Evening star. [volume], September 16, 1923, Page 3, Image 81

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
District School System Started in
Wooden Hut Nearly 120 Years Ago
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WASHINGTON’S FIRST LARGE BRICK SCHOOL. THE RICHARD WALLACH SCHOOL. PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE AND BTH STREET
' SOUTHEAST, BUILT IN 1861. IT WAS CONSIDERED A MODEL FOR SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE NATION AT TIME OF CONSTRUCTION.
• »V GENE THOMAS.
, Schonl flays, srhool days.
• Hoar old g ildon ml? days.
Headin' and wrltin' and rithmptic.
Tomorrow ivashington's 70.-
O<H) school children and three
months of summer vacation.
They will fill IGO elementary
and high school building?. each hav
ing from eight to eighty rooms. They
w-ill overflow into seventy-eight por
table schoolhouses. Over 2,300 school j
teachers will greet them. To educate
them this year will-cost t." 5.000 a day.
How different ’from that morning
116 years ago when Schoolmaster
.Richard White led thirty boys and j
girls Into Washington's first school- I
house and. with brief religious serv- j
ices, started the public school system '
of the District of Columbia.
That schoolhouse. called Western j
School, was located at ITOO I street |
northwest, where the home of Sena- t
tor Frank B. Brandegee of Connect!- I
cut now stands.
It was a wooden structure, fifty I
feet long, twenty feet.w’de and one j
story high. There was plenty of play ,
1 space beside and behind it. and the i
muddy roadway in front was little j
traveled.
But when Schoolmaster White rang!
the bell in the steeple at front of the j
sloping shingled roof play was over. !
Boys and girls hurried to see their ;
schoolroom. Four rows of unpol
ished. uncarved, non-adjuatable desks
and benches, separated by narrow ,
aisles, awaited them.
Girls hung their wraps on hooks at !
right of the doorways. Boys tossed
caps and hats upon hooks at the left.
At the other end of-the room, on a
platform, was Schoolmaster White’s
desk and chair, flanked by black
boards in easels. The wall behind
him and space between windows on
sides of the room were bare. Con
gress necessitated this by limiting
cost of erection and equipment of the
school to S6OO.
As if to offset the meager appro
priation. the legislators became quite
generous in endowing the school with
aims. This little building, the act
creating It stated, was the foundation i
of “an institution in which every ppe- j
Cies of knowledge essential to the j
liberal education of youth may even- j
tually be acquired.”
.•**** (
i
WASHINGTON’S first school board,
charged with achievement of this
goal, was popularly chosen. It con
sisted of thirteen members, seven
elected by the city council and six
named by individuals contributing to
endowment of the school.
Thomas Jefferson, then President
of the United States, was elected grst
president of the school board. He
had contributed S2OO to the school and
showed his willingness to give time
•and thought to advancing education
In the National Capital.
Accepting the school board presi
dency, Jefferson wrote:
“MONTICELLO, August 14, 1805.
“Sincerely believing that knowledge
promotes the happiness of man, I
shall ever be disposed to contribute
my endeavors toward its extension,
and in the instance under considera
tion will willingly undertake the du
ties proposed to me, so far as others
of paramount obligation will permit
my attention to them. I pray you to
accept my friendly salutations and my
assurances of great respect and es
(Signed) "THOMAS JEFFERSON.”
teem.
The first school board meeting was
held in the Supreme Court room.
United States Capitol, In August, 1805.
From the beglnnig the school board
Insisted on maintenance of the same
high scholarship standards which to
day make a Washington high school
diploma respected by every college In
the nation.
Records show that on June 30, 1830.
an examination of the school iwas
held, lasting six hours, which, nnt
being completed, was continued for
five hours the next day. School was
conducted every day except Sundays
from September 10 to July 31. School
hours were 8 a.m. to 4:80 p.m. from
March 16 to September 18, and the re
mainder of the year from 9 a.m. to 3
p.m., with a recess of only one-fourth
*f an hour,”
There was no let-up In these long
school days, weeks and years until
about 1860. Then Saturday was taade
a holiday. Soon afterward the sum
mer vacation was lengthened and the
school day shortened.
