The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-08-15
AN EARTHQUAKE.

Great Consideration Among Supersti-
tious Denizens of the New York Tene-
ment District. ttHa 9#As 8hglN ff
New York, Aug. 11.-The greatest
earthquake ever experienced on Manhattan
Island startled this city at 2:o5 O'Clock yes.
tcrday afternoon. All morning the clouds
lad been playing hide and-seek with the
sun, and the atmosphere, damp and dry by
turns, indicated some sort of a disturbance
At las o'clock the sun came out in daz-
cling brillianey, and induced many thou
sands of people to leave their homes and
crowd the streets. Suddenly there came a
violent vibration of the ettrtls preceded by
low, long-rumbling sound as. if tie
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 trembled for several
seconds, sending pell-mell into the streets
vast crowds of terrified people, whose
blanched faces and palsied tongues told
the story of their fright. A
vigorous bombardment of the city
could not have shaken the buildings more
than did the sudden vibration.
The ruMbling noiso and treniuloas
movement Of the earth soon convinced all
thinking people that the disturbance was
not due to anything that had taken place
on the earth'sa surface. 1t was plainly an
earthquake There has been no such dis
turbance in this city since 1870, and even in
that year the shock was tTifling compared
with that which was experienced yesterday.
Ii Yesterdays shock had been slightly more
violent Manhattan Island would doubtless
in few seconds have been in ruins and
the loss Of life would certainly have been
appalling. AS it was, CONSERVATION
prevailed in all quarters. The
course atOf the disturbance "a seems
to have been from east to west There was
a sudden shaking of buildings throughout
the city. Windows ratified, buildings trem-
bled as II 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 to
dance around. From stoops people were
precpitated 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 citysthe dining-room tables were
shaken, and the persons who We're seated
ing as is common on the ocean
during a gale. An instant before the
shock the sun was obScured behind dense,
leaden clouds. and moment after
the clouds sailed away leaving the sun
shining, in full force and the sky perfectly
clear. Opinions differ as to the duration Of
the shock, competent scientific men making
it range all the way from ten to forty sec
onds. The Jewish quarter on the east
side Of the city, bounded by
Chatham Square, Houston street, the Bow
cry and East River was in a state, of pre-
cipitous tumult The panic was great in
the Jewish synagogue on Pike street where
five hundred people were assembled. An
Undesirable 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 clutched their children and
piteopsly begged for mercy.
The police were hurried from the station
houses at first to find great explosion, and
falling in this they turned tkeir attention
to the terror stricken people at the corner
of Rutgers street and East Broadway. There
was pathetic scene at that place. Jacob
Balinslly, all aged Hebrew, had carried his
household goods thither, and his wife and
seven children were assembled about him.
All were on their knees with heads bent low,
and the old man was praying In Hebrew,
nOwsoft Snd tfemulous, now loud and plead
ing and full of anguish.
"What is he saying%' a reporter asked
his neighbor, an1ntelligent Hebrew;
& 4" He is a Polish Jew,21i was the, answer.
"He is telling God not Christ, mind you
THAT he has been faithful all his days,
that hisawife has been yirtuoEss and econom-
icaL But he asks for. mercy for his chil-
dren-asks that their sins be foIgiven and
their punishmentputO on him. The old man
is an orthodox Jew. Il amt, and I don't
believe in it, but that's what he's saying. ;"
Church bells were rung by tile shock in
many sectiOns.0f the city, while other church
bells in The same blocks remained silent.
The clock on the police headquarters build
ing stopped at 1907 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 9alarIn. One
popularity of the vibration is the, fact that
the very largest and most solid buildings in
the city were. the mosttshocked, while light,
himsy, frame buildings were hardly touched.
In the Western Union building the shock
was particularly noticeable, frightening all
who We're within it. The manager in
charge of the operating room, in. the top
story, said: Cover fifty of us Were in the
room at the time, and 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
t).nO o3oI 4
onds. Within ten minutes dispatches be-
gan to come in 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
boiler-room the engineer feeling the ground
trernble thought that a partof the machinery
in. the upper part Of the building had given
way" s..,
The disturbance occasioned no little ex-
element among colored people in different
localities between Twenty fourth and Twen-
: ty-eiglith streets and Sixth and Eighth ave-
nues. Women were greatly frightened,
some screamed, and many ran out of doors,
and even the men were timid and gave
expression to their fears that the end of
the world had come
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 1.-THE city was
visited at 2:10 yesterday afternoon with an
earthquake. which caused the greatest ex-
element and is the sole topic of converse
ton. TWAS preceded by a low noise re-
sembling distant thunder. There were two
distinct shocks. continuing about. five sec
onds each. No material damage was done
in the city, but several chimneys were top
pied over, The vibrations were so heavy
that windows were ratified and bells, were
rung over the city. ia4s4I9jGf
In some instances people were Frustrated
upon the floors of their dwellings. Every.
house in the city was affected more or less,
= the occupants running out thinking a terri
bic explosion had taken place. "A few mo-
ments later three fourths OF the entire popu-
lation were in tile street. Everywhere
men, women and lchildren c0ngTegated upon
the sidewalks and street corners and eagerly
discussed the affair. Shipping was like
wise affected by the shock. The large
ships loading petroleum in the Sehuyl-
kill River snapped their hawsers and
were only prevented going ashore by
the united efforts of their crew. Several
large steamers were thrown strongly
against the wharyes in the lower section of
the city and the crews thrown out of their
buRks. Huge waves, backed up by, the ris-
ing tide, overlooked many wharves, and
So a sa.raH III a4