V

ERY few persons are aware of the tremendous disturbances in the nature of earth convulsions and gigantic volcanic eruptions that took place in Connecticut in long past ages; long before historic man as recorded in

the Bible Genesis. Where now are cities, villages and quiet homes, fertile farms and large forests, was once a scene of terrible devastation. A mammoth volcano vomited fire, ashes, melted rock, and these cov. ered a large territory in the southern

and central portions of the state. The question will immediately arise, How can these things be known? and the answer will be forthcoming at once. The effects are visible to-day and the causes can readily be traced. It is true that many of these effects have been recently discovered, but that is for the reason that a trained scientific eye has not heretofore been turned in that direction.

More than twenty years ago a solidified ash heap was found near the old turnpike road between Hartford and New Haven, some three miles north of Meriden, close to the base of Mount Lamentation. Geologists at once pronounced these ashes to be of volcanic origin. Ages had caused the mass to harden, and it was as solid as some sandstone. Mixed at irregular intervals were what is technically known as "bombs'; that is, pebbles of various sizes from that of a

marble to a cocoanut. These were of a quartz formation, mixed with ashes, like plumbs in a pudding. Unlike other volcanic material, these pebbles did not fuse. At first it was supposed that the crater of this extinct fire mountain was close to the ash heap and search was made to discover its whereabouts. Subsequently, other ash deposits were found in Kensington and more of them in various other places, many miles from each other. In fact, one was recently found in southern Massachusetts, not far from Mount Tom. This has led some to believe that there were several volcanos, but it is more than probable that there was only one, and a magnificent "belcher," with tremendous force beneath, that caused the ground to be covered in so many different places.

Diligent search has been made to find the exact locality of this volcano. Not a few think that Black

Pond, on the Middletown road, three miles east of Meriden, is the longlost crater. More scientists believe that it was located at or near Mount Carmel, six miles south west of Wallingford. Unless I am much mistaken, we shall never find the true location.

This is not a novel, an imaginative story. It is a veritable history, and ancient history at that.

Mother Earth was in the throes of intestinal trouble. Liquid fire was coursing through various channels down deep beneath the surface. There were rumbling explosions, groanings and internal excitement that must find vent. And soon it came, and what pen can describe the grand power that shattered the earth in so many places. My vocabulary of words is sadly wanting to paint the picture. One may read pages of Dante's "Inferno" and faintly gather the idea of this terrible earth shake. Or a still better understanding of the situation may be obtained by perusing the last chapters of Jules Verne's description of the destruction of "Mysterious Island."

Mountains of earth and rocks were uplifted hundreds of feet. These rocks were seamed in every direction and the crevices varied in width from the fractional part of an inch to several feet. Most of them were perpendicular, showing that the power was expended from beneath and upward. Then, again, huge masses of these rocks were tumbled from the summits down into the valleys beneath, in many instances miles from their starting point. Such sights are seen to-day and are widely different from stones and rocks found in various other places due to the glacial period.

Great chasms were formed. Rivers were choked and dammed and new channels sought and found. Different portions of land became separated and the the sea rushed in between. In fact the whole surface of the territory of the

The northern portion of Long Island was, before this time, a part of Connecticut, if not the whole island. A personal visit from what used to be called Astoria, now a part of Greater New York, through Northport, Huntington, Port Jefferson to Orient Point, convinces me that north Long Island and south Connecticut are identical and once a part of the same territory. The soil, the trees and shrubs are productions of both sections. Chestnut trees and the beautiful laurel bushes are found alike in southern Connecticut and northern Long Island. This is not a new theory but has been advanced for many years. Students applying themselves to the question differ as to how this separation took place. Many think that when this great earth disturb. ance occurred, a portion of Connecticut was sliced off and driven to the south, forming what is now Long Island, and an arm of the sea-Long Island Sound-rushed in between. My own belief is that during this great upheaval, when mountains and hills were newly created, a cavity or vacuum was made far down under the surface and, as a consequence, the earth sank to fill the cavity and the aforesaid arm of the sea, or Sound, caused an equilibrium to be established.

This furnishes more thoughts on a different subject. For territorial and sentimental reasons, New York should never have claimed Long Island. That island should belong to Connecticut. The reader may judge for himself if he has followed what has been presented as to the truth of the statement. New York also claimed and obtained Fishers Island, though only six or eight miles from the Connecticut shore and distant from New York State proper more than one hundred miles. The question of jurisdiction over this island was once a serious

matter between the states and for what reason it was granted to New York is unknown to this writer.

Again, another feature of this peculiar subject presents itself. Where now stands the beautiful city of New Haven, with its lovely green, college and college buildings, churches and blocks of stores and public edifices, its historic elms, was once covered by the curling waves of the sea. If there were fishes in those days they were swimming over the now historic ground. An arm of the sea extended where West River flows through Westville up to the Westville palisades. Another proceeded up Mill River, west of East Rock through Whitneyville to Hamden. A longer stretch up the Quinnipiac through the west portion of Wallingford extended into Southington. And another branch along the line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, following the

course of Harbor Brook, found its terminus in Berlin. Whether the sea has receded or the land elevated may be an open question. What is certain, the ground about the West. River is higher than formerly and this rise has taken place within a few generations. Sloops with cargoes at one time discharged as far up as where is now the traveled road, also the trolley line between New Haven and Westville. Today a mud scow could scarcely reach such a destination.

It has long been a belief of my own, which has come to me after some years of study, that the famous Moodus noises'' was a result of, and connected with, the great volcanic eruptions and seismic disturbances in the ancient days. Not a few people in our state to-day will pronounce these noises to be a myth; a tradition which has no foundation in fact, but simply a superstition of the fathers. Such