Evening Star Newspaper, December 6, 1925, Page 94

For Four Days Finds Place Next to Seat of Power in Oriental Country. Story of an Effort to Ki&nap an ex- President Back Into Office — Abrupt Overturn Under Dictatorship of Gen. Wu—Japanese RCP ost of “Pist Bigle™ With the Chief—Prophetic “Program™ of State. After omusing and dramatic ex- periences In muny parts of China. the author, in this article. the Iast of a series of four, reaches the climax of his adventures in that country. He had previously taken an uctive hand in Chinese upheavals as a correspondent and the editor of a Peking newspaper. tie had long been on cordlal erms with Gen. Wu Peifu, enem of the Manchurian o Chang Tso- was e an . general2” 1 asked. going north to st Would you like to g0 al 2 aid Wu, down there. about i, lin. 1t belleved by Wu that Chang had an understanding with he Japanese, favoring thefr claims to Shantung 1 weel's installment e seribod visit te aistant Shensi » Investigate famine condivons nd of the author's ing him welf what was nounced o 1 attack of cholera by a “kill. oreure” Injection of kerosene and salt water Upton Close is the pen name of Josef Washington Hall, now lec- turer on Pacific Asia at the Uni- versity of Washington. BY UPTON CLOSE. 6 MERICA,"” commented Wu, hus always truly intend- ed to befriend us. But sometimes her intention: turn out disappointingly.” Was there any truth,” I asked, “In the report of an sgreement between Ching Tso-lin, the Manchurimf chief, and the Japanese over Shantung His 1 manner chunged dignation. “1 have reason to helic he said, hat in pursunnce of s n agreement Chang's Premier Liang Sent instructions to our delczutes nt Washington to give Jupan the Shan tung Railway, just when Ar.-lug nd Lord Balfour we end oring to get Japan to e it. That is why T forced Lianz out. Now Chang comes with 1. You have joined me just in t Tiine for Tomorrow t the Chinese custom requires an invita- tion to be repeated thrice, but we e cepted this one the first time. Xt day the camp bustled with the activitfes of entraining. At 4 o'clock the long train had been outfitted with the offices of thirty staff men in charge of the various departments of feld activity and supply. The Little Gereral transferred from flivier to rain in the presence of his st bodyguard. were off —and € was the war. One morning 1 followed the Little General through dusty grain fields and down muddy trenches. Wu walk- el on the very top of ment, a lone figure exposed to all the fire of the enemy, while we crouch- ed against the near wall of the shal low ditches. Bullets heads and buried themselves in the opposite bank. Our expostulations iled nothing. f one ix marked for me, briefly, “it will get me If vou don't feel tha stay below.” We did. Some enemy gunner observed our party of 50 or more men moving about behind the lines and began to worry | ws with shell fire. As we entered a ze whining shrapnel fell in our midst and we scattered for refuge be- hind mud walls, Gen. Wu's No, 1 orderly and T found ourselves cut off from the party. After several futile attempts to over take them we started back for the sidings. The Mukden gunner followed our progress. He must have had great sport chasing us from cover to cover. At least we were costing him a lot of expensive ammunition. * % BOUT midafternoon we reached the pagoda, dead tired, and went nto the general's car to rest. 1 awakened from my nap, sat up and looked out of the window, to See cav- alry skirting cautiously around us to the left. I leveled a pair of field glasses. They wore the red arm- bands of the Manchurians! It was some minutes before 1 could zet the chief orderly awake. We rushed about among the hundreds of cars trying to find some officer in charge. There seemed to be mnot soul at the base except ourselves and ihe first-aid contingent. The Redbeard cavalry was getting older. Soon they headed directly to- ward us. It would be most ignomini- ous to be taken captive at our base— | in the general's own car! We were desperately seeking some expedient when a train pulled in bring- ing a small contingent of artillery with light field guns. The Number ©One Orderly and myself climbed aboard and took command. In three minutes we had six or eight xzuns down the gangplanks and lined up along the railroad. “Now!' I said. The enemy was by that time not more than a quarter of a mile distant. ‘The gunners had no time to take aim, and I doubt if they hit anything. But | we made such a noise and kicked up such a dust that the cavalry turned and fled precipitately. So, life went