Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1907-03-27

the works OF man, there is revival
OF earthquakeology. People are gen
orally interested in that which is most
closely connected with the startling
current events, and it is so with ref
erence to earthquakes, for the very re-
cent destructive shocks in San Fran
cisco, Valparaiso and Jamaica have
served to quicken public interest in
what science is doing in the study Of
seismic disturbances.
Few people in this country, perhaps,
know that at Shide, Newport, Isle of
Wight, an observing station exists for
recording fundamentally the sensible
earthquake shocks Of the globe, as
we'll as those earth tremors which con-
, stitute what have been called the "un-
felt breathings of our earth" Prof.
John Milne, F. r. S., inventor of the
Milne horizontal pendulum seismo-
! graph, is the director of this station
Formerly, for upwards of 20 years, he
occupied the chair of mining and geo.
logy in the Imperial college of engi-
neering, Toxic, Japan, and while in
| IA~S SOuAeAJ NOAAuNSOu pAOAOCl wa n
on its earthquake and volcanic phe-
nomena. With him at Shide, as as
sistant, is Mr.. Shinobu Hirota. Main
! ly through Professor Mines efforts
and enthusiasm, supplemented by the
loyal help of committee of the Brit
ish association, 40 stations of SINH
lar character to his own have been
successfully inaugurated in various
parts of the world, the observers OF
which cooperate in the general
work, sending to Shide from time to
time registers of earthquake disturb
ances and other data for reduction, as
also seismograms.
In Great Britain, in addition tc
Shide, the stations for earthquake OBJ
servations are: Edinburg (Royal OBJ
servatory), Bidston liverpool observ
atory), Kew (Natural Physical labora
tory, and Paisley (the Coates observ
atory). At Shide time is obtained
from the post Office at Newport, which
receives a daily signal from Green
wich. An arrangement is also in force
noting the time by means of the sun
For this purpose in the south wall Of
the observatory there is vertical sill
made of two sheets of iron. The image
of this is thrown by the sun on to &
north wall 16 feet distant When this
image reaches line on the wall the
sun is due south.
Earthquake inquiry, as a branch O.
| 0hc4 l.
new seismology," as it has beer
styled-is study of comparatively re
cent birth. Whereas in former time!
disturbances due to sudden movement:
of the earth S substance formed tn,
the theme Of more or less highly col
ored narratives and tales, much ser
monising, by the way, being thrown
in, nowadays all that is changed, thu
casual having given place to exact in
vestigation, in which the mathemati
clan, physicist and geologist each bea
a part. So rapid, indeed, have beer
the growth and march Of knowledg.
relating to the phenomena of earth
quakes, the propagation and velocities
of those speeding earth-waves or pull
sations. which are correlated will
them, and the times and places o
origin of the movements themselves
that some leading seismologists agree,
not long since that the time was rip,
for the initiation and maintenance O
!: international cooperation among work
ers in all countries in this youn,
science.
In 1902 the German government ask
ed whether his majesty's government
would be willing to engage in con
ference with the view to bringin,
about an international inquiry int,
earthquakes. Provisional and favora
BILE consideration having been obtain
ed, conference was actually held a
: Strassburg in the following year, whe1
Is countries were represented, though
France, it should be mentioned, wa
not among the number. AS an out
come, it was decided that centra
association should be constituted
with it's headquarters at Strassburg.
The first meeting of the permanen
commission of this newly formed In
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