Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1869-11-03
THE EARTHQUAKE IN MAINE.
4 sm aFkable Atm spherie Phen em ena
~-phree Tidal ~ aves at Portland.
From the Portland Press, Oct. %


| + A severe shock of an earthquake was ex-
| perienced in this city yesterday morning at
| $50 O'Clock, and lasted about a minute.
Beds rocked, bells rang, gaseliers were
swung to and fro, and the general sensa-
ton was that of being on board a vessel
when here is quite sea. Some people in
dulged the speculation that the powder
mills at Gorham had blown up, but the
agent here was not. aware of anything Of
| the kind, and dispatches from different
| parts of the State soon dispelled that illu-
q! sion. From the accounts we have gathered
| from different persons living in various
parts of the city, we should be inclined to
| the belief that the shock Was strongest IN
the most westerly quarter of the town, and
LdOwn near the dump. One gentleman
stated that his bed was moved on its cast
eTs, while the house shook, rafting the
blinds and causing the door belLto ring.
Another states that one of the ladies in
/ his household was rolled out of bed and fed
/ to her sisters room in alright. All the
statements coincide as to the swaying of
the houses and ringing of bells, in a great
Ell or less degree. The motion seems to
have been from east to west, for those per.
sons whose beds were placed lengthWise
| with Congress street felt q backward and
forward motion, while those lying ut right
angles with the same street were rocked
sideways. A gentleman who was awake at
the time says that the approach of the
earthquake sounded like q clap of thunder,
| and, gradually passing off in the distance,
/ decreased to the same amount OF noise car
rage OF heavy team would make rumtling
over the stretched. We hear that there
were three tidal waves swept past the
breakwater at the time of the shOcf, and
that the tides yesterday were very high. A
stage driver from Belfast informs Us that
just before he felt the shock of the Garth
! quake, he and his passengers noticed q
| lIgid glare suddenly appear in the sky, al
though the heavens at the time were quite
dark and it was raining. 4 gentleman
from Dexter. Me, makes the same obser-
vation. A pitcher, he says, was thrown
upon the floor, and windows shaken. Sim
liar phenomena were noticed in Bangor,
and the young men Of the State Conven-
| ton, Just leaving that city, were half in
clined to connect these physical move
ments with the demonstration of moral
and spiritual power to which the convoca-
| ton had borne witness. Earthquakes in
| New England are happily of rare occur
renee. We have the recordof them as tol-
/ lows: June 1, 1888; October 30, 1727:
! February 6, 1916; November IS, 1755;
March Y, 1761.
From the Bangor Wing. Oct. 29.7
/ What with floods, hurricanes, typhoons,
cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, our
staid old City of Bangor is getting decided
/ " to putting on tropical airs. To complete
/ the list of phenomena which have till OF
! late been rare to Us dwelIers Of away
down East we were visited yesterday
morning by an earthquake which even the
most sceptical would hardly dare to say was
/ no great shakes AS we were among
! those who heard and felt the unusual sem
satiOn, we are able to state from our own
/ observation as well as from the report OF
others regarding it. At 5 81 o'clock a. n., as
indicated by our watch, though others call
! it ). So, We heard sound and felt Il Earring
as if caused by a heavily-loaded team
driving over d rough and frozen road. The
/ sound seemed to come from the northeast,
/ faint at first, and Increasing and passing
/ away IN the southwest. The rumbling anG
/ Earring quickly increased, so that doors
and windows shook, pictures suspended on
: the walls ratified, house bells We're rung,
! glass aud china iingled, and stove-covers
| beat a tattoo upon the stoves. The sleep
/ ing inmates of the houses were suddenly
awakened with a sensation as though some
one was violently shaking their beds and
! those who were up and awake saw shutters
and doors swing to and fro. The whole vi
bration lasted about thirty seconds,
| though some set it down as one
minute III duration, but the former
we believe TO be most nearly correct. One
gentleman reports that he was lighting Il
kerosene lamp and had placed the chimney
upon the table, and the Earring threw it up
on the floor and broke it. Another gentle
man reports that bottle of whisky which
stood upon his bureau was thrown down
and broken, but it may have been ''splrits"
and not the earthquake IN this instance
that did the damage. A gentleman resld-
inc on Third street states that his shutters
were Jared open, and three panes OF glass
in his cellar windows shiveFed to atoms.
This is the most that We have heard of IN
the way of damage. Almost every one
who was asleep was awakened, and
some weak nerves were considerably
shaken, At the Muzzy Iron Works, a
heavy hosting gear attached to crane,
weighing some 25O pounds, was sWayed to
and trO like a pendulum, aud when the
workmen entered the shop an hour after
! wards it, Oscillating motion had not ceas-
/ co. We ale told that a gentlemen residing
! III one OF the towns back of Us. states that
several lights Of glass had been broken in
P'et''nSs tEoLll various points
north and south Of us, and notes from cor
respondents in other towns, speak OF ex-
tperiencing a similar shock at the same
[ hour. 1t Is said that no such shock has
been felt here during the past six wears.
gentleman, many years resident of Cali
forn1a, informs US that though he has seen
more damage done there, he has never felt
the shock Of an earthquake there more sen
sibly than he did that of yesterday morn
ing. 1t was quite a shake. At the Brews-
ter Hotel, ii Skowhegan, piano was NOV
ed several inches, and lamp overturned