To encourage diligence in study, the,
school board, in 1826, offered 'as
awards to such pupils “as excel In
literature, or by their uniformly cor
rect deportment and good mo*al con
duct and behavior merit the approba
tion of the teachers and trustees, a :
full suit of clothes to each boy and i
a full dress to each girl.” <
. And
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THOMAS JEFFERSON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA’S BOARD OF EDUCATION. HE CONTRIBUTED TWO i
HUNDRED DOLLARS TOWARD THE ERECTION OF A LITTLE
WOODEN SCHOOL HOUSE AT 1700 I STREET NORTHWEST.
school to teaching: the three R’s. On
April 5, 1821, it solemnly resolved;
** * *
"That every scholar before he enters
school each morning shall have his head
combed and his face washed, and that
it shall be the duty of the teacher to
j cause the said rule to be regularly en
j forced.”
Cleanliness having thus been pre
i scribed, the board next aimed at the
I twin virtue, godliness, by this resolu
j lion of July 16. 1824:
j "That the president of the board be
( requested to attend school every Sab
bath morning and lecture the pupils of
said school on their moral and religious
duties, and that it be the duty of the
teacher to cause the children to assem
ble for that purpose every Sunday
morning before 9 o’clock.”
THK progressive spirit of the early
school boards is shown in a peti
tion to the city council, in 1833. re
questing a female teacher to instruct
girls in knitting and sewing. More
than sixty years later, this idea was
realized in the introduction of manual
training.
Washington school boards a hun
dred years ago had to be as resource
ful as present-day school officials to
house the rapidly growing city’s
school children.
The eastern free school, which
Congress prescribed should be erected
“east of the Capitol. and within half
a mile of it,’’ was built about the
same time as the western school, but
these were overcrowded in ten years.
In 1816-. President ’James Madison
was asked to allow his stable at
14th and G streets northwest, where
the Washington safety council is
located now, to'be used as a school.
Madison did not grant the request,
but his successor, James Monroe,
turned the stable ovep- to the persis
tent school board, In 1821. This
schoolhouse was known for years
thereafter as “Jefferson’s stable."
Another worry of our early school
officials, which their successors say
they have inherited, was Impossibility
of stretching school funds to meet
school needs.
Schoolmaster Richard White’s sal
ary was |SOO a year, but be was
required by Congress "out of this sum
to pay for fuel consumed, for all
other expenses incidental to a school
and for such assistant teachers as
may be necessary.”
He struggled for a few months to
make his SSOO meet “all expenses in
cidental to a school’’ and a family
besides, then resigned and petitioned
the school board for money to enable
him to remove his family from Wash
ington.
In the first dozen years of Wash
ington's school history no less than
twenty different teachers were elect
ed and successively resigned because
of the meager allowance for school
maintenance. '
Nor did all of this S6OO, or the S6OO
for schoolhouse construction, come
from Congressi A portion of it was
solicited from President Jefferson and
other District residents. Pupils who
THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, 1). C. t SEPTEMBER 16, 1923-PART 5.
quarter year for this "advanced work.” 1
Lotteries. authorized by Congj-ess.
were conducted from 1812 to 1838
for the benefit of the public schools.
Large revenues were thus gained and
invested in stocks, only the interest
being applied to support of schools.
This investment totalled 680.000 in
1881. when Congress was asked to
erect Washington’s first high school, j
Congress, not yet in favor of employ
ing public money for high school edu
cation, directed that invested lottery
revenues be used for the desired
building.
Thus the building on O street north
west, near 7th street, whicth for
thirty-four years housed Central
High School and is now Columbia
Junior High School, came from funds
derived from questionable sources In
the light of present-day ethics.
