Doc Savage 12

The Man Who Shook the Earth

February 1934

The Crime College does not limit itself to the treatment of small-time or petty crooks. A very unusual group of men head north, on a long journey from South America, to the Crime College. They are leading men in the local nitrate industry. They are also criminals. Regardless of their social or economic standing, they will be treated for their "disease".

Doc Savage performs a delicate operation and restores sight to Johnny’s blind eye.

Ham resides at the Midas Club located on Park Avenue. A likely candidate for the basis of this exclusive club would be the Harvard Club of New York City.

This story is recycled in Mystery Island in August 1941 but that’s not the only place it reappears. On May 15, 1942 – Fleischer Studios released the latest Superman animated feature titled Electric Earthquake. The story’s central theme centers on electrically induced earthquakes.

Much of the story takes place in Chile. A military coup in 1924 left an unstable situation which saw ten different governments in power over the next eight years. It was not until June 4, 1932 that another military coup set events into motion that eventually brought Abraham Oyanedel into power. His first actions were to implement a process to reinstituted democratic elections that culminated in President Arturo Alessandri taking office on December 24, 1932.

The prize is control of the Chilean nitrate industry. Nitrates were an important component of explosive munitions. So much so, that in 1879 Bolivia and Peru fought against Chile in the War of the Pacific for control of the nitrate-rich Atacama Desert.

Prior to World War I nitrates were an essential component in munitions manufacturing. In 1909, a German chemist named Fritz Haber developed the Haber Process to use atmospheric nitrogen to produce ammonia. During World War I, German munitions manufacturers were able to successfully use the Haber Process to supply war-time explosives requirements.

In the story, the secret of the earthquakes is based on the piezoelectric property of quartz.

Famous inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla may have also provided some fodder for this story. Tesla claimed to have invented and earthquake machine based on a mechanical oscillator.

February 1934 – The Valley of the Worm by Robert E. Howard is published in Weird Tales.

February 1, 1934 – Albert I, third King of the Belgians, dies

February 3, 1934 – Regular airmail service begins between Berlin, Germany and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

February 10, 1934 – Brewing magnate August Busch, Sr. commits suicide.

February 12, 1934 – The M-10000 locomotive is delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad.

February 16, 1934 – Movies: The Lost Patrol opens.