Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-12-30
The EarthouaIe in PortuaaI.

private letter published in the Times, da-
ted Lisbon, Nov. Ilth, 1858, gives the following
graphic description of the recent earthquake
which visited portions of Portugal after the
old fashion:
My DEAR --:-At 10 minutes past sew
en- this morning, a fearful earthquake shook
Lisbon to its centre 1t lasted a minute and
some seconds, and was vertical Each instant
we expected the roof and walls to fall in upon
US; then the sound diminished sensbly, and
again Increased In violence All the walls on
one side of the house, are cracked from top to
bottom, with rents in which you may Law your
hand. a few seconds more and the whole
would have come down with a mighty crash !
IN. BIO understand the mightinesss of the
shock, one must remember that the walls of the
Lisbon houses are not like those of the Fifth
avenue card-paper palaces, but solid masses of
masonry, some three and four feet thick.1 Af.
ter breakfast, l went to the Viscountess A s,
to see how she had Jared, and if any accidents
had happened in her house. Part of Mile. de
5. room had fallen in and is now quite unin-
haoitable, but nobody was injured. People
were flying to and fro, thinking and talking of
nothing else. Many persons were killed by the
falling OF walls; many houses have been shaken
down entirely. One of the columns Of the
beautiful Estrella Church has fallen, as well as
several of the saints from the inches within
Two columns of the Theatre Dona Maria Sc
gunda have also toppled down, and it is said
the whole building is so injured that it must be
rebuilt. 1t is believed that if the earthquake
had lasted a few seconds longer, it would have
been as fatal as that ofNov. 1855 At 81 there
was another shock, much slighter, and vet far
beyond anything you have ever experienced
in Portugal.
The shock was felt very distinctly in the fleet.
On the Collgny the commander rushed on deck,
believing that another vessel had dashed into
him, and carried away part of the ship.
Nov. l2-We can still talk of nothing but the
fearful earthquake. The damage done to this
rambling old house is greater than we knew at
TrUn tts TdsuviriI,ss. -. 4ar, .,,,o,
eroekery and tumbling of things from the eta.
ceres, that IS not 10 be considered. The day
previous DR. PezaGO, Chief of the Observatory
of the Polytechnic School, had announced that
1t was almost certain that an earthquake would
take place within twenty-four hours; he JUDGED
from the variations of the magnetic needle. He
timed it, and found its duration Que minute and
four seconds. If this seems short, take your
watch, and try to think the house is fallinp for
that space of time. In the different towns near
Lisbon, 1t has been very bad; at Villa Franco.
many houses fell, and some persons were killed,
Nov. l3-The news of to-day from Oporto is
very sad;-the shock was felt there most severe
ly, several public buildings were destroyed and
sixty persons killed. AT Traferia, a new church
fell. The Barracks at Val de
Perreira are greatly damaged, and will have to
be rebuilt. A curious thing took place on board
a Brazilian steamer. Sailing from SOUTHAMPTON
on the 9Th, she was in the Bay of Biscay on
the llth- That morning the needle of the com.
pass suddenly went round and round, in a man.
ner most inexplicable and alarming The cap
tain scarcely knew where he was, and declared
to the passengers that something very remark
able was taking place on land-I cannot yet say
terra trina, my confidence in its stability has
been shaken