The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1875-12-28

or, either rs to cause or effect. He Ii
however. strongly inclined to come ct
with the present threatened eruption Of
Mount Vesuvius announced by tele
graph In yesterdays papers. Earth
quakes and volcanic eruptions frequent
ly occur together in regions subject &;
their visitatioDs. The shock which
about a year ago, December 10, 1874
80 frightened the good people Of New
IN Iceland, and SO Of many others. MOI
| Is II necessary for this theory to suppose
| that the whole earth must be bodily
shaken before we connect an earth
quake here with a Volcano there.
POKER PARTY SHAKEN UP.
The incidents IN the city are numer-
Gus, amusing and often singularly dra-
matte in their character. A poker party
of five young men were quietly enjoying
their game when one, who lost con
siderable amount, EXCLAIMED In despair
ing tones. ooh. | wish an earthquake
would shake these cards up" The
words had scarcely died upon his lips
when the laundering rn.nble and shake
came, aud, looking In each others faces
IN spcechless terror the purity broke up
and fled to the street. In the dock of
the James river the water was Singh
ulrbVIpt1 anu JGtJt'I, anu 81
great was this that two tugs, one
schooner and n heavy barge parted
their lines and cables and drifted u con
siderable distance down in the river.
At other places on the river seainen,
doorkecpers and Waterman observed
the water TO be visibly agitated, and in
such u manner that they fancied there
was an upheayal in it's bed. Persons on
the lower portion Of Belle Isle, the ia
nous prison Of Federal soldiers during
the war, imagined the island was sink
ingand was about to be engulphed In
the rushing waters of the james. The
Ballard and Exchange hotels, two build
ings on each side III Franklin street,
and connected by covered bridge con
structed Of iron and wood, were rocked
with such force as TO threaten the dis
solution OF the connecting link between
them. The bridge, which all visitors TO
this city will remember, creakcd and
groaned from the effects of the vibra-
ton. between the two houses. W. a guest
remarked who stood upon il, "whep
the Exchange uplleavcd, the Ballard
seemed to sink, and rice rersd, until /
imagined | would be precipitated to the
earth with the bridge" The visitors
there were panic stricken, as elsewhere,
ladies, chambcrnaids and laundry wo-
men appearing In the passages and halls
en- deshobiNe upon the sudden and thun-
derng voice Of the earthquake, with its
consequent vibration. and the stagger
ing sensation ii produced in the knees
of pedestrians.
THE SHOCK FELT IN WASHINGTON THE
ACCOMPANYING PHENOMENA.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. 1876. Last
night the vicinity Of Washington ex-
perienced first class earthquake, or
rather two Of them. The shocks were
distinctly felt by those who live ia the
quieter portions OF the city. where such
demonstrations of nature could be
distinguished from the rutnbling of the
horse cars, but down on Pennsylvania
avenue aud + street the phenomenon
was not observed except In some few
caused the touching OF the electrical
bell wires and led to mysterious
ringing OF door bells, the incident being
however, to the passage OF
rats or mice across the wires and the
closing of the electrical circuit by their
bodies. A warm.
GusH op HOT AIR
suffused the atmosphere about the time
the earthquake was felt and a dreadful
stiffness seemed to fall upon the city.
and those who were about retiring to
bed almost fanced that il was summer
time and that IL was the oft noted calm
before u heavy storm. The shock was
most distinctly felt at Georgetown
Heights, and, in u less marked way, In
South Washington and In the region
northeast of the Patent Office. MIR.
Jcssup Blair, who was crossing Lafav-
cite square, where the Jackson eques-
TRAN statue stands, reports feeling the
eel I,.,. ,,,tf, t,nt.,n,,ttI,1x nnI nj
Farrar. who had just gone off duty from
the desk ut Wizards Hotel. saw
METEOR LIKE DEMONSTRATION
Of great size and brilliancy in the south
ern sky not far from the same time. IT
was the hour when the Signal Office Is
most busily engaged in translating the
reports and making up the
night probabilities, SO that the shock
was not noticed. but Mr. Jennings, one
of the observers, who was on his way
home at midnight, reports u sudden
down OF the thermometer of a
sharp
RISING OF THE WIND.
both being In strong contrast to the
heat and stiffness noticed at the time OF
the shocks. Persons in town who felt
the earthquake describe the rocking
and say that it caused a mo
sensation OF sickness or nausea. |
Mr. Blair Is a nephew Of Frank Blair.
He said tonight, In talking of the
that the lights along the
street danced up an! down. and that II
he had been u drinking man he would
have thought he was inebrated. Gen.
whose crockeryware ratified
loudly from the shock, thought there
was burglar in the house and got out |
Of bed and made a search for one
The thermometer in this city to day
reached seventy-three degrees.