on for four days. Dur ing that time we had two meals. There being nothing else pressing, the zeneral decided we would eat. He ordered the cooks to bring on food, which thew did to the extent of 30 to 40 courses; all the conventional dishes served in the most conventional man- ner. As the forelgn guest, I was In- ed to sit with the general. He ate for several hours with scarcely a pause—I kept up as long as possible. A day or o later, however, I men- tioned to the thin chief tactician the desirability of nourishment. e sym- pathized, but made it plain that it was ! improper to intrude the subject unless the general ate. Affer a battle which turned all to - ihe ndvantage of Wu, the general in- formed me: “The Manchurians have overlooked one of our telephone lines into the city. Perhaps vou would like to communicate with Peking?"” T put in a call for the American legation, and waited excitedly for the opportunity to inform the capital of its fate. Mr. Willys Peck, Chinese secretary, whom I had known at “Taingtao, replied: “Chang Tso-lin's army_ is in full fight past the walls of Peking.” I told him. “Wu has just occupied the enemy’s field base. Peking is safe, The victor plans to let it absolutely alone. Please broadcast the news.” “But,” he protested, “we understood that Wu-Pei-fu and his entire staff were killed, and T thought you might \lom 1 <aid, “suil alive.” Just then the line went down. Shortly after this, as the general's ar stood in the central station aut “Tientsin, the commander of the French contingent of the allled rafl- way guard, which is authorized under the Boxer protocol to assure open communications between Peking and aea, 8 red. Pollowed by a < small escort, he A my sa- | the embank- | ang over our | mounted the geneval’s car without in- vitation. 1 was called to interpret. |1, too, am a military man,” he said “I congratuiate you. mand your departure. My superior in this matter, the Japanese general, who {8 senlor commandant here, orders it. It is the protocol. I have no choice but to deliver the message. Bon jour." It left Wu and his staff officers a little breathless. “By what protocol does he order me out of here?” he usked. ‘“The treaty of peace following the { punitive expedition of 1900,” T ex | plained, “prohibits the use of Tientsin ‘ s military base by any Chinese iy, and authorizes the ullied cows niandants to entorce its sanctity. “But Chang Tso-lin was here— Ah, yes, L Chung Tso-lin Chang Tsolin and the senior com mandant is Japanese. * “JFOR the sake of Tientsin itsell I can't leave here for some day: said Wu. “I must round up and dis- arm stragglers or there will be loot- ng. “Can vou not transform yourself into a civil officer and your guards into police?” I suggested. “Let's see the civil governorship of the prov- ince is vacant, and your recognition s dictator by Peking can be quickly formalized." 1t I must be dictator of China. you'll have to be temporary minister of foreign affairs,” said Wu £0 began my four-day diplo 0 career. I was “astride the We sent over to Chief borrowed some police un T iskued a staten mandunts that Wu Pei-fu had trans ferred supreme military command to the head of his fourth division, Wang Shihdjen, and assumed the civil gov- ernorship of Chihli, but that for pur- poses of convenience, the governor's vamen would renmin on wheels in the central station for the time being. | And everybody was satisfled—except- ing perhaps the Japanese. To sit next to the s ‘hina was interesting, but not exactly comfortable. Wu's mail brought many letters warning against me. He had a habit of turning them over to me with the remark that here was one more thing to “hang up the heart.' ‘Yours to e general received. re ferred to me, and contents noted,’ | T repiled to the letters. “One who rides the tiger.” Chinese proverb, “should give cur thought how to come down.” Accord Ing to the fable, the danger obviously is, that once you are off his back your mount will eat you up. I was to feel the weight of his paw, but fool's for- tune saved me from the crunch of his jaw and Then Yang orms. run en. Wu soon tired of Tientsin. Worn and ill-humored, he ordered a return to Paoting, leaving command in the field to his man \Wang Shih- dfen. Wu's ambition is not for personal | prestige or wealth. The driving de- | sire of his heart is to build from the | spurned human material of his ‘coun- |try a force capable of pushing the Japanese out of the ancestral land. e would.remove the stigma of 1894. Wu saw little use in driving Chang it to Japan, and he knew army and funds were unequal to at- tempting the settlement of the Man- churian problem at this time. o, when he had the Redbeard chief surrounded, instead of fipishing him, he dumafounded us by ordering: “Let him get away, There was a nearinsurrection on the staff. Our Pacific Asian world be- | gan to laugh at the Little General. 