The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-12-18

and LookoU are very steep, the eau
casus Mountains are much more
abrupt ON their northern slope: and
the hills or little mountains" in
Rockingham county, North Carolina.
IS q friend writes ne. slope more
gently on the south side"
1t must be confessed, however. that
We cannO infer from the erosion Of
strata composed Of loose or compara-
lively loose sand and clay that Drimi-
tive or nctamorpEic rocks nave yield
cd in an equal degree 90 the power Of
the suns rays. Indeed. rocks which
are inpcnctrablc To moisture. if there
are such, ought to be free from the
thaWiug power Of his rays, however
much they may yield 10 their chemical
and expanding Influences. But these
influences exist, and hills and noun
taiHs Of the hardc materials ought to
show signs cf their power. !
With this key t. sO!le Of the secret
chambers which have batflcd the ef-
forts Of the geologists to unlock. and
accepting the doctrine taat our globe
was once fluid Or semi-duid. ! venture
into q field OF speculation whore dis
agreeing suggestions explanations
Of Ceoio3ists Will afford a few side
I lights.
The attraction Of the sun and moon
must have caused tides il the surface
Of The earth. their magnitude and
power diminishing as the crust thick
b ttltO ana DttdtIlc NOR Il2ti. ana III
varying d~eciinatiOn Of these bodies
may haVc given such directions TO the
tides as to affect the earthS equiH-
brium and force the poles into new
POSITIONS This possibility approaches
a probability when We discover that
one hundred and six of the notable
earthquakes recorded since the begin
ming OF the |hr.st:a4 ere wee syn
c~hrOn0us with spring tides III tne
oceans and tllat some Of the most V-O-
! Iprt as those - lisbon New
Madrid. Caracas, Calabria G183)
ana Charleston, occurred when
the moon was nearest the
earth Cat her perigee). the whole
bed of the North Atlantic" according
to Draper, being t'absolutely lifted .
at the time Of the Lisbon c~arthduakc.
And his probability is StrenGthencd
hy the fact. recorded by Geikie. tNal
earthquakes are more rCQuent IN win
ter than in summer. the earth being
in the former period many millions Of
miles nearer to the sun than II the
latter. and consequently more subject
to his tide-producinE Influence. out
of 656 earthquakes recorded in France
up 10 the year 1915. three-tifths took
place in the winter, and tWo-tlfthS III
the summer months. Ii switzerland
they have been observed to be about
three times more numerous in winter
chan il summer The same fact IS re
marked in the history of even the
, slight earthquakes in Britain" It -
strengthened also by the discovery
i made by ]. f. j. Schmidt. q German
? author quoted by Geikie, that Il large
{ unbo Of earthquakes have occurred
L when the moon was At that point in
= her orbit where she eXerts her great
5 est power iii checking the earth 5 We
/ locitN-abOut two days after the first
l quarter. And this reminds me that
4 JorullO was thrown up nearly fourteen
hundr feet on the 2Sth OF september,
1883. and that the Province OF Gala
! bria suffered from a destructive earth
quake on the Sth Of September, 1893.
? the moon at each CONFUSION being II
; her perigee and also at that point i'll
= her orbit where she eXerts her great
; est power in accelerat!ng the earthS
I vclocity-about two days before hex
lat quarter.
- This theory receives support. too.
, from sync' ronou seismic or volcanic
| disturbances in localities hundreds o.
thousands of miles APART. which Pro
: bably owed their origin to the same
= expanding or puIsating force. Among
( the interesting records are the follow
I ing:
ca. In Lippincotts P~ronouncing Ca
+ z~attcer of the World CiS3D tins Gc-
ours in the article on Mount Hecla:
Sine A. i. 500, 43 of its cruption+
are on record, OF which ) have been
+ simultaneous, or nearly SO, with thoS5
Of NesuVius, 4 with those OF Etna' ahd
[ with those of BOTH
r CO. On February s. 1843, ST Lucia
f on GiIadaloune was DESTROYED by an
n,r,ntion or rthouak c. and on the
c,,hc da, tbern vas a fearful earth
n nIatc on Nontsnr,.at fortv-three miles
= Gi Tt ~ ON A1~ist ) 100 there was
= an erl7ntton of Aifamonte. in Calabria
= and on the samc dav an carthquakc Sc
/ vn1elv shocked Two or three VILLAGES
+ NOT Far from ST Petcrsburg, the dist
arco y WON thp two localities bcing
Y 1hout ! Eoo villas. ON Novcmbnr y
c 100 the next dav after \ most violent
'crnntinn of kiIauea-thc moon beine
+ fnu the 18th ana 1T her perigee tht
f 1e+b -thcrn were pru1,tiOns in SaWaii
., of tho samoan cr,uD and in StrOmbOli
ono of ~ TfTari islands the volca
- nocy hoino almost diametrically op.
y. ,,ocito TO oooh other: and dispatcncs
- from c1adaIoIne and Sicily. dated
rom Nudu"doolo DIV" |,a
tclootf - l'oo' iSl,oi -" 90"