EARTHQUAKES UTILISED.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 9, 11 January 1870, Page 3

EARTHQUAKES UTILISED.

u— — — — The New York World counts "upon seeing the time when the laws of earthquakes shall be familiar to every schoolboy, so thnt, the spasms of terrene nausea from which -our mother earth so frequently suffers may be produced or prevented at-will, and when we can proudly claim, while cataloguing the social blessings of America, that we have no home "without an earthquake" ready for use at a moment's notice. Even in the present undeveloped state of science, .we know that a sea of liquid fire gnaws, with a mordacity surpassing that of fusel whiskey, at the vitals of the earth. Should we bore an artesian well untill this fiery sea shqpld be reached, we should be able to produce earthquakes at pleasure by simply turning a stream of water down the artesian boring, and thus producing a sudden and violent* generation of steam. In the future, every man will doubtless possess his earthquake-well, and will shake the fruit from his orchard and stir the soil of his garden by a gentle earthquake. In time of war, the enemy's forts and armies will be destroyed by earthquakes of extra strength, and at ensuing peace festivals the horrors of the Anvil Chorus will be increased by the subterranean murmurs of a rhythmic shake. The force of ihe phenomenon could of course be regulated by the amount of water which should be turned into steam, and cities could be levelled to the ground by the same agent.