The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-11-04 00:00:00

EARTHQUAKE.

On Monday night week, at eleven o'clock, a smart shock of
an earthquake was felt at Paisley and the neighbourhood: The
most general impression excited was, that a heavy body had
fallen to the floor or to the ground. Many compared •it to a
person falling from a bed, others to a sack of meal falling from
a man's shoulder to the floor, or to the felling of a heavy bale
of merchandise. Great numbers were awakened by it from
their sleep, sprung from their beds, and searched the house, in
the belief that they had been attacked by robbers. Some fe-
males were so much terrified that they would not again venture
to bed. Several people connected with public works ran out
to see whether their stalk vents had not fallen to the ground.
At the Canal Office it was felt with great force, not by the clerk
only, who was at his desk, but by the watch dog, who sprang to
his feet, and began to bark, as if the workhouse had been at-
tacked. The bells in several houses were put in motion, and
the windows, doors, and earthenware were shaken with consi-
derable
noise. A letter from one of the persons in charge of
the dredge-boat lying off Elderslie House, describes it as feel-
ing
like a smart heavy blow struck on the Mooring chains.—
Earthquakes
being so seldom felt here, the noise and motion
were ascribed to almost every cause but the true one; and it
was not until next day, when the conversation relating to It be-
came general, and when the effects of it were so widely spread,
that an earthquake was deemed the cause—several, however;
who in distant lands had witnessed such a phenomenon, at once
reco;:niSed it. One'young lady in town, horn in the East Indies,
the moment she felt it, exclaimed; "Au earthquake!" sprung
from her bed, arid fled lot- shelter te the apartment of the ser-
vants. We have nut learned that the shock was felt at Neils-
ton, or in any other place to the southward or S.W.- of Paisley,
nor does it appear to have been felt at Glasgow. We have
heard of the shock being felt in Hooston, Kilbarchan, and
Johnstone, ,to the west, and as far as Stonehouse, in Lauark-
shire, to the south-east. In the parishes of Renfrew, Inchiunan,.
Erskine, and OK Kilpatrick, the shock was felt in a still higher
degree than in Paisley. One gentleman near Bishopton, was
wakened out of his sleep by the noise, which he compared to
the firing of heavy artillery, and his first impression was that.
the house was tumbling about his ears. A lady.near the same
place was so much alarmed that she nearly fainted, and another
who was lying ill trembled from-head to-'foot,-in the belief that
the last day was at hand. At Freeland House, Erskine, the
inhabitants were much alarmed, and state that the cattle around
.the house .wera. seen in a state of agitation. The tollman on
Greenock road was awakened by the noise, and believing that
the lead had been stripped from the roof and thrown to the
ground, he seized the tongs, and ran out, exclaiming, "I'll
catch them. they cannot be far away." On bomb sides of the
Clyde the shock was pretty severe,—the bells of Illsthswood
Hjaise were set a ringing. With the exception of the break-
ing of a little crockery ware, we have heard of no damage be-
ing done.—Paisley Adrister.