♦* * *
I i
NOT all board meetings, however, I,
were consumed in passing reso- ,
lutiona tending to improve children’s
minds, souls and bodies and to
finance this work, as the following
extract from board minutes proves:
“July 11, 1833. A quorum not being
present, the only business transacted ,
was by the Rev. Mr. McCormick (a i
board member), who united in the ,
bonds of holy wedlock a -Mr. Swallow ,
to a blooming Miss Lloyd of Fort
Washington. The ceremony was brief, i
the fee small, the parties mutually
satisfied and the board adjourned. At- ,
test: John Coyle, jr., secretary.”
Congress having challenged Wash
ington schools to supply "every spe
cies of knowledge essential to the lib
eral education of youth" and the i
school board having prescribed
eleven-hour examinations, schoolmas
ters were equally as exacting in de- 1
manding study and progress from
their charges.
One of the students in the "Jeffer
son’s stable 1 ’ School was Alexander T. '
Stuart, superintendent of District of
Columbia schools from 1900 to 1908
and from 1908 to 1911 and now as
sistant superintendent. He recalls his 1
stalwart Scotch master, Strong John
Thompson, whose name Thomson 1
School and community center bear. 1
"Many a pupil of Strong John 1
Thomson left his school convinced
that he was styled rather than , named
strong because of the might with! 1
which he wielded the birch and strap,” j 1
Mr. Stuart said. #
"Hanging from his desk was a long-<
piece of leather harness, split in twoj,
at the end, and he was not slow tol<
acquaint slothful pupils with It. I,
“On his schoolroom wall hung a't
banner of silk, behind which pupils |i
proudly marched on festal days, and 1
on It was Inserted the stimulating I
motto, ‘Ad astra-per aspera’ (To suc
cess despite difficulty). Below was t
written another equally cheerful and «
characteristic legend, ‘The roots are «
bitter, but the fruit is sweet.’ 1
“Though his methods of enforcing <
study were not always cordially ap
proved by his pupils, his stern insist- <
peoo on-high- standards of achieve- ,
merit never failed to bear a worthy
harvest In after life.”
Public school pupils of a hundred
years ago were much poorer than
those of today. This was the greatest
obstacle to progress of the early com
mon Softool. Congress Jielped produce
an idea that a public school is a
I pauper school by wording of the act
1 creating D. C. schools. It stated that
, “poor children should be taught read
ing. writing, and grammar.”
■ fly barring from public school pupils.
' whose parents could pay for their
| education, the school board furthered
i this conception.
I “No scholar, whose parents' income
, exceeds 11.50 a day. can attend pub
j lie school, unless there are more than
I four children in the family." the
{school board ruled as late as 1831.
*♦ * *
IN 1835. schools were open only to
children of widows, or those whose
fathers’ pay was less than 20
i cents a day for each member of his
• family. At a single board meeting
‘ that year, twelve pupils were expelled
! because It was discovered their fath
i ers' incomes exceeded this sum.
“The popular belief that public and
pauper are synonymous was not over- i
1 come until during the civil war. I
Less than 5 per cent of Washington's (
, school population attended public j
schools, at times, before that,” AsaiS
i tant Supt. Stuart said.
; . Whether the difficulty be refusal of
the community to support schools,
lack of funds, or want of buildings,
the public schools of Washington al
. ways have found friends In Execu
i live Mansion, on Supreme court
j bench, or In Congress chambers,
who made matters a little better.
1 After Jefferson and the other ,
j pioneers in Washington, who provld- i
led education for the National Capital's
•children before the city was five
1 years old, came other nationally
famed men to help our public schools I
through their Infancy.
Among the most active were Presi- ;
dents John Quincy Adams and James j
Monroe, Justice Woodbury. Caleb j
Cushing. Prof. Joseph Henry, head |
of the Smithsonian Institution: George j
J. Abbott, private secretary to Daniel j
I Webster; George Watterson. first!
librarian of Congress: Daniel Carroll, j
one of the original proprietors of the j
District of Columbia; Rev. Andrew T. ,
I McCormick and Rev. William Mat- j
thews, distinguished clergymen; Wll- I
liam Seaton, an editor of the National !
