The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-29 00:00:00

EARTHQUAKE IN CALIFORNIA.

( From the "San Fram.ciso Herald.)
The severest shock of earthquake ever experi-
enced in this vicinity since the settlement of Cali-
fornia by Americans, occurred on Friday morning,
at just 24 minutes past 5 o'clock. Every building
in this city and vicinity shook to its foundation,
and in some quarters the houses swayed and rolled
as vessels in a heavy sea. The inmates of every
dwelling were awakened, and some were even
thrown from their beds, so violent was the shock.
Many persons rushed into the streets, and but that
the circumstance of their sudden appearance was
of a character to produce sensations of terror
rather than merriment, the scene would have been
most ludicrous. The large hotels were depopulated
instanter, and in the general rush articles of furni-
ture were thrown down, occasioning noises which
added considerably to the clatter- and confusion
caused by the earthquake.
In the upper stories of the large brick buildings
the violent motion produced a general commotion
among crockery ware. Vessels containing liquids
were turned over, either by the shock or in the
hurry of the inmates to escape. Every disturbance
was credited to the earthquake, however, and it ap-
peared to be an almost unanimous impression that
San Francisco was about to share the fate of Jeddo.
The howling of dogs, and fearful bellowing of cattle
in the suburbs, produced a fitting accompaniment
to the scene. Even the pigs broke from their pens
and ran away grunting with fright. The horses
tied in stalls fairly shrieked with terror, and tried
to break their halters. Indeed, everything ani-
mate and inanimate was more or less affected by
the shock. We hear of some very remarkable in-
cidents of birds seeking refuge from the impending
danger by flight through open windows. From night
watchmen and others, whose duties kept them from
sleep, we learn there were several light shocks pre-
vious to the heavy ones
The last shock was preceded by a sound as of a
heavy gust of wind passing through the cordage of
a vessel, and the motion was accompanied by a
rumbling noise like that which is produced by a
heavily freighted vehicle passing rapidly over a
wooden bridge. The shock occurred at twenty-four
minutes past 5 o'clock, apparently ranging from
south-west to north-east, and lasted about fifteen
seconds. The motion was horizontal and undulating.
Some persons describe the motion as of a whirling
nature, but this could not have been the case with-
out occasioning much greater damage to the
masonry of the brick and stone buildings. It is
evident that the violence of the shock was diffe-
rently experienced in various parts of the city. In
some localities in the suburbs its degree of violence
was mach greater than in others. In several in-
stances the vibrations were so great as to overturn
heavy pieces of furniture. Again, the motion is
compared to that producel ou shipboard when the
side of the vessel is struck by a heavy sea—a sud-
den shock without vibration. Very few persons
escaped being aroused by the shock, but some there
are of whom it is said that they slept on undis-
turbed through the whole.
Some estimate may be formed of the violence of
the shock when it is stated that a man sleeping on
the third floor of the Custom-house building was
thrown from his bed to the floor. The walls of
this building are composed of masonry capable of
resisting a broadside from a ship of the line. Not-
withstanding its immense bulk and strength, the
building was tossed like a feather on the wave.
There was a scene of unusual terror and excite-
ment in Montgomery Block, the large and substan-
tial building on Montgomery-street, between Mer-
chant and Washington-streets. As soon as the
first movement in the building occurred, the in-
mates of the various rooms were awakened and
leaped to their doors in the greatest imaginable
haste.
The different halls in the successive stories of the
building were soon filled with the terror-stricken'
occupants, each running hither and thither in their
sleepier, habiliments towards the various stairways
which read down into the street. Some of those
who occupied apartments in the fourth or highest
story rushed from their rooms regardless of their
nudity, and came jumping, leaping, and tumbling
down the first and second flights of stairs, clearing
them in a bound or two at the most, and, with
white lips add chattering teeth, hold their way
until they reached the ground, where they stood
in amazement and doubt until the cold air and the
absence of terrestial commotion calmed their fears
and reminded them that the apartments which
they had vacated were more comfortable than those
into which they had so suddenly precipitated them-
selves. The building was certainly jostled with
great violence by the quake, but it moved as
though it stood upon elastic springs. Not the
slightest cracking or evidence 'of a collapse was
heard or seen in any part of it.
The consternation among the inmates of the
large hotels occasioned scenes which may be better
imagined than described. The population of the
Rassette House rushed, tumbled, or precipitated
itself down the stairways and into the street ; and
such an array of beauty unadorned was never before
witnessed in San Francisco. This edifice, it is
said, shows no marks of injury by the shock. The
scenes at Wilson's Exchange, St. Nicholas Hotel,
and International Hotel, were equally remarkable.
The occupants of Wilson's Exchange took refuge
in the Tehama House, which is a frame, and con-
sequently in less danger than the other. Many of
the inmates of the International found their way
en masse to the Plaza, where, like their companions
in misery, they shared each with the other such
articles of apparel as had been caught up in the
hurry of flight.
Hundreds of the residents of the central portion
of the city rushed to the Plaza, naturally thinking
that the open space would afford them greater
refuge than the roof of a topp]ing building. When
the shock was over, the rush for pantaloons and
petticoats was quite as great.

