Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-14
PLAYS SOME CURIOUS TRICKS.
Dame Nature Blows a Foghorn for
Mexico and Makes Weird Music.

FROM fearSon 8 weekly
The Mexican government, which uses the
rocky island known as the Farallones for
lighthouse purposes, discovered some time
ago that through a hole In one of the rocks,
slanting and communicating with the ocean.
there came at intervals a terrific stream Of
air. On examination It was found that the
air was forced by the spasmodic heaving of
the waves against the lower orifice. The
government officials inclosed the upper end
of the hole with the nozzle of a foghorn,
and every minute or so there was blown an
ear-splittng blast which could be heard far
out at sea and above the din of the break
ing rollers.
The foghorn was allowed to roar only in
foggy weather. Owing to the fact that 1t
would only sound at high tide the govern
ment thought it advisable to erect steam
siren on the island in case the weather
might be thick at low tide, when the nat
ural foghorn was silent.
Weird music can often be heard along the
shores of the Red sea, and resembles in
sound the notes of an enormous cathedral
organ. Scientists declare that the music is
purely natural and comes from the sand
hills. Hard. dry particles of sand, which
break loose from the summit Of the hills,
roll down the slopes and cause musical
vibration. Natures little organ has been a
bodies during recent years, and 1t was only
comparatively recently that the one posi-
BILE explanation of the mysterious music
was given.
Similar sounds have been heard at KIM
berley and other parts of the Transvaal,
and they also owe their origin to the hills
and loose sand. Mist-poeffers. or fog-hic-
coughs, very often startle strangers in
India. They are exactly like the booming
of monster cannon, and are continually
sounding along the Lower Ganges. 1t is be-
lieved that they are electric In their origin,
for they are only heard when heat haze
hides the horizon.
Pierre Michel, one of the first men to visit
Mr. Fairweather. came back with the start
ling story that the country inland was in
habited and that he had seen great city
with big houses, wide streets, parks and
churches. What he had really seen was
Mother Natures picture gallery-a wonder
full mirage which stretches for miles across
q huge rift in the mountains. The phantom
city, which is almost a replica of our Eng
lish Bristol, has been since seen by the
Duke Of AbruZzi. who made pen and ink
drawing of 1t. It was only visible once a
year, but 1t is the biggest and finest living
picture painted by nature ever seen.
A British ironclad discovered a new is
land in the Mediterranean some years ago,
and the captain planted union jack on one
OF the volcanic peaks. Nature kicked
against his appropriation of her property.
and rather than let John Bull have the Is
land she sank it under the She started
work with the volcanoes, and after they
had burned for night the whole island,
with its seething mass OF lava, disappeared
with a deafening hiss under the waves.
When man started a scheme to turn a
river in the Canadian district of Dubec out
of Its course he little thought that nature
would make him pay dearly for his audac-
ity. She did, though. and her revenge cost
Canada more than forty lives and s40.OOO.
The river was split up by laborers into end
less little water courses. and these were run
through dips in the land In order to irri.
gate the plain and make 1t fertile. Just
after the work had been completed snow
storm visited Dubec, and when the snow
thawed the plain became like huge
sponge. The land was not suited TO hold
water. and within week 1t became so
boggy that scores of farmhouses settled into
the ground and disappeared altogether.
Finally. nature turned Dubec into one gi-
gantic bog, and more than forty men ano
women and 600 head of live stock perlshed
before the district was abandoned.