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

occupied as a stove store by Brittan 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 aro 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 Yerba
Baena Cemetery, and lying between the low range
of saud-Hls 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 th subterranean growfings referred to,
and the creaking and wearing of the various habi-
tations of wood which most abound in thie vicinity.
One of the attaches 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 some instances
—in stores—whole 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 "let up" 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 ides 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 " mon-
grel puppy, whelp, and hound, with cur of lo
degree," within the entire circumference of the
valley, gave vent to a series of the most diabolical
and frantic backings 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
severely shaken, 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 iu 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-
tidied 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 shake 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
apsrtments yesterday morning, after the shock, a
rennber 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 bode, and every article of furniture in
the rooms was Clisplaeed. 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 fie m
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 quite
fearful, very few houses escaping. Accounts from
San Antonio, Alameda, and Clinton arc 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."