Intelligence, and mayors of Wash
ington. Robert Brent, John P. Van
Ness, Roger C. Weightman. William
A. Smallwood. Peter Force and John
W. Maury.
Congress’ personal Interest In the
local school system was capitalized |
early In the nineteenth century, wn«n |
the ambitious school board strove to (
obtain funds to establish a college
here. The board circular letter con
tained this paragraph:
“The parent who sends his son to
Washington will find for him in his
representative to Congress a guaidian
and a friend who, during a large part
of the year, will be his associate, will
observe his progress In his studies,
superintend his morals and perceive
the real condition and character of
the seminary; and thus be able, from
time to time, to satisfy parental In
quiry.”
In the quarter century following
the civil war. Congress and the school
board took. five steps which caused
the entire community to respect and
support Its public schools. These ad
vances were>
1. Appointment ofi.a superintendent
of schools.
2. Introduction of the graded sys
tem.
3. Construction of larger and better
equipped school buildings.
4. Establishment of a normal school.
5. Establishment of a high school.
♦♦ ♦ *
THE first superintendent of schools,
appointed in 1869, was Zalmon
Richards, one of the founders of the
National Education Association and ■
for years a successful private school
teacher here. He served a j*ar and
was succeeded by J. Ormond Wilson, ,
formerly a member of the school
board.
“Mr. Wilson was the master or
ganizer of the school system as It (
exists today. He introduced the |
graded system and manual training, ,
established normal and high schools,
and was the prime mover In the plan ,
to give Washington better school .
buildings. For him Wilson Normal
School was named,” Assistant Supt. (
Stuart said.
The Richard Wallace School. Sth
street and Pennsylvania « avenue
southeast, was the first large brick .
schoolhouso to be erected in Wash- ,
ington.. It still Is occupied by ten .
classrooms full of children.
“When finished in 1864, it was not ,
only the pride of Washington, hut
(Continued on Fourth Page,)
D.C. Man Who Caught First Tremors
of Big Quake Explains Earth Shocks
Father Tondorf of Georgetown Says Few Such Disturbances Are of Volcanic Origin—
Real Beginning of Their Scientific Study and Observation Began in Japan—Work in That
Field Has Resulted in Aids to Everyday Tasks.
BV JAMES A. BI'CHASAS.
THE recent appealing catastro
phe that left Japurt stricken,
with thousands dead or starv
ing, has brought again to the
minds of laymen the question, “What
causes earthquakes?" While scien
tists have been working on the subject
for many years—ln fact, for hundreds
of years—the general public has for
gotten for the moment the cause of
these severe disturbances. The great
masses of the people have given the
matter no thought at all.
Many of the ancients made refer
ences to earthquakes, but their con
ceptions of the causes were fanciful
atid irrational.
Unsatisfactory-attempts were made
by Joseph Priestly and other scien
tists in the eighteenth century to con
nect earthquakes with electric phe
nomena. but nothing of a definite
character was established. One may
say that investigations of seismic phe
nomena began in the middle of the
nineteenth century and have been
continued. .
Investigators have agreed that
earthquakes are caused by the slip
ping of the earth along certain lines,
and this movement Is at points known
as “faults." Thus, the great earth
quake of October. 1891, in Japan,
known as the Mino-Owari earth
quake. was connected with the for
mation or development of a fault,
which, according to Prof. B. Koto,
was traced on the surface for a dis
tance of nearly fifty miles and pre
sented in places a scarp with a ver
tical throw of as much as twenty feet,
while probably the maximum dis
placement v underground was very
much greater.
The recent shock was. according to
advices received from the Imperial
University at Tokio. centered In the
sea. a distance of more than sixty
miles from the stricken city, and Prof.
A. Lawson ht the University of Cali
fornia states that many of the quakes
that have occurred in the Pacific
ocean area have been caused by the
sinking of the sea’s floor and that in
places great amounts of rocks have
slipped vertically, or nearly so.
