Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-11-05
Scenes of Terror.

Nadia mas again Deeu tE0 scene OIL
those frigbtful geological phenomens
that from time to time atilict these
islands. Fortunately the hour at which
it occurred, between IL midday and ]
O'Clock in the afternoon Of the 18th ult.,
saved US from calamity which, com.
pared with that of 1868, would have
been terrible to contemplate. As |
now write, every hour or so we are
feeling slight shocks, and general opin
ion is they are far from finished, as
from past experience we look for more
shocks for days to come, and perhaps
may Rave heavy one t. END up with
The sight is imposing, and the etf.c,
it has upon the observer who has felt
the shocks, and wanders through the
town seeing the rUiIous state that many
buildings are in, one can not but real
ize the danger :hat yet surrounds IL
on every eide. The frightened, terri
fed look Of the people going TIA ough
the streets. the slightest noise bring
sufficient 10 s!art!o aud set every soul
running out Of the houses to the mid
die Gt :he streets, aud TO the squares,
every slight stock of the earth strikes
terror into the soul Of every one. euch
and every one expecting unheard-o OF
calamity. Families arc leaving th..
city ana rushing out into the country.
into the native huts, and last night |
heard that native asked for his hut,
about eight feet square, $50 night,
from family who had escaped from a
fallen house, saving only what they
stood in.
The terror that ovcrcame the inhaLi
tants at the moment of the heavy shock
it is not possible to describe. Tie
movement of the earth was SUCH as to
deprive people of their feet; even the
coolest and bravest, who uId not
for moment lose their presence OF
mind, found it very difficult to keep on
their legs; then the laundering noise
of the falling buildings, tho dnSt rising
in thick clouds whore the ruins fell j.,
cansca many people TO cry ont, " Fire!
fire J! This caused agony upon rEony
and tie tcrIoI-s.ruck natives, prin-
cipa!!y !l!a women, threw tx Iis.Ivvs
on Il" YroUG&, AID paying cloud,
call! ! "pan tA,i: Get N liz mos!
hGar;lruliu8 t1;.cs. It N&a, alt 'Gethtt,
q %c"u" ;lo longest liz ttn rur,r,ll.lr
ttui4 :cmHy. am ;ryihr "a tl.r.
M r,r',s and hrt'r plainly; hat, with
Tie C.ntA m"viNE from your i,ct every
nov an then, Il is hatiy possible -
do Mor" fHn make lolI.~r!. HnGt5.
st@od, - rupn yul VIII ia,,,ie oil: tllr
letter. The loss OF lie and accidents
to nars"aS may TO fortunately cun-.l-
erOd very siHai!, taking into cOn>ileiA-
I.f 60 .,,.
owing to the hour At which it occurred.
Had they happened at hight, nothing
could have saved us from general
conil!gratiop. rs all the houses being
lighted up, and the majority with kero.
sene oil, none would have stopped to
put out fallen lamp, and thus we
should have had fire set to every fallen
building.
The first shocks were slight, and
gave time for people to run ont of the
houses to places of security. The
length of time the shocks continued
was irom seventy to eighty seconds;
they were very much more severe than in
1868, as well as being much more pro-
longed; had they finished rs in 1863,
with rotary motion, not house
would have been found standing after
the shocks. To private property los SEES
must have been immense, rs the streets
are all more or less covered with ruins
from the buildings, and many houses
have their roofs fallen in, while not
stone or tile has dropped into the streets
complete collapscH. Many are in such
q ruinous state that it would require
but very ordinary shock to bring
them 10 the ground-the vehicles are
not allowed to pass through some of the
most dangerous parts of town, and the
authorities have been to the fore with
most praiseworthy energy, sending ont
the troops aid police to examine the
interiors of all dwelling houses for the
wounded or otherwise; the engineers to
survey and examine the interior Of the
houses; ordering out the inhabitants
where danger existed, and making all
necessary precautions az to medical at
tendance for those who required it. Up
to the present time there ARE reported
ten dead and twenty nine wounded.
Looking at this sad catastrophe from
commercial point of view, the Losses
in produce must be enormous, al ovs
all, in sugar. / visited several of the
largest claying establishment, and
found them in most rninous state.
The immense godowns of Chudian,
Buenaventura & Co. are all razsd to
the ground. and the sugar (they were
tilled) all buried in the ruins. Where
We could see the pots of sugar most of
them appeared almost bottom upward;
this will give an idea of the movement
Of the earthquake. You will see by the
papers tho details of damage to prop
erty, which is estimated ut about ST.
OO0 600 as far Us is Mt present known.
The view during tho earthquake from
the vessel in the river was, as described
by an eyewitness, something to be
seen to be appreciated. The rocking
to and fro of the building was some
thing territic-the vessels moving about
and bumping each other as though i'll
u heavy seaway; the water OF the river,
bubbling up and mixed with black mud
ID the rIver, was all the color of ink.
Hundteds 81 people rushed oil' to The
ships and remained all night. la the
bay the Same hubbling appearance was
observable or the water, anl the shock
was distinctly felt on board the ships.