of the Proposed measure upon a French enterprise - As an evidence of the alarm which had seized
in England, to which we refer by way of example? most of the residents about the Plaza, for squares
An able French administrator, M. Foucauld, ob- distant they were found at the New York Bakery,
serving in the streets of Paris three omnibusses or near the corner of Clay and Kearney-streets,
more competing and rendering badly the service, clamouring for coffee as a sedative for their almost
which might, by consolidation, be better rendered palsied nerves. The same scene took place at other
by two, conceived the idea that the benefit of the restaurants in the vicinity of the various markets,
third or wasted capital might be divided between which are usually opened at an early hour, in order
the public and the omnibus proprietors, giving to to accommodate the butchers and stall-koepers of
the public increased accommodation, including a various kinds. The proprietors dealt out the
system of correspondence at reduced rates, and to soothing beverage unsparingly, as if equally rejoiced
the omnibus proprietors steadier if not better at being able to relieve the excitement of their
payment. With the intervention of the Govern- patrons, and the consciousness that mutual danger
meat on behalf of the public this was accomplished had passed away.
with such complete success as to obtain the ap- The fire wall of the north side of the brick build-
plause of one of our civil administrators, Mr. ing at the corner of Oregon and Front-streets,
Chadwick, as a successful piece of administrative occupied by Goodwin and Co., fell over into the
skill. M. Foucauld came over to London, and street. The wall was but eight inches in thickness,
here without any Government aid or intervention and badly put up at that.
he succeeded in convincing all the larger omnibus The front wall of Wilson's Exchange Building,
proprietors, or the owners of six hundred and on Sansome-street, near the south end, is cracked
thirty—out of eight hundred—to sell to himself and from the foundation to the roof. In its present
others the goodwill of theirrespective establishments condition, the southern portion of the building is
to bo worked by an amalgamated company, in quite unsafe.
which the greater proportion of these pre. The walls of the building No. 76, Front-street,