In this same connection Lawson
says that there is little danger of a
city of any size being engulfed, ow
ing to the fact that there is not suf
ficient room in the region of the fault
for the city to enter and be engulfed,
for the earth is too compact.
In commenting upon the tidal waves
that almost always follow a shake,
he says that these are caused by the
fact that when the ocean floor sinks
great volumes of water rush in.
I The largest vertical displacement
of which there is any record was at
jYakatat. Alaska, where, in 1899. the'
i fall was forty-seven feet.
** ♦ ♦
| CiOXfPARy to the general belief.
|V-i earthquakes may be of different
I' forms. For instance, they may be
undulatcry. that is, along the ground;
they may be vertical, or even rotary.
1 Many have asked during the past
(few days about the frequency of these
| disturbances. If we pick out the well
| marked earthquake districts of the
i world and give to each of them a
seismicity or earthquake frequency
per unit area, one-third of that In
Japan, the conclusion arrived at Is
j that considerable areas of our planet
! are, on the average, shaken every half
hour. The great majority of these are
not preceptible, although we find that
from time to time shakes will oc
cur that are not noticed on land, but
can readily be detected If they oc
cur near a body of water. There, if
j one looks closely, he will note a suc
-1 cession of ripples on the surface of
i the lake or pond. Some scientists say
j that the actual range of horizontal
j motion of the ground is less than
I one-tenth of an inch usually. In Jap
j an. however, nine Inches or even one
foot movement visible to the naked
eye has been recorded.
It is reported that the recent quake
in the land of Nippon was about sixty
miles distant, and looking up the
I quake that occurred at Charleston,
i S. C, in 1886, we find that its focal
i center was twelve miles underground.
I This conclusion must be regarded as
only approximating the depth, how
ever. It Is remembered that a few
days previous to the shock, quakes
were felt at Summerville, a town
about twenty miles distant from
Charleston. The shock at the latter
place was of such severity that in a
little more than a minute nearly every
building in the city was more or less
damaged and many lives were lost.
The San Francisco earthquake was
plainly due to a fault which can be
traced more than 190 miles. Move
ment all along this line was disclosed
by later Investigations. The worst
damage occurred on alluvial soil or
made ground. The great damage that
yra.a done to the city was, of course, the
result of the fire that swept the area,
and once this fire had gained headway,
there was only one way to arrest Its
progress, and that was by dynamiting
great areas, so that the flames would
have nothing to feed upon.
The great 'Neapolitan earthquake In
1857 resulted In the deaths of 12,300
persons. The disaster known as the
great Indian earthquake, sometimes
termed the Assam earthquake, since It
was in that province that the effects
were most severe, caused shocks to be
felt over a large part of India and. In
deed, far beyond Its boundaries. For
tunately, the area that suffered greatest
disturbance was a wild country, al
though some towns were in the affected
*one. For Instance, at Shillong the
stonework of bridges, churches and
other buildings was levelled to the
ground. The epicentral tract was of
great alse, having an estimated area of
6,000 square miles.
It is supposed that this quake was
connected with a movement of sub
terranean rock masses of enormous
magnitude along what geologists call a
great thrust-plane, or a series of such
planes, having a length of about 200
miles and a minimum breadth of not
less than fifty miles. Oldham, noted
authority ott earthquakes, pointed out
that this can be compared for sise
with the great Faille du Midi in Bel
gium, which is known to extend for a
distance of 126 miles.
The depth of the principal focus,
though not actually to be determined.
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i FATHER TONDORF. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S EXPERT ON
EARTHQUAKES. Photograph by Edmonston.
wh s probably less than five miles.
From the focus many secondary
faults and fractures proceeded, some
, ( reaching the surface of the ground.
Enormous landslips accompanied
the earthquake, and as an indirect
effect of these slides the form of
water courses became In certain
cases modified. Permanent changes of
i level were also observed. Eight years
after the Assam quake there was
another. known as the Kangra.