1 was hard put to justify him before those accustomed fo conducting wars in_the Christian way. He addressed me one day, *“Did you ever read in the Tso-Chuan” (a com- mentary on China's history in the first_millennium before Christ) “the story of the duke who rebelled against his king: and the king besleged his al ASK ME TO LEAVE COMFORT COME PRESIDENT?” city, and the walls fell down, and the Iing's general said: ‘Heaven favors us, oh King, let us march in,’ and the 1 king said: ‘No, declare a truce until the wall is rebuilt’ as a result of which there was no further need tor fighting?” “I fear Chang Tsolin will not show the gratitude of the duke,” I said. “In any case,” was the decisive replv, “I am ne bully. Chang has been whipped. If he withdraws to his own territory I have no further quar- rel with him. He is the only Chinese whom 1 know capable at present of keeping the Japanese from further appropriations in Manchuria. He may my worst enemy. but firat of all I am a Chinese. Let him alone!” IR U trying to explain Wu's policy to- ward Manchuria 1 quoted in my di | pesshes & conversation in which | Tokyo was mentioned as his ultimate {goal. A correspondent never knows | what his head writer is going to do to {him, 1 was startled one morning to |read this banner head across the China Press: “On to Tokyo, says Wu Pel-fu” About as fast as disrupted com- munications allowed, there arrived in Paoting a representative of the J:m- nese government bearing an invitation it to the allfed com- | at of power in | Tso-lin out of Manchuria only to leave | that his | ignore my generosity—he may remain | N HE But I must de- | | | to Wu Pei-fu Tokyo at any moment tance that Japan would endeavor to be ready! litte gend found it necessary to revudinte the utterance. The result was a conference, some what stormy. between Wu and my self. It was hardly so violent as re- ported in Japanese and other news papers-—which announced that “Gen. Wu and American Friend Have Fist fight in Headquart T reminded the & expressly retained my freedom newspaper man, and that it would probably be better should T now with draw from such + connections with his staff. Tn the mood of the moment the genera! heartily ed bo governim Peking had evaporated. “Old’ Heu in the Yin Tal | pitd- fully for support It was difficult to get Wu to take any positive position.toward political orgatiziion. “I am but the ax of fate.” said he. “sent forth betimes to chop away obstructions when they get too bad. At other times I should not interfere. and 1 will be no arbi trary dictator. Why not let Peking remain empty until, in the natural evolution of the nation, it will be filled by a true development of local instl tutions and n:t by something which will last only s long as we support it on hayonets Because,” his advisers would argue, bu must supply something, though | it be only a figurehead, with which | the powers can lodge proteststwhen | their prerogatives are touched. and some one. though he be only a pup pet, vith whom their plenipotentiaries can drink tea." The man o with assur neval that 1 had at President e cast about statesmanlike ability near Wu was the jolly Swen Dan-ith, who, unfortunately, did not carry 80 much weight with the gen- eral as his other “civil adviser,” the blunt and contrary Bye Jien-wu. One evening. strolling in the Broad Gar dens, Swen and I amused ourselves by framlng nn ideal. “reconstructed governmnent. . For president. Li Yuan-hung, de- poged tive vears before by the Dig- talled Chang Hsun: for legislative body. the orfginal parliament suspend- ed by Yuan Shih-kal for premier. the veteran W Ting-fang of Canton, and on through i cabinet to minister of foreign affa Wellington Koo, just returning from the League of Nations session, over which he presided. China does not lack for men, and in our idealistic scheming we ignored polit- ical and personal difficulties “WHY,” SAID LI YUAN-HUNG, BLUNTLY, “SHOULD YOUR FRIENDS AND PEACE HERE AGAIN TO BE- | “What a shame | this program!” 