The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-08-25

vas /, real one for ali tllnt Buildings
were swnyed windows we're shaken out,
dishes were tossed from shelves, pictures
we're n1spnccd beauty sleep was Jared
Then the ,,phcnva subsidized and tho poo
pie climbed hack into bed
n. An interesting thing is on curt liquake,
rs being one Of tho perceptible forces OF
nature which man. with al his nntlVe
Inconsistencies aud scientific dclvh,gs,
is yet fur enough from fully understand
Ing. THAT these seismic shocks have done
mighty damage iii their time, and may
still do so rs their l,1clinnto1 may slig-
rest Is patent to even tho Toast We'll
informed Observer Mallcts catalogue,
of half d century ago, notices upwards o
six thousand of them recorded between
tho years 1906 y. c. and 1879 a. ~, and
the later compilations Of Percy ind
others have still further swclled tho list.
How many hundreds Of thousands Of lives
these wanton cavortings Of our planet
have cost II would be hazardous to at
tempt to figure Upon the ancient city
of Antioch in especial they appear to have
fallen with heavy hand. III the disns-
{ lrous ,lpheaval Of So Gibbons states that
go, 900 parsons were believed to nave
persisted, and sixty years later another
utbrcak made way with 10000 more.
Southern Italy and Sicily have been
visited time and again, the great
Calalrlan earthquake In 17S3 causing the
death Of hardly less than 100000 persons
and making itself violently felt all over
Europe. Naples had II bad shock IN 1851,
ana Lisbon in 1755, one Of the most me-
mornblc recorded in history. In the lat
ter disturbance, GO,000 persons are believed
TO have persisted in the space of six
minutes, and part OF the city sank to q
depth Of six hundred feet beneath the
waters Of the bay. Portions Of South
America, Mexico, and 6 various Islands,
principally in the tropical zone, have been
frequently affected, and the United States
has had troubles, though in lesser degree,
In IT'S, 1911 1852, 1870 and several later
dates. its Il.
spcculations as to the origin and ply
steal ma ture OF these strange phenomena
have not been wanting since the earnest
times. Aristotle, Seneca, Strnbo, Ivy,
rliny, Joscphus, Ill had their fling at the
inotty subject. though virtually their
theories were more fanciful than strictly
scientific In the light or mouerh
Knowledge. Even the medieval and later
writer's like Fronnrdl, Travaginl, liooKe
and Priestlcy failed to advance us very
far towards correct understanding and
Interpretation. DR.. Thomas Young, cay
lussac and Robert Mallet. In more recent
tines, have done much more. with sup
Elementary contributions from one or two
others these three have, in fact, given US
pretty we'll all we know about earth
uuakes. Mnllet in especial, has formu-
lated an Intelligent and fairly complete
explanation OF the forces acting during
the shock, and has at lenst illuminated
the complicated question Of the prime
origin OF disturbance.
Whether science eventually succeeds IN
| getting at the exact causes underlying
| more or less the periodical disturbances
| of tho carth's surface Is strictly her own
|lcokout. Earthquakes will doubtless go
| oil in tho Same old way, unrestraned In
| that science knows all about them and
can mathematically work them out on
capcr, 1t Is to DO expected that, despite
| our most profound learning, the earth will
reserve the right to quake at It's good
pleasure. Man cllngs prccnriously to the
cutter rim OF his planet, needless, through
long use, that he is there on suffcruncc.
! rocking nothing OF the vast forces, for the
most part happily qulscent or benevolent
all about him, whose meaning he but dim
| ~ guesscs ut.
There comes day when gravity loses
| its attraction and man goes whirling of
+. Into space. Or suppose that tho earth
weary Of being tickled by mans infln
i itcsImal operations, should permit itscl
one, gigantic quake, like the strotchings Q
| ~ tired man, to which all others SO fal
recorded would be but as summer rum
blngs? Where would man be then?
! n T b 4 f ~ I'd q.