destruction by this potent force of nature, declared the speaker.
An ideal picture of the glories of human nature and its comparison with the baseness of that ilk was drawn. Classic instances of self-sacrifice of men during past disasters were pointed out. Other examples of the meanness of self-preservation at the cost of life to others were compared with them. Only calamity could furnish proof that some hold life dearest and others honour.
Science can explain nothing, said the speaker, as he mentioned the various explanations that would be offered for the earthquake. He did not attempt to belittle the scientific "heories that would be promulgated, but said that while science could probably trace the development of the forces that caused the earthquake, it could not answer the fundamental question of why.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.