1 | “Go ahead and lrc {Swen, growing ent | spen: st give representing the desires of | two men very close to the general! i * ¥ x % | THE vext day China was amazedly | reading “Wu Pei-fu's bold and idealistic program of reconstruction.” |And‘hllf a dozen surprised worthies with whose names we had taken liber- ties—most particularly old Wu Ting- tang—were vigorously denying com- ]pucny in the Paoting nomination: But the suggestions had effect. Par. ticularly was the scheme for restora- tion of the president and parliament {of 1915 received as the only dignified solution of the political tangle. | Before Wu came into power he had | strongly favored a start all over again jat founding a republic through a new constitutional asserably. Now he vealized many difficulties of the scheme which had not before occurred lto him, and dropped into a negative lattitude toward all proposals. He | was ultimately led to exercize his dic- | tatorial power by his interest in a house-cleaning movement in Peking. He nominated an old classmate, Gow Enhung, as minister of communica- tions, to reorganize that department I cannot remarked. de publish it,” suid nd see to begin his march on | as A | | pledge in | Tientsin, { the new SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. | | and bring an end to the clique of poli- | | ticians. Gow asked me to accompuny | I pital, aboard his private He then attempted an unusual thing in any country, and particularly | so in China: The administration of a department of government after the fashion of @ big business. “My job,” said he, “is to rout the robbers from the ministry of commu nications, and compared to it. Gen. | Wu's task with the redbeards was | stmple The president sent Chow Tzu-chi whom he had made acting premier, to | see Gow regurding a face-saving way of descent from the stage. Mr. Gow, who believed the program recently published capable of execution. in | vited me to the conference. Under [ the cool porticos of the ministry of {fices we sat and worked out in Eng. | lish, which they hoth spoke perfecty | & method of procedure for the deposi | tion of the President of China and the | installation of a successor | Old Hsu was to resign to the coun [try ut large since he lacked a Pa to which to be responsible ! liament i the cabinet was to transmit his resig | nation t the speakers of the two houses of the original Parllament, now | resident in Tientsin, and they, as | spokesmen for Parliament, were in {wrn to invite Gen. Li Yuan-hung to | resume the presidency and call a ses | sion of Parliament. This allowed for | every one to be invited by some one | {and face to be preserved all around { The outstanding difficulty was: | “Would Li come back?” The min | ister of communications gave me & special train to go down to Tientsin |and find out. 1 found Li in the more modest of his two mansions—the one in the British concession. His fussy little secretary allowed me 10 minutes and held « | watch on me. I reached my point | diplomatically | “Why." he asked bluntly, stroking | | hts mustaches, which were ‘unusually | | heavy for a Chinese, “should vour riends ask me to leave comfort and peace here again to become presi- dent | _““There is no one else who can do | it, general,” 1 safd. “You seem des- tined to be the ‘draught horse’ " (the Chinese version of “the goat"). | The secretary was shocked, but Li { smiled, “he said, “that's what 1 would be, or rather a_stalking-horse for the ambitions of old Tsao-Kun. I have great faith in Gen. Wu, although | I have never met him. But I repose no confidence in that Chihli bunch. If Old Man Tsao would take written ath never to seek the presidency I might listen to you." “That is a good deal to ask,” T said, but I will put it up to him. Back s Paoting, 1 reported Li's| words to the handsome Hsiung. chief of staff to Daddy Tsuo. “You may publish this statement as coming from the old general,” he said. “He will never impose himself upon | the people. But to ask # man to writing never to entertain quite legitimate ambitions is ubsurd:" I went to Wu. “Tell Li,”" he said, “that if he will resume the presidency I and my forces will be subject to his orders. Can a man promise more?" Adviser Bye was all for action. He said, “We'll just put old Hsu out and escort LI int" : Putting Hsu out was easy. On the afternoon of June 4 the pathetic old fellow turned over hix seal and left for with hardly a soul to see him off at the station. Chang Tso-lin suddenly abandoned | his elaborate trenches at the Lwan River, withdrawing to Shanhaikwi at the Great Wall. * DVISER BYE and Tsao's chief of staff, Haiung, now got up a party which went gayly to Tientsin to escort President to the Yin Tal. They were much taken back when Li declined even to see them and eventu- ally had his big Sikh