Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
as intermediaries between scientists and local communities. As one bureau
official wrote of an observer: “The citizens of his community rely implicitly
on him for weather information, and through his careful educating of them
in actual weather conditions for two decades they have largely abandoned
their interest in weather folklore and general signs and now look to him for
facts.”
59
One cooperative observer in Memphis, a dealer “in all kinds of pro-
duce, flour, pork . . . lime, cement, etc.,” informed Rockwood that “it would
be an impossibility for [an earthquake] to be felt by any number of persons
without my knowing something of it.” He went on to explain how he had
come to collect seismic observations and why he was to be trusted:
i have taken more or less interest in the subject since 1855, which year i spent
in new Madrid—the acknowledged great centre of internal disturbances in
this region. i fully anticipated the shock of July 13th because the maximum
average interval had passed between shocks—especially since the severe
shock which occurred on the 6th of June 1862 at 10 a.m. the day Federal
forces took possession of this city. i know of no way to forecast the future
except from the experience of the past and if that is any criterion the time
is only now at hand when we may begin to expect another shock. When we
consider what occurred at new Madrid before this country was settled and
what the consequences would be, were those scenes to be repeated, now, or
in the future, when this country shall have become even more densely set-
tled—and many costly habitation of man erected, and the consequent loss
of human life, and destruction of property which would ensue, we can attain
some idea of the importance of obtaining all the information, with a view of
locating the great centre of these internal disturbances. You and i may not
live to experience such a shock as would cause a loss of life or property, but
the information now gained will survive us—and should such an event occur
its importance will then be appreciated—for as i said before what has once
occurred may as surely occur again. . . . [i] always carry with me as nearly
absolutely correct time as it is possible to attain. And when the next shock
occurs, i will send you as correct an account of it as it will be possible for hu-
man powers to obtain.
60
This Memphis trader recognized that modernization was making Americans
increasingly vulnerable to earthquakes. His efforts to observe tremors and
collect reports from neighbors were a way to serve science and his commu-
nity. “Correct” observation was the key to avoiding future disasters; it was
a citizen's duty.
