New-York tribune., 1900-12-09
CALAMITY PREDICTIONS,
THE TIME is RIPE FOR WAR AND HORRI-
BILE CATACLYSM. ACCORDING
To DIR BUCHANAN.

4 paBer by Dr. Joseph ROdes Buchanan on
The Coming Catacysnl of America and Eu-
rope." printed in The Arena" ten years ago
contains prophecies which may be read
with interest at his time. The writer says that
%, is an optmst. a full believer in the noblest
destiny of man. but he cannot maintain his
optimism against reason. against evidence
against science and against the teachings OF
history" AMI these point to calamity and catas-
trophe.
The twentieth century" he says will be ush-
cred in with increasing agitation and discOn-
tent not because the reasons therefor in
creasing. hut because men are becoming in
famed 10y brOodIng the social condition,
the contrast of prIncely wealth and abject pow
erty. How high the agitation will rise in the
next eighteen years it would not be safe TO pre-
dict. but during that time it will be increased
by the war in Europe which will come on near
the beginning Of the twentieth century and end
in the destruction of monarchy. Nineteen years
hence war or quasi war will appear i'm this coun-
try, and the CONFUSION will not be arrested
until about 1916 The six years prior to that
date will be by far the most caamtous that
America has ever known"
Then the writer pictures the triumph of the
destructive elements. the horrors of a war be-
tween capital ami labor, intermingled with a re-
Hgious element Of discord The Church as a
for the power Of this revolution has outgrown
the old Bible. The fetters of the past will be
shaken off, the marriage relation approximate ed
to freedom. for the drift of the future IS that
way and beyond. The cycle Of woman is ap-
preaching, and that will he full compensation
for the horrors through which we are To pass
The twentieth century will witness the existence
Of a religion in which all that was good i'm the
past will survive"
EARTHQUAKES PROPHESIED
After speaking Of the destructive changes that
Will follow the cutting down of the forests. he
Gays: In the midst Of all these horrors of war
and floods, a terrible climax will be reached in
geological convulsion compared to which the
earthquakes of New-Madrid of Java. of Lisbon
and Caracas Will seem unimportanL"
Dr Buchanan gives an elaborate description
OF the causes Of earthquakes. and predicts that
such disturbances VIII occur in the time. If ca
lamity. from 1910 to 1876
That We are noatine in "a periIaus proxinitv Ia
death was shown in the New Madrid earth
quake in ISL and the recent Charleston cart a.
quake. do not think that any able geologist
would dare to assert the safety Of oIlr At1aptf,
Coast. and hope there viii be no crazy invest
ment of millions in forts and cannon ., that
coast. for ;hey would line The hottrm rr th, s.,
long before any hostile leet shall appear What
SHAH become of the millionaire palaces is not /,
distressing question, except To their owners hut
'l-' HuEt hdildlnSS Tor manufacturing industry
az" pubIlc concern and hope the eLt.rprising
VIII not be- tempted To locate any NOR. On M
dangerous low lands. | believe il Is c..nr.de,,
tht NeW-lork, or Manhattan Island is very
SLOWLY sinking AT present. ana the subSid.u,, is
greater on the Jersey coast as an intelligent
tiuZ-h ci tnat state, an observer and traveller
l"id me th2t a Sufsid.nCe Of three feet had been
recognized at Atlantic City. But il viii ha ma
Su'h SLOW subsistence that will destroy th, coast
Ii VIII be a sudden calamity. Permit me. now
Milh'ut giving my chief reason. after Showing
tLe IoSSlbllities and probabilities | have men
uohed, 10 announce my firm conviction that IN
me mlcSt OF our coming civil war the Atlantic
coast VIII be wrecked 10y submergence and tidal
waves from the borders Of New England to tha
southern horders of the Gulf Of Mckee Tbera
VIII be no safety below the hills
~ Is win great hesitation and reluctance tba :
nave consented 10 prevent this horrible nano
rama, but truth should be our paramount aim
Every seabcard city south of New England tba
Is net more than fifty feet above the SEA Ievei
OF TIE Atlantic Coast is destined a destructive
c"hFulslon Galveston. New-Orleans Mobile
- Augustine. Savannah and Charleston are
Eboned Richmon1, Baltimore. WASHINGTON
Philadelphia. Newark. Jersey CITY and New
York viii suffer in various degrees in pranortion
as they approximate the sea level RrookIvn
VIII suffer less, but the destruction at New
York and Jersey City will be the t,ror,Ils, b,r
racine Coast nj perhaps extend in the Pacific
toward the Sandwich Islands. The shock will
De terllhle, with great loss Of life extending
from British Columbia down along the coast ~
Mexico, but the conformation of the Pacific
t'asl VIII make the grand tidal wave far less
destructive than on the Atlantic .Nore Never
thelesS. IL viii be- calamitous Lower California
latter. any '''e