gateman put them off his premises, China began to laugh at the would- be reorganizers of government. It was necessary to do something to save face. A much humbler delegation con- sisting of Surg. Gen. Liu of Wu's army, Admiral Wu of the navy, Min- ister Gow and among others myself went to beseech the ex-President to be {more considerate. He received me. as a newspaper man, when he would not see the others. “This is foolishness.” he said. “I| can't go to Peking as Tsao's and Wu's President ulone. It there were any sort of nation-wide demand I might consider it.” ‘We set about to create the demand. Upon suggestion our friends in vari- ous provinces besieged the former President to “save his country.” The newspapers were helpful. Still Li was recalcitrant. Gow lost patience. “You know,” he said, “they had to drag Li to take the supreme command of the revolutionary armies. Once in the job, he finished the Manchu | dynasty. Let's kidnap Li to Peking. Once there, he will not have the face to_decline to take office.” i The plot was laid. Li was asked if he would go to Langfang to get ac- quainted with Gen. Wu, who would, | we promised, meet him there. Gow provided a train, ordered it given right of way, and put one of the most trusty locomotive engineers in gov- ernment rallway service in the cab, with instruction that as soon as the President was aboard he should plow through to Peking at 60 miles an hour. And then Gen. Wu queered our game by sending a message to Li to | | which lick their way | the { completely DECEMBER 6 ND MYSELF (Il.l\"}!;l) ABPARI) AND TOOK COMMAND.” the effect that there was a lot of talk | about his meeting Li of which he did not upprove, us any conference be- tween the two at this time would only | the more lay Li open to the accusation of being Wu's puppet. | American Writer Serves as Temporary Chinese 1925—PART 5. The diple ured prominently the famine loun hole. e arru matic corps for a half million d; Yen, who fig in connection with ulled us out of the i with the diplo- an advance release of lars silver of surplus collections. Two Thundred thousand were to go to the govern- ment schools, since teachers were triking for payment of back salaries and students were threatening syni- pathetic demonstrations. Three hun- dred thousand were to foot the ex- penses of reassembling the old Parlia- ment. Immediately Li was besieged by tele- grams from the original M. P.’s who were leading a precarious existence under Sun Yat-sen's gegis in Canton and others who had scattered to the provinces They asked that L1 re: turn to office and summon Parliament. It looked like steady jobs again with generous travel expenses to start. * P HE demand that Li resume could hardly be called popular, inas- much as the populace regarded the whole republic asja farce and didn’t care how things turned out as long as the show was good. But it was widespread. It was becoming difficult for him to ignore. His secretary dropped me a “chit” on the evening ot June 6. “The President” (there is no ‘“‘ex"” Chinese—once officlally titled al- ronouncement which customs in ways s0) “has & pi may interest you I taxied over for it at once. a document of some characters. ‘With a Chinese assistant on one side of me und Miss Burton on the other, Y translated the lengthy document as fast as brain could work, each page |as it came off her typewriter going by waiting motor cyele courier to the office of the Peking and Times, which gave it | English the next morning. It w a ecall to all the country to unite— and meant that Li was going to Peking. The suspense was ended. I returned to the capital to wait. I was at Tiffin on June 11 when word came that Li's train was pulling into the station. I hastened to his newly opened Peking home, and was the only foreigner to greet him when he rode in between the hastily formed lines of gendarmere. He kindly asked me to put my name first on his gugst book. An abrupt end of my little part in the drama soon came. After a trip through Manchuria I returned to my family with some days old. Then followed the greatest adventure of all—10 weeks t the portal of death. Following | which « rapid heart brought me a | verdict of cxile from China. | T went out to the Temple of the | Sleeping Buddha in the western hills. That wus good, but 1 needed somne | thing more. It was 2,000 Chinese | Tientsin | to the world in | « case of typhoid, already | Foreisn Minister Across a ravine was the Bee Yin Szu and the Shrine of the Laughing Buddha. 