The New York herald., 1874-12-12

ana Is TO the effect that he was sound asleep when
me- ne was awa1eaea "a oy great noise ana not snow d
asked her what she supposed WAS the matter with
the house as itseemed to have the st. vtus dance.
About the time MIS-. Peter opened her eyes
second shock came, and that good soul said it
must be heavy freight train broke loose; but
ne said, knew the Lord was In the wind. Alter
some conversation ne admitted that ne
oea in Mulberry srse II New ne york.
and had q great iondness Tor astronomy.
He said ne was a great student OF
OF Venus; so much so that ne had bought all OF the
cuts and maps that would in the least give him
lightened on the subject OF this 10 him. new phe.
nomena. HIS interiocutor could only suggest
to him the ne idea that Venus had gIs,, gotten
and carromed on his house. The astronomer
stood amazed ior a moment at the idea, but
finally accented II, remarkng as he walked on,
do when He tried"
THE SHAKE ON THE WIRES.
At the railway station people who did not un-
derstand the situation had congregrated i0r In.
formation, and i was vouchsaled them
afes in the telegraph office attached to
the station Her statement was to the effect that
and that II exploded during the night and ex-
pended Its force IN breaking the neighbors dishes.
She found her ONCE IN confusion IN the morning,
credence, however. was given to the story,
but when an old gentleman who stated
adventures every ear was opened TO him; and
when, In conclusion, he remarked that 1t was his
opinion that an eruption had taken place In South
America and that II was so great as 70 disturb
that part OF the dirt upon which we tread, he was
at once set down for learned man and his story
believed.
the shock was felt for several miles up the
county from Mamaroneck and the houses In some
Instances were terribly shaken and the lnhabi-
tants badly frightened; but there was no damage
to property done on the trains passing through
conversation. believed X.
istence and seemed inclined to The opinion that
the end was not yet. Those, however, who did
not leel the shock concluded tnat 1t was either
big sell or ianciful IDEA IN the brains Of those
VINO pro- essed 70 have been alarmed by it,
THE SHOCK IN RoCKLAND COUNTY.
In the populous village Of Mack, Rockland
county, on the west bank OF the Hudson, the
ua shortly
shook and heaved In a manner never before
known to the Oldest inhabitants causing houses
TO rock on their foundations, displacng ceilings
and breaking crockery and glassware In several
instances. The terrified people rushed into the
streets in large numbers, many OF them dressed
only in their night clothing, all OF them painfully
apprehenslve OF some awful impending calamity,
OF the county the same alarming shock was expe-
rienced.
At the latter place wealthy gentleman was in
bed at the time the shock was felt and described
1t as something well calculated to disturb
the nervous system OF the most stold indi-
IN the West lndIes and Is therefore positive that
the shock 1elt in hts section on Thursday night
was nOtn10R more nor less IMAM genuine ear th-
quake. He left rlermont at an early hour yester-
day morning, consequently had no opportunity OF
comparing notes with his neighbors; but he is
confident no damage was done To buildings or
property Of any KIND.
The night was not DARK 1t was cloudy all
around; but here and there long riffs told ii not
Of bright moon, at least OF goodly starlight out
behind. The wind, II there was any had died
away. Suddenly there was low rumble, SO
gentle and s.eady that one hardly noticed
IT. Then 1t quckened little, and, getting
who slept over her sewing. whats THAR" as
she rises suddenly WHATS thatY Why, what is
WY IT'S an p o mo-"
bed across the noor.' They step into the nail TO
the loot Of the stairs and ask, "Kitty, did you
knees
SAYING MY PRAYERS,
and the house shook under mel, They were
sobered for the wife was positive the house shook,
and he was, too. lOr that matter. What In the
world was itS Lighting lantern and catching up
a revolver he went down stairs and through from
room to room. What good was tn. revolver To
shoot an earthquake : Well, he didn't yet know.
He went over the house and cellar; all was Sc.
cure. Still. not such a great while ago neigh
entered. o heavy IRON sale wheeled noiselessIy ou
and down the road almost hundred yards
ow re IL sns n as
| ing field. Was this some new concoction o
the deviltsh villains ? He goes out and arount
is yet still ana not dark. Tne bright city lights In
the southeast and here and there In some upper
| window on the Palisades side. or far of In the
valley q small gas JET or smaller night glim, and
! the dim outlines OF the houses and lawns-these
all look natural enough. He guesses It isn't
| heelan maid had dOnned her gown and was there
with the wife, both demanding an explanation.
and evidently not to be trlned with. He went at
| 1t as well as he could. 1t must have been one Of
the powder houses down under the bluff. 1t must
SHOOK THE OLD PALISADES
rock in this fashion That's wnat It wasp' mo
sSs II was az ma2 ps he o
much up on earthquakes, and didn't know. ~,
isn't much OF an earthquake, anyhow, for It didn,l
smash any crockery," he persisted. "Well II shook
s'And SO could l." chimed in Bally At lasl
out his watch within minute after the noise
| ana noted the hour--twenty- three minutes past
ten. As nearly as he could judge the rumbllna
had lasted about three seconds and was loudes,
at the last
s,.. - AT TorsSa TENAFLY: 7, , ,.,
past ten, were startled by violent vibration O
| their dwellings, accompanied by rumbling noise,
Tns windows and crockery rattled, and the occu.
pants ran in various directions to see what por.
tions had suddenly fallen.
vibration lasted nve seconds Perfect silence
succeeded the shock for minute, when the dogs
began barking violently. The evening was calm
PREVIOUS LOCAL EARTHQUAKES.
Though far away from volcanoes, and in the
sober temperate zone, New York and her neigh.
borhood is not wholly deprived OF the peculiar
sensation BY which an earthquake demonstrates
the lack OF absolute stability even In real estate
This locality can boast OF no houses thrown down
or cities destroyed BY terrestrial tremor, but her
history has yet its positive record o
several shakes within the period since the
acquisition OF California. 1t might be
suggested that we had taken her tendency to up.
heava when we conquered our entire Republic
OF Mexico, and that we did not entirely surrender
tnat when the forces OF General Scott lett her
scorching plains More likely, however, earth
quakes have happened here before the era or the
was felt in New YORK city on the sth ol September
lS4s, which, though distinct, did urtner damage
than to crack few walls and nauseate some
slckly stomacns Northern New York felt little
quake on the 18TH OF March, 1853 At
Buffalo and some other places a shock was felt
October %, 1857. New England was shaken In
quite lively manner October O., 1869. On Satur-
day evening, June rs. 1870, alter mild day,
the thermometer rose suddenly. Presently low
rumbling noise was heard, like heavy distant