Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-04-27

A GAIN the demons down under the land
"A have violently shaken Italy. The gods
of war and the gods of the earthquake seem
to be conspiring against the peace and pros
perity of the nation. Quakes, we learn, have
been OF almost daily occurrence at Avez-
zano and in the surrounding territory since
the heavy, disastrous shock of January 13.
Twice in that period the disturbances have
been severe.
There runs through the peninsula one of
those assures, or faults" as the geologists
call them. which are scattered over the
globe, and which, as the earth's crust ad-
justs itself to changing conditions of pres
sure, work havoc with the towns and fields
above them Though these assures serve
much the same purpose as do the breaks in
the continuity of n huge bridge, allowance
being made in both cases for expansion and
contraction, nature is a clumsy worker and
the joints do not slip smoothly. Hence, while
the consequences may not be serious to the
globe as a whole the local effects are some
times devastating Throughout history
Italy has known these disturbances some of
them exceedingly violent. Always there is
the threat of disaster to the people who
dwell above the earthquake
Not So Strange, After All
Human nature triumphs over fear, how
ever, and the Abruzzi seems to lose none of
its attractiveness as a place Of abode. The
people Of this region, as the human fashion
is, continue their allegiance as II the terri
tory were as safe as any other. The dis
patches show that the loss of life fron the
recent heavy earth shocks slight. as
compared with the disaster in January, one
reason being that so many OF the inhabitants
were occupying temporary tents and huts,
and not the dangerous stone houses which
had been ruined in January. But the people
will build of stone again. 1t is their long
established way despite all warnings from
events. After every repeated experience.
though it is easily possible to build houses
which no earthquake will harm much or
even at ALL they go on using their most
convenient material, and do not employ 1t in
ways that would considerably reduce its
perils
This will seem strange or reprehensible
only to those who do not realize that life
cannot be lived in state of constant prepa-
ration for all contingencies even the remote
ones, and that 1t would be intolerably ex-
pensive and inconvenient constantly to guard
against every danger that may arise. Stone
houses have advantages which more than
counterbalance their dangers even in Italy,
and the Italians will go on living in them
TIL tns emu OF tluleS just as they "''t 30 OiA
living on the slopes OF Vesuvius and Etna.
This is done, not in ignorace Of peril, but in
recognition, conscious or unconscious, of the
fact that while disaster is always possible,
at no given moment or day or year is 1t
sufficiently probable TO compel or even to
Justify, removal to a safer but less fertile
region
Habit OF mind and constraint of circum-
stance have produced similar instances in
this counry. In the cyclone country many
OF the people neglect to prepare against tho
ever-present menace In the valley OF the
Mississippi men still make their homes where
the floods have more than once come and
gone. In San Francisco, a generation ago,
the citizens said they would not have build
ings more than three stories in height-fre-
quent earth tremors told them to be careful.
The rest Of that tale is known to everybody.
Misfortunes of Villa Franco
poor little island village OF the Azores
has trembled in sympathy with almost every
volcanic eruption or violent earthquake that
has been felt in any part of the world In
the last 1--WE centuries. Villa FTanca, once
the proud capital OF St. Miehaeps, has been
destroyed and rebuilt four times; has been
terribly damaged on many occasions; has
been shaken by echoes from Yesuvius, Etna
and Mont Pelee. 1t has suffered SO many
violent but less disastrous seismic disturb
anees that the residents have lost count OF
them.
The ons-time capital & nov 4 meek little
town OF 5000 inhabitants. sprawlad out on =
gentle slope on ths southern eoast or the