Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-07-28
~
81 Back to Normal
Continued from Page One)

ice sheet thousands of feet thick,
these states were depressed or tilted
toward the north and since the re-
treat of the glacia they have grad
ually been recovering their former
attitude. This return fitting has been
observed within historic times.
The biologists found that seisnno-
graphs were too few to be of more
than secondary value and collected
the bulk of their data from individ-
ual witnesses throughout the area.
Five of the foci of high disturbance
intensity were found in New Eng
land, indicating complex movement
of the earth. The chief of these was
belt extending from Northwestern
Vermont, across New Hampshire and
eastern Massachusetts into Cape Cod.
One other entered extreme north
ern Maine along the st. John river,
third ran out of the Maine wilder
ness into the sea through the central
district; and a fourth followed the
line of the Connecticut river from
Long Island almost to Canada. The
fifth belt paralleled this slightly to
the west.
1t was on the States shales and
| sandstone, the weaker rocks, that
the earthquake was most severe, the
report stated. The motion was hori-
zontal or sideways, rocking houses
steeples, pictures and chandeliers. In
this 1t differed in the main from
most of the series of shocks of which
it was part for in the others the
vertical motion was plain and the
lateral sway lacking.
The Investigators while seeking
earthquake information made many
observations of human relations to
such phenomena.
1.-THE physical damage caused"
the report stated, was readily dis
covered and comparatively unimpor-
tant. The mental effects, however
were pronounced and might easily
have led to disastrous results if the
quakes had been only a little more
severe. The descendants of the old
New England stock regard modera-
ton and absolute truth as objects of
respect, and to them the giving of
help to a public inquiry was an in
herited duty. They could be relied
upon to give cool, impartial state
ments because they had preserved
their calm even though startled by
their first great earthquake.
In strong contrast were the
| French Canadians, of rather recent
immigration. with whom reticence is
not a leading characteristic and
whose desire to tell a good story
seemed to lead some of them rather
far afield. The Italian fruit dealers
who flourish in all the good-sized
towns were excellent sources of evil
dence. This was an old story to
n n
and matter of-fact accounts. .
New England is in general thick
! ly populated and the region has
therefore yielded larger result in
observational data than almost any
other which could be selected in
America.
THE time when the big quake oc-
CURED was especially favorable TO
its general observation. People at
80 ?. M. on Saturday were awake
as general rule but not specially
occupied and the country stores were
opened and filled with articles to
register both sound and motion.
The telephone service. however,
broke down in the towns with a sud-
den load of thousands of calls, add
ing to the general fear. A large
factor in allaying this fear was the
radio, for within few minutes the
news flashed through the air that
an earthquake had passed and this
relieved thousands OF anxious minds.
The quake furnished striking COM
mentary on the speed of our mod
ern civilization. The telegraph, the
swiftest messenger of the last gen.
GRAFTON, was nearly forgotten at this
time. The telephone, our indispens-
able servant 10 years ago, was al
most a failure in this emergency; but
the radio. the plaything of yesterday,
alone met the demand and spread
the news to all who had the means
of listening in"