The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-05-10
EXPERTS GIVE VIEWS
ON MARTINIQUE loss
Some Think the Eruption
Due to "Overloading."
DISASTER LONG PREDICTED
Author Ballou Recorded Ten Years Ago
the Dire Prophecy Made by Scientists.
A Local Explanation of the Geological
Action IN This Case.

Government experts in this city ex-
pressed no surprise when the news vas
published that St Pierre had been de-
stroyed by an earthquake, att-ibut-
ing the cause however, to ''overlOadirg,"
which is widely different from the process
Of volcanic explosion.
Few lands are more exposed to the dan
gers of earthquakes than the West India
Islands. including Martinique, as the sur
rounding waters are the dumping ground
for the sediment washed down the Missis-
sippi and Ohio Rivers. together with other
bodies Of water flowing into the Gulf from
other directions Other places known to
biologists as susceptible TO earthquakes
from this cause are the lands near the
mouth Of the Po. where other rivers empty
great deposits OF silt; the Bay OF Bengal,
which is the receptacle for the washings
of the Gauges and other rivers; the yell
low Sea. into which deposits are made
from the Yangtse River, and the mouth
OF the Amazon
It is estimated by scientists, to Illus
trate the geological Importance of over
leading" that If freight cars coupled in
a line sixty miles long from Cumberland,
Md, to this city, were kept hauling con-
tinualIy Tor one year 1t would not be
possible to unload at Washington half as
much silt as the Potomac River deposits
in six months. From scientific observa-
lions it is learned that a large majority
OF earthquakes are results Of this cause,
while only a few are caused by volcanic
explosion.
Though no one is able to tell at this
moment the exact cause Of the earth
quake at Martinique, experts think that it
was probably from overlooking, and tais
opinion is held by Prof. " J MCGEE.
Prof. EiIFs Opinion.
In speaking the horrible loss Of life
and destruction OF property, Prof Robert
T Hill of the United States Geological
Survey. who was geologist Of the Agassiz
West Indian expedition. and who is in
consequence perfectly familiar with the
islands Of the West Indies. said:
what happened at Mont Pelee was
probably this: gigantic explosion Of
steam and gas, accompanied By q shower
CT redhot cinders, which, falling upon
the homes and shipping, burned and par
TALLY buried them
'svoIcanism is stIH oae CT the most in
explicabIe and profound problems, which
deaes the power % biologists to explain,
and one of its most singular peeuliarities
is the fact that 1t sometimes breaks
forth simultaneously il widely distant
portions cf the earth
"a sympathetic relation Of this kind
has long been known between Heela and
Vesuvius. and it is very probable that
the Carib volcanoes have some such sym
pathetic relation with the volcanoes OF
Central America and Southern Mexico. At
the time of the explosion Of ST. Vincent
other explosions preceded or followed it
IN Northern South American and Central
America
Like SmoldeTing Furnaces.
''There is chain of islands known as
the Caribbees, extending across the Ca
ribbean Sea, and, as a matter of fact,
they are known TO scientists to be
smoldering furnaces, ready at almost any
tine and in al unexpected manner to
break out and carry before 1t death and
disaster.
AS far back as the Tertiary period
these islands began 10 form, ard their
submerged bssscs extend as far below the
water - do their tops above, making
them thousands Of feet in total depth +"
Predicted Ten Years Ago.
In his book. Equatorial America"
which was published in 1892. ten years ago,
Maturin u. BalIou predicted the terrible
volcanic eruption in Martinique. He said:
Once or twice since 1881 omnibus NUT
terings have been heard from Mont PeIee.
which it is confidently predicted will one
day deluge st. Pierre with ashes and
lava, repeating the story OF Pomoeii''
Further research into the records and
works OF the scientific world develops the
fact that as early as 1871 scientists said
that the volcanoes on those Islands,
though quieseent, would be likely to up
turn the earth in that region n about fifty
years While this intelligence was widely
known, the modern 'tsharps' were in
clined to disregard its potency in q large
measure, believing that the volcanoes Of