A FULFILMENT OF PREDICTIONS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 144, 17 June 1918, Page 6

A FULFILMENT OF PREDICTIONS.

(To the .Editor.*

c; r —Your correspondent who again ST * Vskjiem- . •Mental Hospital, with the subject j£ astronomy, unless he seeks to b!ane the -inauspicious stars" for his o« .n im becilities I shall not attempt to follow such an anonymous and such a lp enetic critic in all his ufelevant ramblings; but "Re need not blame me, &e S »the lid of hell" has not yet blown off, or because he has not yet neen swallowed an earthquake Hie should not be in too big a hurry to <ro to his own place, as there' u■tame enough yet; and that in perfect keemn- with my astronomical predictions: which he distorts, sneers at and. pretends to criticise. What your corespondent really criticises and ridicules is not the scientific prediction? which I made some months ago, but his ow„ inventions and caricatures-This-will be sufficiently clear .by coxu- • paring what he now says with what J. then actually wrote. He says: lou - will remember, he stated through your columns that on June Bth Nelson would be the scene of one of the greatest cataclysms ever recorded m the totorv of man. Professor Taylor, b> means of obstruse and intricate calculation had 'bten able to prove conclu- • sively that such a shaking of,the earth would occur on that date that Nelson would be shaken to its very coregraves would be opened and - rushing waters would wash the occupants out to sea." This evidently professes to -, represent what I stated in a letter entitled "A Plain Scientific Prediction, ' which appeared in your issue of March 20th; but in which* 1 actually WTote as follows: "Just to prove once more that earthquakes can be correctly calculated beforehand on astronomical lines, and on thoroughly scientific principles, as truly as can wind and weather, I will venture to forecast three months in advance another exceptionally heavy cosmic strain, which will occur during June' next, especially about thetti e of the total solar eclipse on June Bth; and will be as sensibly felt throughout New Zealand as was the recent earthquake of 20th February ; although its chief force will be expressed in countries slightly north of the Eqaator. corresponding with the commencement of the northern summer solstice. These will be among the greatest astronomical events of the present year. ' But as I gave, the technical ground for this prediction in the Nelson Colonist of January 17th, and in the Grrymouth Star of December 28th and of January 17th, I will only "now state that the shock I have mentioned will be followed 'by another decided though less severe tremor about a fortnight later, coincidently with a partial lunar eclipse." For the sake of aiding the memory. I then put into the form of vrrse the same "general resujt of my calculations"; and careful readers will notice that I was reierring to the general results of a farreaching cosmic strain. One of the verses of the poem to which your correspfonrfent seems to refer in particular, .ran as follows: "June the eighth will mark the centre Of this speei.il cosmic strain. Earthquake shocks will go before it, • And there'll follow in its train Striking storms of wind and thunder, , Imaging floods and tidal waves: . So that some, who now are buried ,Will he washr.H from out their . graves." ' I don't denv. of course, that your has the "trained scientific mind" which he claims for him-s-lf; but the "P-ay~in which he word= his caricature shows nr<"tty- clearlv that he Ttmst 'be lamentably lacking in sci«ntific, or even poeCfc - Imagination, He

evidently confounds the general cosmos nd the solar system with his own back yard, and he thinks only of "Wakapuaka Cemetery," or else of "the rear of th e Mental Hospital," where he states he has made such elaborate preparations for personal safety "at much labour and cost." Coming now to the more serious and scientific side iof fcne question.l beg to show that the predictions 1 actually made, and reiterated in various form* and on several occasions for the sake of emphasis, and in orca r to prove my contention as to the astronomical origin of storms and earthquakes have already been-, literally fulfilled, and are still in tile process of further striking fulfilment on the earth and in the heavens. In this connection I may mention first the cablegram which appeared m the 'newspapers of Saturday last, June Bth, on tne very day 1 specified many months pnviotmly. The report in the Nelson .Evening * Mail was properly headed "Earthquakes in Queensland : Prolonged Shocks"; and it said: "Brisbane, this day; rec. 10 25 a.m.; Earthquake shocks, lasting in some places as long as five minutes, have been experienced from the Tambourin Mountains in the south to St. Lawrence in the north, and from Roma in the west. They were also felt in tne northern part of New South Wales." This, I submit, proves conclusively of itself, that a profound cosmic convulsion has actually taken place, and corresponds completely with my prognostication. It is a practical dtmonstraMon that my calculations were perfectly accurate, and of great scientific value. Does "I Told You So" deny this? .l>oes he deny that I was on the Tight track in tracing out tne cause ot earthquakes It not, where is the point and sense of his sneers? Without a doubt JL did tell you so beforehand ; and the scientific ground as ■well as the importance of my forecast, have been completely justified. I now publicly claim to have established my poJnfc, and that |on a matttir about which no one else was prepared to r?sk his (scientific reputation. The evidencs in this case is really much stronger Mian I have yet made it appear. It is well known that Australia is not a country addicted to earthquakes as is New Zealand. In thia connection it is perhaps the most stable country on the face of the eart-h. People now in Nelson, who have' recently arrived from Australia, have told me that in the regions referred to in Saturday's cablegram there has not occurred anv marked earthquake for <»ver 30 year*. H is evident from the wording of the message, and: from the reference to places so far apart, that the earthquake in question was pretty severe, and profoundly affected a very wide area. The meagre information to hand as yet will probably be followed by other reports showing that the whole of the solid continent has quaked. And still other reports may yet show that other countries besides Australia, felt the effects of the exceptionally heavy cosmic strain, much as I" had anticipated. The spasm doubtless passed right through the terrestrial ball as the iMoon came into line, and in perigee, at and about the time of the total solar eclipse.—l am. etc.. JOSEPH TAYLOR. June 12, 1918.

(Mr Taylor also writes :it length on "Earthquakes in New Zealand and the New Star," but publication of this letter must stand over.)