The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-04-18
A Graphic Description of the Earthquake in
California.

CauIOrmas
"Grace Greenwood" MRS. Lippincott,) in
her letter dated from Sacramento, March 26tn,
to the New York Times, gives very Interesting
account of her earthquake sensations and eX-
periences in that city during the recent terrible
visitation
have new sensation to chronicle to-day
an event which hope will remain among the
experiences of my life, alone, apart unique.
One of the kind will do. Early this Tuesday
morning we had an earthquake. The most Sc
we're earthquake ever known in Sacramento,
which, indeed, has hitherto been singularly ex-
empt from such unwelcome visitations. 1t oc-
Cured. that is, the great shock, at 22O o'clock,
and then the clock stopped. 1t was late when
I went to bed last night was tired and weak
from recent illness, yet l could not sleep Tor q
long time. / fancied the air was heavy and
sultry With window wide open in my large
chamber, still had strange feeling of OPP
preston and apprehension, though all without
was profoundly quiet-a dead Stiffness. After
long tossing and weary waiting, 1 slept, IL
seemed but little while. dreamed was at
sea, and that the ship suddenly struck upon q
rock, and shuddered and shivered and creaked
fearfully. I woke to feel the rocking, strainlng
motion of the ship, and the roar of the winds
and waves. I had actually some moments OF
I was, and what was the strange tumult and
shock, and knew that the fearful power that
was shaking the great solid house and -attling
the windows and swinging the chandeliers
about me was neither of the air or sea-that
the dull, appalling roar was neither the sound
of a "mighty, rushing wind" nor the voice OF
many waters'-though it was like to them both
nor could it be taken for thunder, or the rum
BILE of cars, or the tumult of battle. 1t was
something peculiar, strange, terrible, unfamll-
lar. vet i'm possible to be mistaken-a nameless
horror of sound, muf1ed, portentous and all
pervading 1t did not seem to me to belong to
the earthquake. 1t seemed in the air, not un-
der the grould-it was not the growl OF I'M
prisoned thunder-but the ominous, defiant
roar of some unknown element of death and
destruction, "fying all abroad" 1t was more
terrible to me than the rocking and trembling
| all about me.
What moments were those for swift solemn,
yearninp thoughts! Before / rose from the bed
which shook and seemed to surge under me, L
seemed to pass in spirit over thousands of miles,
and to stand by the bedside of my dear ones,
sleeping in peace and security. Something
gave me strength, and rose quietly, went to g
window and looked out, expecting to see the
| ground heaving like the waves OF the sea, and
people running frantically from falling houses.
But all seemed strangely STILL except the sway
ing trees. Nothing was disturbed, and few
people were then in the streets. 1t almost
looked as though the earthquake was confined
to this houset-contracted for by the rampant
enemies of the Central Pacific. The moon
shone through q mist with peculiarly cold
almost ghastly light. This effect, heard after.
ward, was noticed by others. suppose 1t had
no connection with the earthquake, yet it in
| Al of tha
dear hostess came to me to try to give ME aid,
or rather comfort but as the shocks came in
swift succession, running into each other, she
was herself almost overwhelmed with terror
and apprehension. Yet, after her tender, un-
selfish way, she seemed to suffer most from fear
for the fate Of friends in San Francisco. "lf
it is so severe here, it must be terrible there"
she said, and my own distress was very great
for many dear friends l pictured flying from
their falling houses and wandering through
the streets. But, thank heaven, they escaped
the awful visitation this time almost entirely
We seem to have taken the full brunt of it. :,
We hear to-day that many people rushed
from their beds into the streets, and remained
till the shocks were all past. My host, Gov.
Stanford, was perfectly calm, and his courage
proved contagious. When ne told me tqat IL
was not after all frstclass earthquake, be-
lieved and trembled, respecting his long Pacific
coast experience and not being judge of
earthquakes myself When he assured me that
the worst was over, went quietly to bed and
there remained as quiet as my bed would allow
me to be. The shocks became much less vio-
lent and frequent, and at last were so gentle,
that, worn out by strange emotions, l said to
the dear old earth, never had feared before :
Crock me to sleep, mother"-and she did it.
At about 6 o'clock l was wakened by q smart
shock, the last severe one we have had. Du.
ring the day we have had several starts and
tYem5lements, so light that it is probable we
should not have noticed them, had we not been
on tie gu; vive. We are beginning to take
some credit to ourselves for good behavior, as
we hear of many in all parts of the city who
were utterly panic-stricken, rushing into the
streets in their night clothes, shTieking and
sobbing and praying, and doing other strange
and unusual things. One frantic young man,
very airily clad, leaped out of third story
back window of a hotel. He alighted on the
roof of an old shed, which gave way, and let
him down gently into a spring wagon. So he
escaped with his life, but has, they say, gone
into retirement and course of vinegar and
brown paper. We felt assured that we were as
safe where we were as we could be outside, and
not soul left the house.
Buckle, believe, says that there is nothing
that so takes hold on the imagination as an
earthquake, and very likely my imagination
exaggerated the peril, the hcaving the roaring
as / afterward found it did the duration OF the
shocks. All the accounts have ever heard or
read of earthquakes came back to me-the
dreadful stories of the destruction of Catanla
and Lisbon in the old schoolbooks, with their
more dreadful pictures, and the later horrors OF
South American convulsions. There IS IN an
earthquake all the elements of panic, OF wlid,
mad terror, especially in its utter unexpected
ness and uncertainty. Nothing IN nature gives
surancc that it is past. You cannot know du-
ring the first great shock whether it is subsid-
ing or eliminating. Still, we were more sol
emnized than terrified, at least after the bcwil-
dered waking out of sleep, and the first sur
prise and alarm There was something SO
ip.,rstorinns sn stnnendous. SO almost grand in