manufacture it to get even.