; While this was not as severe as the
Assam, nevertheless about 20,000 lives
were lost.
♦V * v
.../VNE of the peculiar incidents ob
\_/ served in the Jamaica quake of
1907 was the turning of the statue of
Queen Vtetonia one-eight of a revolution
on its pedestal. In August of the pre
ceding 'year a disastrous shake took
[place at Valparaiso. In fact, the entire
year 1906 was marked with exceptional
seismic activity.
There are many who remember the
terrible earthquake that occurred In
Calabria and Sicily on December 28.
1908. practically destroying Messina and
Reggio. The total loss of life at that
time was more than 77.000. The prin
cipal center of the disturbance was in
the Strait of Massina, although there
were independent centers in the
Calabrian peninsula, a region that had
been visited by severe earthquakes in
I 1905 and 1907. That these could not be
traced to any volcanic source is shown
by the fact that neither during nor be
fore the catastrophe was there any spe
[ cial volcanic disturbance at Etna
jor Stromboli. The only deduction
Ithat may be made with any degree of
certainty Is that there must have been a
( movement along a great plane of weak
i ness in the vicinity of the Strait of
Messina. The sea floor of the strait,
no doubt, suffered great disturbance,
resulting in the remarkable movement
of water observed on the coast.
According to the record, at first the
sea retired and then a great wave rolled
in. followed by others of lesser size, al
though at Catania the second was said
to have been larger than the first. At
Messina the height of the wave was 2.70
meters, while the peak was reached at
Aleseio, where it was 11.7 meters.
Great Britain has not been immune to
earthquakes, but most of those that
have been felt from time to time in
that section of the world may generally
be traced to the formation of faults,
or, rather, to incidents in the growth of
old faults.
The East Angitan earthquake in 1884
was the most disastrous of many cen
turlea Dr. C. Davjson, who has given
much study to the matter, is respons
ible for the theory that several of the
quakes In Great Britain were “twins."
A twin earthquake has two nmxima
of Intensity proceeding from two foci,
whereas a double earthquake has its
successive Impulses from what Is
practically -a single focus.
While the great majority of earth
quakes are of the tectonic type, there
are some which are evidently connected,
directly or indirectly, with volcanic ac
tivity—for example, the quakes that
disturbed the Isle of Ischia In 1881 and
1883. These, according to the belief of
scientists, were due to volcanic ac
tivities.
In addition to the two types just
mentioned there are occasional
quakes of minor importance which
may be referred to as the collapse of
the root of caverns or other falls of
rock in underground cavities at no
great depth. Prof. T. J. J. See holds
that most earthquakes are due, di
rectly or indirectly, to the explosive
action of steam, formed chiefly by the
leakage of sea water through the
ocean floor.
♦* ♦ ♦
r measure the surface speed at
which earthquake waves travel
It is necessary to have accurate time
measures. Observations during the
Charleston earthquake were at that
time of exceptional value, since they
were made over a large area where
standard time was kept. Unfelt move
ments of the ground are registered In
the earthquake records, or seis
mograms, obtained by the delicate in
struments used by idodern seismolog
ists.
From the study of records of a
great earthquake from a distant
source, sometimes termed a talesels
nrjic disturbance, some interesting in
ferences have been drawn with re
spect to the constitution of the in
terior of the earth. The complete
record shows two phases of “pre
liminary tremors” preceding the prin
cipal waves. It is believed that while
the preliminary tremors pass through
| the body of the earth, the principal
i waves travel along or parallel to the
surface. Probably the first phase
! represents the condensational and
| the second phase distortional waves.
