Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-04-15
THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE.

OF q QUO2att0GU-LHe oHOcG IN the
Darkness Of tie Morming-7He achole
Country Shaken like Pan Of Dirt
AHthe Houses Crum6led- Land Ridg-
es and Water Spoats.
From the Virginia New Enterprise, March 3ol
We yesterday met with and interview
ed Mr.. Frank Bell, Division Superinten-
dent of the Western Union Telegraph
Company in this State, who was at In
Inyo county, California,
last Tuesday morning when the great
earthquake occurred which shattered
that whole region, and which shook us
up not little in this city-3o0 miles
north of what would seem to have been
the centre of the great telluric disturb
ance.
THE FIRST GREAT SHOCK
came at 2:3O on Tuesday morning, and
was probably the most severe that oc-
Cured. Mr. Bell,.wh was sleeping in
the second story of the hotel at Indepen-
dence "a frame building filled in with
adobes), says that when the first shock
came it threw his pitcher and wash
bowl, which were upon wash-stand six
feet distant, upon his bed, whence they
rolled to the floor and were broken AT
ter few heavy sidewise lurches from
south to north, during which Mr. Bell
was trying to climb out of his second
story window. about half dozen per-
pendicular jolts came, which seemed to
lift the house to the height of several
feet. The earth now seJUled down to a
steady, tremulous motion, which sort of
calm lasted long enough to allow MIR.
Bell to partially dress himself, find his
overcoat and carpet-saek, and get down
stairs and out into the open air. Here
he found the startled inmates of the no.
tel, to the number of twenty five or thir-
ty,
MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN EN- DEsHA-
BILLIE,
all IN momentary expectation OF repe-
tition of the shocks. Frightened as all
were, one man still had sufficient COM
mand of his wits to notice Mr.. Bells
overcoat and carpet-bag. "Halloo p he
cried, ''here is a man who has packed
his duds and is going to leave the coun-
try The joke must have been consid-
cred good one in some quarters for
just at the moment the earth laug hed
such a laugh, and so shook its sides that
nobody cared to make another attempt
at wit.
From this time till nearly z O'Clock
the earth was never for moment per-
fectly quiet, and every few minutes
heavy shocks of few seconds duration
were occurring In all, there were more
than fifty very heavy shocks. The first
shock cracked and threw down many
walls and buildings, but it was the heavy
succeeding shocks which leveled every.
thing. The brick Court House and
every brick and adobe house in the town
and throughout the whole country were
thrown down.
PERILoUS POSITION OF CHILD.
When the first shock occurred, Mr.
Harris of the firm of Harris & Kline
rushed out of his dwelling with his fam
lily. After getting out he found one
child was missing, and was rushing hcl
to rescue it when the whole building
fell. 1t was supposed that the chile
was killed, but upon cutting through
the roof and removing a portion of thu
wreck of the building, it was found ant
rescued quite unframed.
1t would be useless to attempt to de
scribe the CONSERVATION which prevailed
throughout the town during the time tn
shocks were occurring many supposed
the last great day had come. The shock
were accompanied with great rum
bling, and the air was filled with grea
clouds of dust-indeed such quantitie
of dust filled the air that cloud wa
formed which was seen by persons resid
ing fifteen or twenty miles to the north
ward
THE SHOCKS WERE STILL CONTINUING
when Mr. Bell left, and the people wer
so utterly demoralized that they did nc
know where to turn or what co do. 4h
impression at Independence was that
the southwark the earthquake was stil
more severe than in that place, and feaI
were entertained that but little was lei
of Zorro Gordo and other mining camp
in that direction. They worked an hou
and a half trying to get at Wells, Farg
& Co. treasure box, buried in the ruin
of Nathan Rhine's store. and at last tn
stage came off without it. Even as til
stage started there came one or two ra
Ting shocks. All the adobe building
at Fort Independence were laid low, an
a child killed; the mother, also, was 81
riously injured.
THE INYo "INDEPENDENT" OFFICE,
a frame building filled in with adobe
was not thrown down, but the Office W;
badly damaged-even a cooking stov
that stood in it being smashed to piece
STREAMS OF FIRE ISSUE FROM THE NOUN
Fourteen miles this side of Indepel
, dence, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain
is large mountain called Black Roc
the sides of which are covered with l
va and which is supposed to be an e
, tinct volcano. The settlers informt
, Mr.. Bell that during the time Il
shocks were most severe, flashes of ligl
were seen to issue from the top of tn
y mountain and streams of fire ran dow
its sides
: There are on the side of the mounta
) three old lava streams, but when Il
stage passed along no one had yet col
to see if any fresh flow had occurred
Mr.. Mallory, formerly of Carson Git
stated that he observed flashes of lig
) in other places in the mountains, but
was of the opinion that they were cause
by rocks striking together as they role
down the slopes of the peaks. In plac