The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-01-20

herds. 1t will be seen that they go
mad in herds. for innumerable in
stances can he given of whole people
suddenly shaking Off the trammes Of
reason and running wild under the de-
fusion of some impending calamity.
A panic terror of the end of the
world spread over London in 1876 by
the prophesy of the famous Winston.
who predicted that the world would
be destroyed on Oct. 13 in that year
Crowds of people went out on the APP
pointed day to Islington. Highgate
Hampstead and the intervening fields
to witness the destruction Of London,
which was to be the beginning of the
end"
Again in the year 1891 the citizens of
London were plunged into excitement
by two earthquake shocks, and the
prophecy of third, which was to de-
stroy them altogether. The first Of
these shocks was on Feb 8 and threw
down several chimneys; the second
was on March =. Public notice was
directed to the fact that there was ex-
actly months interval between the
two shocks. and crack Drained fell
low named Bell was so impressed with
the idea that there would be a third In
the forthcoming month that he com
pletely lost his senses and ran about
the streets predicting the destruction
Of London on April 8.
As the awful day approached the ex-
citement became intense and great
numbers of credulous people resorted
to all the villages within circuit of
twenty miles, there to await the doom
of London. Blackheath. Islington
Hlghgate. Hampstead and Harrow
were crowded with panic stricken
fugitives who paid exorbitant prices
for accommodations in these secure re-
treats. Such as could not afford to pay
for lodgings at these places encamped
in the surrounding fields.
AS is usual in panics, the fear be-
came contagious. and hundreds who
had laughed at the prediction u week
before packed up their goods and chat
and FASTENED away. The river was
thought to be a place Of great security,
and accordingly all the available mer
chant vessels and barges were packed
with people. who passed the night be-
tween the 4th and 9th on board. ex
pecting every moment to see st. Paurs
totter and the towers OF Westminster
abbey rock and fall amid cloud OF
dust But on the following day the
greater part of the fugltives returned.
convinced that the prophecy was a
false one. A few months afterward
Bell was confined in a lunatic asylum
where he died.
Great CONSERVATION was caused In
London in 1924 by prediction that on
the 1st day OF February the waters of
city of London and wash away 10000
houses. The prophecy was implicitly
believed. and many families packed UP
their goods aud removed into Kent and
Essex. AS the time drew near the
numbers of these emigrants increased.
In January droves Of workmen might
be seen. followed by their wives and
children, trudging on foot to the vii
lagos within fifteen or twenty miles to
await the catastrophe. People of a
higher class were also to be seen in
vehicles bound on similar errand
By the middle of January ut least
10000 persons had quilted the doomed
city, leaving nothing but the bare walls
Of their homes to be swept away by
the impending floods. Many of the
weather. class took up their abode on
the heights of Hampstead, Hlghgate
and Blackheath, and some erected tents
as far away as Waltham abbey on the
north and Croydon on the south of the
Thames.
On the fateful morning the wonder
ing crowds were astir at an early hour
TO watch the rising OF the waters. II
was predicted that the inundation
would be gradual, not sudden, so that
they expected to have plenty of time
to escape as soon as they saw the wa
ters rise beyond the usual mark.
The day grew older, and the Thames
flowed on quietly as of yore. The tide
ebbed at its usual hour, flowed to its
usual height and then ebbed again. just
as If twenty astrologers had not pledg
ed their word to the contrary.
Blank were their faces as evening
approached, and as blank grew the
faces OF the citizens to think that they
had made such fools Of themselves.
Night set in. and the obstinate river
would not lift its waters to sweep
away even one home out OF the TO-
J0O. Still. however. the people were
afraid to go to sleep Many hun
dreds remained up till dawn of the
next day. lest the deluge should come
upon them like thief 10 the night.
On the morrow Il was seriously dis
cussed whether Il would not be advis-
able TO duck the false prophets in the
dver Luckily for them they thought
Of an expedient which allayed the
popular fury. They asserted that by
an error they had fixed the date Of
his awful inundatlon a century too
early. The present generation OF
cOckneys were safe aud London would
be- washed away. not in 1924. but In
1924. London Family Herald