The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-04-19
VAST ROCK MOVEMENT.
EARTHOUAKES CAUSE DTS
 GUESSED BY BIOLOGISTS.

More Than 25O Earth Tremors in San
 Francisco and Its NeighborhoOd in
 the Past Fifty Years-The Worst in
 1868 and 1S0S-"Skyscrapers" Not Ventured in That City Until the Last
 Few Years.
 New York, April 18-Dr. c. P. Ber- key assistant to Professor Kemp, of the department of geology, Columbia university, does not think there can be any possible connection between the eruption at Vesuvius and the earth quake at San Francisco. The old the ory of submerged lakes, he said, which would be the sole means of such coln- munication, is now dead theory. At mospheric conditions, it is true, have sometimes an effect upon neighborlng active volcanoes, but the distance be- , tween Italy and California is too great ! for any such connection. Dr. Berkey is more inclined to believe that the aisas- ter at San Francisco was caused by the folding processes of rock in mountain making.
 These changes are constantly going on, particularly in a country of the Mesozoic era, said Dr, Berkey, But they are usually so slight compared to the size of the earth as not to be felt. Sometimes the sudden slipping of great masses of rock causes such a disturb ance as to have immediate effect in the neighborhood and shake down strong buildings San Francisco is directly in line between the new and active vol canic fields of Mexico and the extinct volcanoes of Washington and Oregon to the north. Geologically, the position of California is such that these disturb ances would come as natural course" ,"
 To a later inquiry Professor Brkey said:
 There is no possible connection be- tween the San Francisco disturbance and the recent eruption of Vesuvius Earthquakes are not necessarily of vol canic origin. The earth's crust in cool ing, contracts, and often contracts un- evenly, so that it causes the strata to slide, Such sliding of the earths crust might have caused the San Fran cisco earthquake.
 Some people hold to the idea that volcanic eruptions are caused by a per- collation. of water from, the sea, into the heated parts of volcanoes, and that the steam thus starts the eruption. Ac- cording to the theory now generally ac- cepted by scientists, volcanic explosions are caused by steam, but not from wa ter percolating from the sea, but from contact of the molten matter with un- derground masses of water. Thus vol canoes are safety valves for the earth"
 Professor William Hallock, of the de- partment of physics at Columbia, agreed with Professor Berkey as to the causes of the San Francisco earthquake. Since the Charleston earthquake Co., lumbia university has been trying to secure seismographic instruments and a place for thems he said. "A small building was assigned the university for the purpose in the botanical garden in Bronx park, but nothing has yet been done toward securing the instruments. We hope, in time to have such instru- ments to record seismic disturbances" " PREVIOUS EARTHQUAKES THERE
 Whatever may be the cause, Califor- mia, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Mexico have been annually visited by these disturbances ever since 1892. The reports of the United States geological survey record a succession of shocks, and oftentimes considerable damage, through the years 1892, 1894, 1S96 1897, l1S9S and 1900. The first disturbances reported occurred at points along the Pacific coast ranging from British Co., lumbia to Central America. On Janu- ary 2, 1S96 Carson, Nevada, felt a shock about S:3O o'clock in the morn- ing The capitol building was particu- larly well shaken, and a jar at o'clock shook down plaster and opened a crack in the side of the postof11ce. Through January, February and March slight shocks were felt through California, Nevada and British Columbia In the latter part of the year the vibrations were enough to stop clocks and break lamp chimneys. On December IT, at Santa Barbara, California, tidal wave the largest in the history of the place washed over the boulevard at o'clock in the morning, carrying back huge sec tions of this beautiful driveway, which had been put down in concrete and heavy masonry. One section of the drive carried away was nearly fifty feet square and eight feet deep.
 In 1897 twenty-five distinct shocks were recorded, as against sixteen fol the year previous. The area of trouble was very much the same. On January r sharp earthquake was felt at San Francisco at 1:05 o'clock in the after noon. There were two well-defined vii brations, but no damage was done. The lseismographic record at Chabot observ- atory, several miles away, showed that this disturbance was a heavy one. This same shock was felt at Oakland, pre- ceded by a heavy rumbling. Houses creaked and chandeliers shook. The same disturbance was felt along the : coast from Mexico to Oregon, and slight shocks followed through February and March.
 On June 20 of the same year, 1897 San Francisco was visited by two shocks about 12 o'clock noon, each last ing from ten to thirty seconds, All tho ) clocks in the city stopped, and a pan icky feeling was created in the churches where services were then being held , Another shock followed at 1 o'clock and still another at 6:37 in the even ing. A niece of 8 corniee fell from tn,