1 visited him there—green ing with age, the dust accumulating inches thick on his bald pate, his ca— aal, cheerful expression the same Tor cach generation of men passing his feet. He had seen the melodrama of life and could smile I thought over the adventures and ambitions and sufferings of the elght best years of my life, and smiled with him, (Copsright. 1925.) Prisoners Turn Critics. RICHARD BARTHELMESS recen Iy paid a visit to Sing Sing prison to award prizes to the winners In the review contest on his production “The Beautiful City.~ A week previous the picture had been shown in the chapel of the prison, and $100 in cash prizes wa. offered for the best reviews written by ths -risoners. The men were told they ctald say anything they wanted to abou{ the picture, but they must glve thed honest opinion. a8 ». unique showing, as unlque n a movie. Fifteer hindred convicts, some of them the most notorious In the United States, if not the world, sat silently throughout its length. It had a peculiar interes: for its audience, as it unfolds a drams of the underworld, and a big pay ro robbery, with the connivance crooks, as the plot. Most of the sce! re laid in New Y lower Ea Side, which hundreds of the Sing Sin men call thelr I r vevie but viewpoint of t man of literature and culture. The | did not spare thelr criticism of points which did not appeal to them, but | strange as it may seem, there was no: a review that even hinted a dishones opinion. ork’s to ty t wh fror chiefl LeamiRanidly: aramount Junior Stars are amera broke | “There was n | which any one of be conscious of the camera, s Jesse L. Lasky, “This is in itself eat achievement for beginners.” Instruction and practice in the dift cult but pleasant art of screen kissti formed a part of their Sawgn {tion. sam sctor, told the: | how' to do progressed | rapidly tha unnecessary fo him to show a single scene them appeared to | gr Wo it, bu t it then Basis for Prediction of Earthquakes May Be Found by New Investigations BY DONALD EDWARD I\'I‘]\'III)F.‘ N the dead of night : . | tory watcher leans over o d cate instrument, his eves tently following the rapid fluctu- tions of u tiny stylus needle on a strip of moving paper. A violent earthquake has just taken place some- where more than two thousand miles away. His keen mind conjures up a | serles of appalling scenex. A mod- ern city thrown into darkness with- out warning. save a_sinister rumble, which is quickly drowned by the fearsome crash of falling buildings: | terrified inhabitants fleeing in stark | panic from the dread, invisible force | which menaces their lives: a bridge | crashing from its piers into turbu- lent waters, cutting off an avenue of escape: and then, to complete the orror, the lurid glow of flames reedily through, wreckage, in search of human | prey In fancy. the man at the seixmo- graph hears the cries of doomed men and women, trapped in the ruins of thelr homes; the wails of fright- ened children, who have been sepa rated from their parents: and then the rush of a frenzied mob, stamped- ing for the safety of the wider streets and open parks. The roar of an explosion fills the air, as a spark reaches a ruptured gas main. The flames leap higher, unchecked, for the water mains also have burst crippling the fire de- partment. Indescribable confusion results from the efforts of automobile drivers tu | force their way through the debris- filled streets. Lines of communica- tion fail; a hasty attempt to send a radio call for help discloses a wrecked transmitting station. Above all, the crackling of the flames mounts into a steady roar—an un- prepared city is transformed into a seething inferno. Or perhaps, less horribly, it is a tropical isle, where cowed natives huddle together in superstitious fear s their wretched huts sway and col- lapse before their eyes. A few at tempt to escape from the trembling land by putting to sea in their frail canoes. Hardly have they started than they are caught by n mighty tidal wave, caused by the same mys terious force which has razed their | homes. A trading vessel, lving at anchor, is hurled far inshore and wrecked. The man at the observatory rouses himself and hurries to the telephone. He learns that no word has come over the leased news wires. It may be min- utes, perhaps hours, before there comes a hasty flash which starts the presses to grinding out the story of a great catastrophe. Or the word may never come, and the origin of the earthquake remains unknown. It may have been at the bottom of the sea, along the edge of some deep ocean trough; it may have spent its force in some wasteland, with no hu- mun eye to