New-York tribune., 1903-04-29
nfOODUS AND ITS NOISES.
THE Mysterious Sounds Which " ere
Recently Repeated.

F-
- for many generations. and even the Indian
ehortgfnes gave the TO the region from the
-,~-=terious sounds they heard. They called II
.AIacAi Moodus.' place Of Noises" and the
name Mooous IS simply a shortened 10iih VI 14iAS
term
In the current number Of The Connecticut Mag
zine" W Harry Clemons. OF the Wesleyan Uni
-si+x Library az AIiddletown. Conn, writes Of
..7be Iegends Of Mach Moodus.' In the article
he gives the following historical account OF the
.,,bterraneau disturbances frequently heard IN
fhe part OF the town OF East Haddam:
But there were much more than the usual causes
- ms toxnship. Here indeed were lonely forests
ad WIG fb eeoS ps6pe % often heard a fghful cTacKngs
snd Tumblngs. seeming 10 come from lhe ee.S
bowels of the earth About this there appears 10
have been something more than mere in2ginaslon;
Even OF late years ulls aeslo HS eIIt- IocsI 6I.t
sometimes violent enough TO be heard ana zen
Cured along the Connecticut Valley IN the sIrls ;
Of 1889 were late example To the cary 5hdii+ M
and % enanate from Mount Tom. & nh ris1Iss anss
goodus rivers They were likened at various tunes
e slow thunder 70 roaring IN the az, 10 - a6 md
70 the roar OF cannon A man who haIpeneo 70 s
o. On l ea75d ID as Ike thai Of rocks falling into i'm
Tnense caverIs beneath his feet, and bounolng ana
me indians whom the coIonists found occurring
and religious ceremonies. and these NOISES s1To
1ocSo the Spirit of EVIL had his special place of
-ss6euce here and thar Il was ne VINO NStS eFIelr
ing to them thus out OF the earth the name name
witch they gave TO the piace-da2ni NO MooquS, gus
iaEe. 3oodus River and the .'AIoodqs noises
s1os Ds- an exclamation as this Among them there
was great uncertainty concerning these sIIange sIIIg
sy6ed e ssres 5s ss' to Wohca Under Mount
Tom they said, was cave lighted by great great c2T +be
Tss56gr1 witches who were skilled in black magic,
ca o2 2st tFT The aTo6us Tifehes who practed white
magic In these meetings there was In1cn ~ -
4aehts Is Now a witch fight is sonaething fearful;
.neornters of witchdorn's favorite animal The
devil was IN the habit of attending these meernes9
the Competitions in The mystic art or the aght
became loo ,i st and s75GdenIv the cave
would be plunged in darkness Then form n, N INTO & e
aad deafening peals Of thunder reFerOeI@'e0
In eompaTison with this belief is letter written
ty the first pastor of the FIRST Ioigregal14
rneT The letter is addressed 10 Mr. Prince o.
Boston and bears the date OF August 10 4'-S' 14I
AS 70 the earthquakes, have seElethjj3g con.
been here (2no noNLeFs 9e1 e easIn 70 have their
centre rise and origin among us). as mas DeeH oD
eTmed % that in this place before the English
efiements there We're great numbers OF Indian
Inhabitants, and that II was place OF Pc = Us
nary Indian powwows or Ia snort 5i 5nSd II 5s &
place where the Indians drove Prools1o3uss S raS
al vvorshfppng the devil Also was lnIoIIiieG9
that many years past an old inolan n T[s +sj 7aSe
what the reason Of the noises IN l1!s !s p 1ae
very angry because the English1nans GOO "1s
Vow Whether there he anything abolcall in
these things ! know not but this hnv"' tLAel
s G3e nst aa often 3 been "a heard among US Whether It
Ne fire air distressed in the sno'eTLae,us S M
ems of the earth cannot be known; for there = Izo
ERUPTION no explosion percepuble but by s9udos mos
dr. SfnI have myself heard eight or ten sounds
successiveiy, and initiating small arms: IN s 5ns
sgeefal sPe3e q hundreds md Of Them year,
Sa4e heard them almost every day and g great
urbers Of them in the space 20 81 he d coming down
S-5rn +he north initiating slow thullo=I uill 1, clIe
Seemed 70 be breaking ike me noise Of ca2non cannon
shot or severe 5hunasT T+cL = 6a2-s in manner
ceased since the great earth9nake.@ rs As ~ +iT7a
her there have been but Two heard since tfsU 1i'i0'
and those but moderate. r 49, ..--.,+ |
We seem have no other TeGoTo @ q 1r me fTsrner
sut ia letter written 10 the historian TruIno
about 1sl0 there IS al indication 1at tl1s - i,
refused 10 stay qlleI ana a 1iis Liter account
runs Tbe eS aRf9I noises Of which Mr.. Hosner gave
81 81 aG2' 9b - Io,1 I desire further information
tinue to the present time Inc eiIecis Z tI.es 70
duce are various. the intermediate oeg[tes oe
tween the roar Of q cannon and the noise OF q /
p@e @ t;e ne ar as much diversi4ied as the sounds
n the air. The shock they give . a ome1lIs We ms
Toor The smaller shocks produced no en!o51ohs T:
q terror or fear n ne ,,5s loS orrences 81 m and are
called Moodus noises But when they are $50 so ElUz %
called earthquake During my resdenfs Ssza Refe iT
which has been almost th1rTy-slA years nav
va-fsbly observed after some OF te - y',i1
~ these shocks that account has beei pup-
snsa T45oake N eh at Newfondon and Hartford Nor DO
7 believe IN ali that period that there mas peeh
rectfcut which not far more violent here Z nan
IN e5y Ton 9e viii -d nd that an earthquake was no
vas perceived as far distant as Boston aao cf~
YORK A few minutes after there was 1ee Of
seventy miles Here at that dIae me c.e-ters
were most tremendous. CONSERVATION ana Grey Grey
filed every house Aang Gtl[n1leS NM light much to
he r9T7err bered- for besides the two shockS WtlCn
1re-e To+iced at a distance during the night there
rs here = succession Of shocks to the number OF
-vee,+z- ner1aps thirty. the effects Of when IKE
al others decreased IN every direction IN pFol,or
eral tons weight were found reIIlOFeC es IN
places and apertures IN the eaTth ana Ie -1a m
inmovabie rocks ascertaned the places " MeIe as s
EXPLOSIONS were made. since taat LIg e-9 bFnTa
and shocks have been less freQleIlt 10 rf
though not a year passeth over Us out some u
l1 -eg @ t and assures as described by the writer
of this letter can still be seen IN IN , Erection Of
SfS.o5Tss Village Among them is a cave whlch w; =
Eai6 20 have extended once TO . sle55I - - -
certain point Tor pezo NIX there is
variably extnguished At HadoaIn I Nh ere no one
Sao rSeer known 70 touch bottom. aTlG some nave
s-I-r,osed that this the outlet TO the cave ;.
st1e +Eef have been advanced for these pne@lC1LL. @
ea For instance. IL has been L4+ TN Cnrob-
= bI7 i5snticai with the mentoned above ana ar9
siso with The witches cave TO the Soup1, g,;+ lte
;Ie+ir1s Of wind and tide" others nave hele
that Pscuar T liar I5l5eFsi az sbe shocks
The real explanation IS pfotLD.E = l.r- ,7gf1I-al
~s--eas The rumble of q heavy wagon osttI ot4t
wooden bridge occurring conJe 49, efferfe
. sJg q FI1f Others are doubtless real and are
e sc-+ of sncr," earthouake caused by TIE O-i00'
condition OF the underlying strata