From the different rates of propa
gation of the precursors it has been
inferred by R. D. Oldham that below
the outer crust, w-hich is probably not
everywhere of the same thickness,
the earth is of practically uniform
character to a depth of about six
tenths of the radius, but the remain
ing four-lenths may represent a core
differing physically and perhaps
chemically from the outer part. This
same authority suggests, from his
study of oceanic and continental wave
paths, that there is a difference in the
constitution of the earth beneath }
oceans and beneath continents
The sounds that are associated with
seismic phenomena, often described
as subterranean rumbling and roar
ing,' are not without scientific in
terest. ‘Tsacoustic lines" are curves
drawn through places where the
sound is heard by the same percen
tage of observers.
The advances that have been* made
in the study of earthquakes were in- i
itiated in work commenced in Japan. I
Years ago that nation, desirous of j
gaining western knowledge, invited
a number of savants from other lands)
to visit the land of the cherry bios- J
soms. and these visitors were im- j
pressed by the frequent shaking* of j
the ground. Interest in these phe- j
nomena gained more rapidly than 1
their frequency, and it was felt that |
something should be done for their
systematic study.
At midnight on February 22, 18S0.
movements more violent than usual
occurred—chimneys were shattered or
rotated, tiles slid down roofs, and In
the morning it was seen that Yoko
hama had the appearance of a city j
that had suffered a bombardment. Be
fore the ruins had been removed a
meeting was convened and the Seis
mological • Society of Japan estab
lished. The twenty volumes of
original papers published by this
body summarize to a large extent the
results of the later study of seis
mology. Os course, from time to
time meetings have been held and
other data has been added, so that
today there is a comprehensive rec
ord of earthquakes, their results and
causes.
♦ ♦ ♦ •♦
Father f. a. tondorp of
Georgetown University, who is
recognized as one of the leading au
thorities on the matter of earth
quakes, w'hen discussing the recent
catastrophe said: "There is no ques
tion that this earthquake was caused
by the slipping along a fracture. The
older theory was that disturbances,
such as those that have just occurred,
were of volcanic action. Dr. Nauman
advanced the theory that earthquakes
were of tectonic origin. ,We find
many of the earthquakes to be along
lines of weakness in the earth’s crust.
This was not the way of those of
volcanic origin. The latter were very
rarely of a severe nature. They never
were widely felt and consequently
were not recorded at any great dis
tances.”
When asked as to whether or not
It was possible to estimate where the
earthquakes start or, to phrase It
scientifically, where the slip occurs.
Father Tondorf said:
“These matters can only bo arrived
at In a general way, for instance, in
a comparison of three stations. Os
course, however, it is possible some
times to indicate from a single sta
tion, noting the distance, but you
generally get only about 3 or 4 per
cent accuracy by this method. We
are aided in our work by the knowl
edge that areas are sus
ceptible; hence, we work by elimina
tion.”
Father Tondorf is not only a man
of the church, but he is a scientist of
note, and combined with his extensive
knowledge is a charming modesty,
for, when asked-If his was not the
j first word given to the world local
jlng the place where the >arti!c,uak*
occurred, he vary modestly stated that
he had given to the world the fact
;of the distance. The writer, hnwevti,
.knows that the first word lhat
given to the world came trom the
‘office of a scientist on Georgetown
i Hill at 6 a.m. on the morning the
‘shock was felt in Japan and It was
!or. the press wires in Washington
long before Europe had any knowl
edge of it.
1 Continuing, Father Tondorf naid:
, "Os course, while I gave out the dis
tance, I was rather certain in my own
imind as to about where it happened,
j One cannot tell the exact spot where
| the- slip occurs. For instance, you
cannot say that it was twelve and
'one-haif miles outside of Tokio. That
, would be a wild guess. Could such a
1 thing be determined? In answer to
that ques.tion I would not want to say
it could, because I do not know. You
have asked about the article that was
j published some time ago about a
, method of foretelling earthquakes. I
jam ignorant on that question."