witness the humbling of mountains as the earth struggled to readjust its distorted surface. HE study of such seismic dis- turbances is of increasing impar- tance, especially In affected regions where cities are constantly growing. This work was formerly controlled by the Weather Bureau, but it is now assigned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey. : There are several reasons why this bureau is particularly qualified for earthquake investigation. It has oper- ated selsmographs in connection with ite magnetic work for more than 20 years. Its hydrographic division is able to construct detailed charts of the ocean bottomn. showing changes in depth from tremors; its coastal tide gages give permanent records of tidal waves, and its triangulation surveys determine lateral or vertical changes in the surface of the earth. In addi- tion, the bureau is in constant com- munication with foreign geodetic and seismographical ~ organizations, from which valuable data are received. Many of these foreign bureaus have been established for long periods, espe- clally in countries subject to frequent shocks. Thelr fundamental purpose is the protection of life and property. | Accurate prediction of earthquakes is not yet possible, though it has long Dbeen the object of some investigators. The earliest attempts at prediction were based on supposed foreknowl- edge by animals, according to F. De Montessus De Ballore. a famous French seismologist. De Montessus was_the director of seismic research in_Chile for 15 years. “Today,” wrote this scientist, “‘we know how to construct buildings which will withstand violent earth- quakes. A still further aim is to pre- dict these shocks. .The problem has not been solved, but we see our way its solution. The sclentific discov- | The pepple | shock as that of 19 eries tui were t wday —radio, automobiles and yught of long be As @ means of been natural to try to steal this secret_by watching animals De Mon then contit with stories relating the peculiar actions of domestic and wild animals just before earthquakes. One tradition. dating back to 373 B.C., alleges that rats would leave & house about fall, much as they are sald to leave a doomed vessel Lefore it clears port Chile abounds with such tales. If three cocks « together before mid- night the coming of an earthquake is belleved inevitable. Cats to becoms panicky, and hens which have gone to roost are said to come down quickly with loud cacklings. »f Cuba maintain’ that 1 mijitas leave thelr abodes before a quake afery of the open land. t in this folkl Some of the truditions are without reason, though they are as believed as those which point out the advantage that four-footed animals have over man in roceiving premont tory vibrations sized by De Montessus, make antnals fowls distinguish isolated feeble shocks from those fol- lowed by strong quakes, so that such knowledze would he useless to scien tists, even if ils existence were to be concaded The hope moving pic airplanes- ore realized. prediction 1t snakes? call underground and scek the Nothing is ¢ nothing ean or of successful prediction, rests upon analysis of earth reports, from those of the tremors 1o those of ma Seismographs which will reg ister the dire f quakes are need ad, well as mare detailed repc of disturbances which are felt by public. Perhaps radlo-acoustic ods will be used to magnify subter ranean sounds that warning increase in volume will be perceptible. * HI great difficulty in the path of prediction is that earthquakes foj- no definite habits. as s the meth low Such a strong > in Japan would followed tremer for a long time, and yet 1923 saw an even gzreater disaster there. Sometimes vibrations increase up to the occurrence of the quake, but this cannot be relied upon. Minor tr mors were noted in the Imperial Val ley of California at a certain time, and their increasing intensity led sei mologists to expect a severe shock, but none came, and after a while the tremors ceased. In other places earth- quakes come entirely without warn ing, sometimes in areas supposed to be fairly free from disturbances. For instance, it might be supposed that the Mississippi Valley region would be little affected. and yet one of the greatest earthquakes in the his tory of the United States centered at New Madrid, Mo.. in 1811. A similar one is thought to have occurred there 100 vears before. The result has been a “sunken country in southeast Mis- sourl and northeast Arkansas. Had this country been settled at that time great damage would have been dome. The earthquake_ of February 25, 1925, which shook the northeastern part of the United States, brought to light the record of another disturh- ordin; major Iy not be by any ance in that region. This was in' MILNE-SHAW SEISMOGR. are reported | | | | firmly | However, as empha- | | CRACK IN ROADWAY CAUSED BY AN EARTHQUAKE AT THREE FORKS, MONT. 1663, 12 years after a French mission- lary had reported seeing a high moun- tain and four great waterfalls near Three Rivers, Quebec. After the earthquake the mountain hud almost vanished, #and the present rapids werc tound in place of the falls From New England to South (aro: lina_there has been no seismic activity in historic_tmes, except for slight quakes in New Jersey. In 1886 a se. ere shock threw down bridges and twisted railroad tracks in Charleston land vicinity. Further south, in Georgia and Florida, there has been no evidence of earthquakes. The Ap- palachian Mountain region is gener ally undisturbed, though there has been slight tremors. California is the most fruitful field for earthquuke investigation. An earthquake protective council has been organized there, and excellent re- sults are being obtained with the co- operation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey the Ceological Survey the | Hydrographic Office of the Navy. the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and various California universities. Naturally such investigations are costly and would not be justified in regions less affected than Californii. The director of the Coast and Geo detic Survey has issued a publication entitled “Earthquake Investigation in the United States,” in which the ques | tion of prediction is mentioned. “It is obvious, he states, “that A my ce where eart » oceur 18 of i . and this for is as to the likely actical v iere information predictior qu ve plete There i Japanese ex expected b diction sho struction of opment_of n appa seismologists. Such pre 1d lead to the proper con buildings and the devel i1 precautions. Pre wough useful, is pe hq spe 1 destrable in ma ther or not there is ar the possibili haps not eve ca . W hope of such pre worthy of i | "THE mention of attaining predictiol both in tme and place brings un an interesting Jine of thought. While it woukl bo necessary to guard against | panic, ad to educate the people in cted regions 1 r-sense pro eme s predictio najor shock would undoubted aving lives and property could inated b: el lights ar ail fires being draw: led off from the mains To prevent #n outhreak of thieving during excl nt. known crim tnals could he ded up and temps rarily ted. Residents of buildinzs | erected before me of earthquake construction remove to safer homes. and in small cities, or where @ shock of the ¥reatest intensity was | expected. complete evic he omplished under These would be extreme impossible of realizati Similar quakes fore : result in e hazard down Iy pow and gas iso] warning of submarine eart} responsibie for waves. would render valuable servi with little chance of panic. Vi could gain the safetv of the sea, and people living along the coasts could be i back to higher land sarthquakes of the submarine tvpa are usually assoclated with deep ocear. troughs. such as the Tuscarora Deep (5,440 fathor ff the const of Ja which has been connected with numer ous Japanese disturbances imilar deeps exist east of Mindanao, P. 1 north of Porto Rico and north of Ja m Another one was discovered re cen st of Mexico and Central America by the Coast and Geo detic Survey steamer Guide. Tts dept! is 2.600 fathoms. those ), an v ulong the ¢ 1 Those not versed in seismology some times wonder why the earth does no reach a final adjustment, after whicl there would be no more earthquakes This is because the earth’s crust continually unbalanced by the transfe of material from place to place on land and from land to sea by the process o erosion and deposition. Thus the loads upon the ocuter crust are con stantly being changed and great stresses are being built up. Sooner o later these stresses force the crust 1 ield along the nearest fuult or we | spot. and the vielding takes the for of an eurthquake. There are, dou! less, other causes, a et undetermine but this force mention: sient to insure the cont of seismic disturbance earth exists However, the earth now in a_more settied state than eve before. The tremors of the prese: fade into insignificance in comparisc with those of prehistoric times, whe. a whole world was in travail. ntists ’H, WHICH MAKES CONTINUQUS PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS OF EARTHQUAKES.