occupied as a stove store by Britten and Co., are
cracked in a number of places. The building will
probably have to be taken down.
The southern wall of the City Hall Building, on
the line of stairway ascending to the upper stories,
is cracked from the foundation to the roof. The
wall plaster has fallen off in a number of places. A
number of brick buildings in the lower portion of
the city are slightly cracked, but in most instances
the damages may be easily repaired.
The shocks were particularly severe in that por-
tion of the city known as St. Ann's Valley, being
the continuation of Market-street from its intersec-
tion with Dupont-street to the vicinity of Yer'ea
Buena Cemetery, and lying between the low range
of sand-hills through which Post and Geary-streets
are extended on the other. From 5 o'clock up
to the commencement of the earthquake the en-
tire canine population of the valley (which un-
luckily happens to be only too numerous for the
comfort and peace of the other classes of inhabi-
tants) were up and busy with their throats. It is
a little singular that with the commencement of
the unearthly rumbling (which sounded like the
passage of a siege-train or heavy artillery waggons)
the clamour gave place to a complete stillness, only
broken by the subterranean growlings referred to,
and the creaking and wearing of the various habi-
tations of wood which most abound in this vicinity.
One of the attecho3 connected with this office,
who had gone home desperately endeavouring to
comprehend the extent of the Jeddo calamity, of
which news had been received in the evening,
suddenly woke to the consciousness that a veritable
earthquake (with a power and oscillation that put
all table-tippings and spiritual manifestations to the
blush) was presenting the Japanese visitation with
a degree of truthfulness vastly more convincing than
was comfortable. Throughout the valley pictures
and mirrors were jarred from their places on the
walls, the plastering cracked, and in seine instances
—in stores—whop, shelves of bottles thrown on the
floor. The shock lasted for some seconds and oc-
curred and recurred with a vehemence that threat-
ened no "letup" whatever. Any person who has had
the doubtful pleasure ofa stage ride over the heavy
roads in the Western States during the spring,
and remembers the peculiar jostling occasioned by
the passage of the vehicle over rustic bridges or
sloughs covered with round poles or logs, can form
a very truthful idei, of the motion imparted in the
present instance. It did not seem to come from
east to west, or from north or south, but was a
general rotary up-heaving. On the final dying
away of the last tremulous and vibratory motion
of the earth, one loud and shrieking howl, pro-
longed some seconds, by some terrified dog, gave
the signal for a general opening, and every " men-
. geel puppy, whelp, and houn, with cur of lo v
degree," within the entire circumference of the
valley, gave vent to a series of the most diabolical
and frantic barkings and yelpings that human ears
ever listened to, and thus terminated the night
and the adventure in this locality.
In the vicinity of South Park the shock was par-
ticularly great. Many of the dwellings were
severelysha.ken, and some of them partially stripped
of the plastering of the ceilings. At the house of
Capt. Richie a most affecting and beautiful incident
occurred. It appears that a chambermaid in the
employ of the family arose a few minutes previous
to the shock and was engaged in dressing. The
window of her room was open. Immediately after
the vibration of the earth had ceased, she was
startled by a rushing, fluttering noise in the room,
and on looking round observed a pretty white-
tufted pigeon fly in at the window and fall appa-
rently lifeless on the floor. She approached it,
picked it up, and discovered that life was not ex-
tinct in the frightened bird, by the violent palpita-
tion of its heart. In a few moments it recovered
and gave evident symptoms of relief. The bird
was unquestionably frightened by the quaking of
the earth, and was perhaps lucky in falling into
the hands of a kind family, who will, or ought to,
treasure it as a memento of the great shako of
February, 1856.
The old adage, "It is an old wind that blows
nobody good," was fully illustrated to the boarders
at the Rassetta House. Upon returning to their
apartments yesterday morning, after the shock, a
number of them took up their quarters in other
houses ; and, upon returning to their rooms an
hour later, found that the time of their absence
had been well improved by the thieves. Some
dozen rooms were robbed during that time.
At Mission Dolores the shock was very great.
' Most of the occupants of the buildings were thrown
from their beds, and every article of furniture in
the rooms was displaced. The church walls and
portions of the walls of the other buildings were
rent in various places.
We learn that the shock was very severe at San
Jose. The Clinton Hotel building swayed like the
bough of a tree in a gale of wind, and decanters
and crockeryware were dashed in fragments from
the shelves. We have a similar account from Santa
Clara.

In Alvarado the shock was felt, preceded by a
low whistling or groaning sound.
From all accounts the shock in Contra Costa was
even more severely felt than in this city. The de-
struction of window glass at Oakland was suite
fearful, very few houses escaping. Accounts from
San Antonio, Alameda, and Clinton are to the
same effect•

The shock of the earthquake (says the San
Joaquin Republican) was sensibly felt by our
citizens on Friday morning, about 5.25. The
shock was of sufficient force to produce nausea of
the stomach in some, and awoke others who ex-

perienced it. The vibration was horizontal and

from east to west.

The Monterey Sentinel of the 16th says—" A
hard shock of earthquake, coming apparently from
the north-west, was felt in this town at twenty
minutes past 6 o'clock yesterday morning,"