The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-03-03

i. Ridden
/ Land

was OeVaStateO Dy d series OF SHOCKS
which destroyed ffty-four cities and
300 villages Catania, with $4,000 pop
ulat1on. was b1otted out Of existence,
and the total loss Of life in Sicily was
upward Of 100000. In 1888 Messina
lost 10000 by an earth CONFUSION which
lasted only half a minute. Within a
period Of seventy-1ve years, from 1888
to 1857, the kingdom Of Naples, &C.
credited with a population Of 100000,
lost 10000 by earthquake.
In point Of loss of life and property
the most disastrous earthquake Of the
last two centuries occurred in Tokyo,
then called Yeddo, in 1903. Exact in
formation concerning that gigantic up
heaval Is not available, but from the
most authentic japanese accounts It
appears that nearly 100000 persons
were destroyed. Twenty-eight years
later Pekin had its fatal shakeup, with
a loss Of over 100000 persons and an
immense destruction Of property. Mel
Their Of these oriental ~catastrophes was
accompanied by greater violence than
attends similar events in other coun-
tries, and the greater mortality is due
to the densely populated area within
the zone Of shock.
Some other great earth commissions
Of the eighteenth century were that Of
1746 at Lima, in which $4,000 were
lost; that Of 1854 at Cairo, with its
10000 victims, and the memorable up
heavals at Quito in 1897 and at Guate-
mala in 1773.
In 1755 Lisbon experienced its never
to be forgotten blow. The great tidal
wave which accompanied this earth
quake was announced at the mouth Of
the river Tagus by the sea retiring and
leaving the bar perfectly dry. Then a
huge wave fully sixty feet in height
rolled in from the ocean and over
whelmed the city, which the earth
quake had already toppled over. With
in a period Of six minutes upward Of
10000 persons persisted. This Lisbon
earthquake was especially remarkable
for the great area covered by its activ-
ity. Humboldt estimated this area as
more than four times the size of Eu-
rope. In the track of the disturbance
immense mountain ranges like the
Alps and Pyrenees were shaken vio-
lently. The solid earth was Jared as
far north as the shores of the Baltic,
and the lowlands Of the North sea re-
gion We're visibly disturbed. Flowing
springs in Germany, notably the hot
springs at Toplitz, disappeared for sew
eral hours, only to return as boiling
torrents. The wave Of disturbance
even crossed the Atlantic, causing phe-
nomenally high tides in the West In
dies and even on the South American
coasts. 1t shook the North American
continent as far west as the great
lakes. In France a deep f1ssure opened
in the earth, and in northwestern AZ
RIGA many thousand persons were bur-
led in fallen houses.
Seismograph Gave Warning.
1t is now the theory that Fremont
tory signs Of the recent quake were
observed as long ago as November.
Central and southern Europe were dis
turbed, as indicated by the seismo-
graph, and various we'll defined a
fngs and eve explosions were heard
in the vicinity of volcanic heights all
the continent. One marked effect
Of this impending seismic outbreak
was noticed at the German mineral
springs of Baden-Elster, where the
temperature Of the water rose Is de-
grees. Until the recent lamentable af-
fair in Italy the seismic record of 1908