White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-09-09
EARTHoUAKE NOTION REFUTEp

1t always was a flimsy notion, when
you stop to think about it. that
Japan's earthquakes were lever
deadly and loss of life from them
was not to be feared. Any portion of
the earth's surface that is in a state
of constant disturbance, SO much so
that tremors come daily or several
10 have one or a series of shocks of
greater violence than the rest, wreak-
ing havoc beyond anything of the
kind yet recorded in human history.
There may be no scientific reason for
saying this, but there is the fact that
such has previously proved to be the
truth with other parts of the world.
yet for three-Guarters of a century
since Perry opened Japan to white
tourists and the characteristics of the
country have been told to the world,
it has been published many times
that it was an exceptional country in
that respect and no one need fear
seismic disturbances.
Records of earthquake regions, to-
gether with those Of volcanoes, have
been alike in the one respect that
o OIL later violent ones have
come the loss of life from which has
been terrific. Such has proved true
several times in Italy, one within
fifteen years, and so it was at Mar
Unique where 10000 lives were the
price paid for dwelling with a de-
gree of impunity that human instinct
should have prevented, right at the
base of Mont Pelee. Nobody knows
how many were sacrificed in the San
Francisco disturbance of 1906, but
there were plenty, probably most of
them in the fire which was caused by
the shocks. San Francisco was another
place, like Japan, where shocks we're
SO frequent as to let the notion get
out that they were eve to be harm
less, but the time came when that
false notion was refuted and all done
in a minute.
1t was the time of General Grants
tour Of the world, when the ex-presi-
dent dined there with Nippon's roy
atty, that the world was told about
the tremors that Jared the tables so
that the wine in the glasses thereon
was disturbed, and this was said to
happen almost every mealtime and
particularly in the evenings. Cur
rent records do not tell of heavy loss
of life from Japanese shocks in re-
cent years, and it grew through ages
to be the notion that these were
good" earthquakes and never would
kill anybody. At the same time it
frequent there of any nlace on earth
hence it should be patent to o dis
corning mind that the liability O. a
death dealer when it does come would
be the more Of a peril.
For the folly of %supposing Japanese
shocks to be harmless 100000 per-
sons have forfeited their lives. Prob
ably not in human annals has there
been its equal in that respect. 1t
thus demonstrates once more that
reasoning by deduction may be SUBJ
|stituted for any scientific formulate
that ever have been coniured up to
arrive at the same line of facts and
conclusions.
Another place that is going to get
it sooner or later is Honolulu. Some
day a volcano will belch forth from
the Punchbowl, which is an extinct
crater closer to the heart of town
than the Flagstaff in the rock point is
to the center of Ely. During recent
years the Punchbowl has been a COW
pasture and inside of the rim there
is a driveway all around its edge.
Two o %perilously close extinct
volcanoes are Diamond head and
Koko head, n three and the other
six miles from the heart of the city.
II a forced wave like the one al Cal
weston were to be started by a dis
turbance at sea in the direction OF
the island at Hawaii it would sub
merge Honolulu and all the planta-
tions on the sea level gentle slope
Of the makea or ocean side of Oahu
in less than no time.
NH