I Returning for a moment to the
matter of the earthquake at Charles
ton, S. C„ in 1886, and the subsequent
I one that was the primary cause of
laying San Francisco low, the man of
the church said: “There is little rea
son to believe that we have any
quakes of volcanic origin in this
country. Those that caused damage
I in Charleston and San Francisco were
1 tectonic in their origin. They arc
(different from the ones they have in
| Hawaii. As I said before, these vol
canic earthquakes are localized. Tak-e,
Ifor instance, the ones in the Philip
i pines, the Taal volcano, for example,
j The one which took place in Alaska
ja number of years ago was of tec
j tonic origin.”
♦♦ * *
H' AVING in mind the building alte
on the narrow strip of land they
call New York city, the writer asked
Father Tondorf if New York city
might not some day suffer from one
of these catastrophes. His reply was;
“New York city is practically im
mune. for. as far as we know, there
is no slip in the region of that great
municipality. The northern part of
the state is not quite so immune, for,
if you will turn back the pages of
history you will find that in 1663
there was a shake in the northern
part of New York, that portion that is
on the Canadian border.
“It may be of interest to some to
knotv that Washington is not abso
lutely immune to earthquakes. We
have felt quakes here, but the differ
ence is that Washington is not the
center. Take, for instance, the shock
that occurred in 1918. Its center was
down in the Virginias. Os course. It
Is only my belief, but I doubt very
much that Washington will suffer
from a quake of any consequence.
The chance Is a remote one. but, of
course, it is still there.
“Earthquakes, as I stated before,
are caused by slips. These slips In
turn are caused by weaknesses pri
marily, secondarily by stresses
brought about by the abutting geo
logical factors and also, possibly, ac
cording to the theory of Dr. Omori,
by heavy precipitations and baro
metric variations. I very much doubt
if the interior cooling of the earth
has anything to do with the earth
quakes from which we have suffered,
“The Instrument we have here prac
j ticaily records earthquakes in any
‘ part of the world, but you must also
i remember that these instruments are
J rather freakish. They sometimes re
: cord great distances, while nearby
shocks are not recorded at all.
♦♦♦ * ,
jRfpHE practical certainty of the
j X dislocation theory calls for a
} more thorough study of geological
j formations, so that the more unstable
i areas may be indicated on the map.
I This accomplished, more exact inter
pretations of the warnings given by
lesser shocks would be useful in
places situated along a serious fault
line. Had this been done in the past
Messina and San Francisco would
have been better prepared to meet
jthe shocks that were so disastrous
to them.’’
One of the effects of earthquakes
is to cause architects, builders and
others to revise their plans of con
struction. We find that the students
of engineering in Japan receive a spe
cial course of lectures on this subject.
Another application of selsmometry
has been to record the vibration of
railway trains, bridges and steam
ships. An instrument of suitable con
struction will give records of the
more or less violent jolting and
vibratory movement's of a train and
so localize irregularities due to
changes Th the character of ballast
and sleepers, to variation in gdage,
etc. An instrument placed on a loco
motive throws considerable light on
the effects due to the methods of
balancing the wheels, and by altera
tions in this respect, a saving of fuel
can be made.
Another thing that the study of
earthquakes has taught Is the por
tions of the ocean bed to avoid when
laying a cable, for, with the maps
in existence showing the “shock
areas,” it is possible, to an extent at
least, to avoid regions lhat are
known to be in the quake zone.
Chinese and Com Heal.
From the National Farmer and Stock Grower.
Corn flour is the principal article
of diet of the South Manchurian
Chinese, the daily per capita con
sumption being said to be between
two and one-half to three pounds.
Next to the soya bean, the corn crap
Is the most Important In the Antung
district, according to Consul W. R.
Langdon in a report to the Depart
ment of Commerce. There Is no
way of estimating the annual yield
of com, but It Is sufficient to provide
about two million Chinese with their
main source of sustenance and allow
a surplus of nearly half a million
bushels for export from Antung to
other Chinese ports. The grinding
and marketing of corn flour has so
far been In the hands of small grain
retail dealers who crush smalt quan
tities of flour In their shops to meet
the daily demand. The crushing Is
done with primitive granite mill
stones turned by a blindfolded mute,
3