River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1883-11-01
EARTHQUAKE ECHOES.
From the Afgonaut.
tsVVbatts fhafess

were falling in"
Thus said my companion and myself
We were driving in buggy down Broad
way, Oakland, and were looking at a
building then called the Wilcox Build
ing" 1t was the morning of October q,
| 1868.
As | said, we were looking at this
| building. A new story had just been
added to it, and we were specializing as
to the safety Of making such additions to
buildings whose walls were only desig-
mated for structures Of lesser height. Ii
was Ave minutes to eight O'Clock. We
had pulled up, and were looking curl,
onsly at the new story when my com.
panion made the remark;
Whats that?''
Itdid indeed look as if the roof were
ialling in. The walls budged out. the
roof seemed TO sink. the building moved
slightly, and then recovered its perpen-
| dicular. We were botn so amazed that
we could only stare in open-moutled
wonder.
At this moment | noticed that the
/
| look as if he were going to rnr away,
| bnt simply as il something extrac rdinary
| were puzzling his equine brain. | fam
| cied there might be something wrong
| with the harness, and giving tne lines
20 nay companion, jumped out to see.
! As my feet struck the ground | thought
| for moment tnat | must be mad. The
earth rocked beneath me; il rocked
| with such violence that | could hardly
| stand. | seized the shaft, partly to
steady myself, and partly to get to the
horses head, for he was giving such
signs ofagitation that | feared he might
runaway,
AS / got to the horses head, there
was dull, rumbling roar, and cloud
| of dust lose up end down the street.
| Then there was a crashing, jlngllng
| sound. and | saw many window-ironts
| upon Broadway falling into the street
| Following them came an avalanche OF
| bricks aud mortar from falling chimneys
and fire walls. And last OF all came a
dense mass OF people from the sh OPS
and houses Your human does not move
as quickly as inanimate objects during
an earthquake. When he does, he
| sometimes regrets it, for he arrives at
| the same time as the falling bricks and
mortar, he wishes he hadn't-unless, OF
/
| salvation is all fixed and his good deeds
| chalked up, in which case, Of course, a
| NOUS iov should pervade his breast.
| All that | have related took but
few seconds. And in about minute after
| the shock began Broadway was filled
with runaway teams of every descrip-
| ton.
There was at that time an open square,
! or vacant lot, on Broadway, containing
nothing but trees. | remember notic-
| ing these trees, and being struck, even
| then, at their absurd appearance. cone
| thinks quickly during an earthQuake.l
| AS the waves of the earth-spa5m rolled
| along, the trees rose and fell, lnclning
| first to one side. then to the other, bob
| bling and bowling in a ludicroU5 fashion
/ Those who were on this side of the
| bay that morning may think this de-
| scription of the shock exaggerated. But
when they consider that the local cen
| ire of the earthquake Of '68 was evident
| " ct San Leandro, they will see that
| they are mistaken. Over there some
| buildings were entirely demolished
| others twisted upon their foundations
| and assures and cracks opened in the
earth many rods in length. Scarcely a
| chimney was LETT standing In Oakland or
| Alameda.
A curious phase of the earthquake
was the belief on the part o. the Oak
| landers that San Francisco was destToyed.
| 4 thick haze hung over the bay 1t
was impossible to see any of the spires
| and towers of Sau Francisco. The tele-
| graph wires were down; the draw
| bridge over San Antonio Creek was
| thrown ont of gear Dy the shock; the
| train there was but one them was
penned MP on the other side of the es-
| tuary The only way Of reaching the
| city was by freight.boat which they ran
! on the creek To this repaired the
anxious Oaklanders and we still more
anxious San Franciscans.
| On the little pier at the foot of Broad
way was a crowd of several hundred
men. 1t was divided into
little groups, in the centre Of each
| Of which was an excited man, telling
| where he was and what he did AZ the
| time OF the shock. He was perpetually
| being interrupted by other excited men,
! who wanted to tell what they did and
| where they were. Every man in every
group was engaged in moving his arms
| wind mill-wise, to illustrate how the
earth had quivered. In moments ofeX-
| element the Anglo-SaXon race becomes
| as gesticulative as the Latin.
| One man in particular | remember.
| lie was one of those small men with inn
mense filslian voices one who could
outroar any one else, and by virtue OF
| his superior lung power had succeeded
| in telling his personal experience over
any number of times. As soon as he
had finished it, he began again.
1t may be necessary to remark here
that all through the morning OF the 2lst
there were continuous shocks. People
had their nerves completely unhinged
by the first shock, and the gentle yet
ominous oscillations Of mother earth
kept THEM permanently so. | will further
remark apparently without c0herencel
that there was an immense heap of coal
piled up on the edge of the pier
The little man with the big voice was
still talking His Grafton ran thus:
"You see, we had iist got up from
breakfast when that there first shock
come. My wife she started to run. l
saws to her, Now, Jemima, says /,
Whatever is the use OF runnin But
she wouldn't listen to nuthin'. so 1 jist
grabbed her and held her till it was
over. And what do you think?-when
that shock come to an end. Jemima she
tainted and | was list as cool as ! am
now"
"Drip-drip-drip-dripw
The coal was falling into the water
over the edge Of the pier. Every one
turned-the slightest noise WAS ominous.
"DriD-drin-drin plashi Dashl
SpalshP'
Tue pier was rocking to and fro-irst
gently, then with vigor, then with
vicious thump which meant mischief
There was a sudden disqualification to
dry land. The crowd resolved itself
into an immense and swiftly mo wing
fan, the apex pointing toward the shore.
The apex was our friend, the little man
with he big voice.
AT this point many of the Oakland ers
lost their interest in San Francisco.
They could not be again induced to 20
upon the pier. They contented them
selves with vaguely remarking that they
would wait and see, and with whoop-
ing up others who seemed disincined
to 60.
Al last the boat made her appearance
| think it was the old ferry-boat Louise,
long since disappeared from these wa
ters-under that name, at least. 1t was
not very large crowd that boarded her.
There was a good deal oftaIk about tidal
waves and things, and the people looked
upon us very much, ] fancy, az the
Spaniards did on Columbus when he set
out upon his voyage into unknown seas.
Most Of us, as | have said, were San
Franciscans, On the boat, ! remember
was Michael Reese. Michael was
drenched with woe. He feared that
where San Francisco had reared her |
fair tower-crowned hill-tops to the sky, |