Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-08-29
AN EARTHQUAKE.

4 Severe Shock Visits New York City ano
the Eastern and Middle Statcs-Thc
Tremor Lasts About Ten seconds, and
Violently Asitates Large Buildings
Great CONSERVATION Among Supersti-
tious Denizens of the New York Tene-
ment District.
New YORK, Aug. 11.-The greatest
earthquake ever experienced on Manhattan
Island startled his city at 2:o5 O'Clock yes
terday afternoon. All morning the clouds
had been playing hldeAnd-seek with the
sun. and the atmosphere, damp anu dry by
turns, indicated some sort OF q disturbance.
At 1:45 o'clock the sun came out i'll daz-
zling brilliancy, and induced many thou
sands of people to leave their homes ana
crowd the streets. Suddenly there came a
violent vibration Of the eartla, preceded by
a low, long-rumbling sound as if the
explosions of many heavy guns had struck
an echo in a distant mountain, and caught
it up again. In all parts of the city the
buildings rocked and trcmbled for several
seconds, sending pell-mell INTO the streets
vast crowds of terrified people, whose
bIanched faces and palsied tongues told
the story of their fright. \
vigorous Commandment of the city
could not have shaken the buildings more
than did the sudden vibration.
The rumbling noise and tremulous
movement of the earth soon convinced al!
thinking people that the disturbance was
not due to anything that had taken place
on the earth's surface. 1t was plainly an
earthquake. There has been no such dis
turbance in this city since 1870, and even in
thai year the shock was thrilling compared
with that which was experienced yesterday.
If Yesterdays shock had been slightly more
violent Manhattan Island would doubtless
in Il few seconds have been in ruins, and
the loss of life would certainly have been
appalling. AS it was, CONSERVATION
prevailed i'll all quarters. The
course of the disturbance seems
to have been from east to west. There was
a sudden shaking Of buildings throughout
the city. Windows ratified, buildings trcm-
bled as if being agitated by the action OF
powerful machinery underneath them, and
in some quarters people were thrown from
lounges and beds to the floor, and persons
standing on the sidewalks were made ts
dance around. From stoOpS people were
precipitatcd to the sidewalk. The falls OF
most of them were probably due more to
fright than to the vibration of the earth.
Crockery was upset, and in some parts
of the city the dinins-room tables We're
shaken, and the persons who were seated
around them experienced such Il feel
ing as is common on the ocean
during a gale. An instant before the
shock the sun was obscured behind dense,
leaden clouds, and a moment after
the clouds sailed away, leaving the sun
shining in full force and the sky perfectly
clear. Opinions differ rs to the duration OF
the shock, competent scientific men making
ii range i'll the way from ten to forty sec
ondS. The Jewish quarter on the cast
side of the city, Bounded by
Chatham Square, Houston street, the Bow.
cry and East River was in Il state Of pre-.
cipitous tumult. The panic was great IN
the Jewish synagogue on Pike street where
five hundred people were assembled. An
Understandable scene occurred, especially on
East Broadway. Men yelled and jumped
about, dragged their furniture from hall.
ways and threw it out of windows, while
terrified women clutclled their children and
pitcOusly begged for mercy.
The police were hurried from the station
houses at first to find IL great explosion, and
failing i'll this, they turned their attention
to the terror-strlcken people at the corner
Of Rutgers street and East Broadway. There
was a pathetic scene at that place. Jacot
Balinsky, an aged Hebrew, had carried his
household goods tllitler, and his wife and
seven children were assembled about him.
All were or their knees with heads bent low.
and the old man was praying in Hebrew.
now soft and tremu!ous, now loud and plead.
ing and full OF anguish.
"What is he saying?" a reporter asked
his neighbor, an intelligent Hebrew.
lie is a Polish jew" was the answer.
Gle is telling God-not Christ, mind you
that he has been faithful all his DAYS,
that his wife has been v%irtuous and econom-
zeal. But he asks for mercy for his chill.
dren-asks that their sins be forgiven and
their punishment put on him. The old man
is an orthodox Jew. l amt, and | don't
believe in il, but that's what he's saying. "
Church bells were rung by the shock in
MANY sections of the city, while other church
bells in The same blocks remained Silent,
The clock on the police headquarters build
ing stopped at 2:O7 o'clock after running
constantly for many years. In many large
restaurants and hotels the gas globes and
chandeliers were shaken Off and smashed,
While the guests ran out in alarm. One
popularity Of the vibration is the fact that
the very largest and most solid buildings in
the city were the most shocked, while light,
1llmsy, frame buildings were hardly touched.
In The Italian quarter wild disorder pre-.
vailed immediately following the shock and
lasting until dark, but the Chinese of Mott
street paid no attention to it whatever, act.
ing as if they were accustomed to such
things.
In the Western Union building the shock
was particularly noticeable, frightening all
who were within it. The manager in
charge of the o~perating-room, in the ton
story, said: cover fifty of us We're in tho
room at the time, aud the building shook so
that the operators rushed to the doors,
thinking something about the building had
fallen. Why even the papers in
our hands were shaken in a lively
manner. The shock took place at
2:o9 o'clock, and continued ten Sec
onds. Within ten minute dispatches be-
gan to come i'll about it from other places.
On the lower floor of the building it was
thought that one Of the engines had sud-
denly become unmanageable, and in the
boller-room the engineer feeling the ground
tiemble thought that a part of the machinery
IN the upper part of the building had given
way
The disturbance occasioned no little ex-
element among colored people in different
localities between Twenty-fourth and Tween.
ty-elghlh streets and Sixth and Eighth ave-