The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1884-08-13


roads did not know of its occurrence.
until they were told of it by the people get
ting in at the stations and that the shock
felt on the Elevated station was slight COM
pared with that on the ground below As
far as can be ascertained the shock was en-
tirely imperceptible on the waters. Imme-
diately after the shock had been felt at the
police central Office considerable confusion
was occasioned, and an impression
at first prevailed that a violent
neighborbood. little investigation,
however, led Acting SupermtendentSa Sanders
TO the conclusion that the cause of the dis
turbance was real earthquake. he at
once sent out q general dispatch to all pre-
cincts asking for information in regard to the
shock in their districts, answers soon began
to pour in, and the operators were kept busy
for two hours writing out the reports from
the different Captains.
Itappears the shock was felt in about the
same intensity all over the city, although it
produced alarm in the thicklv settled tene-
telegram from the Yonkers police said
the shock had been felt there also.
Great excitement prevailed in the Jewish
and Bohemian quarter on the East side,
the houses in which are mostly high and
lightly constructed tenements, were violently
shaken and the terrified inmates rushed out
into the streets, carrying with them what
ever of their household effects they could
move Children, screaming with fright,
were borne out by parents who were hardly
less panic stricken, and the whole p0pala-
ton was soon massed in the center of the
street.
In Ludlow street, between Hester aud
| Canal, the panic was at its height, the
streets were swarming with people, men
women and children huddied together. evi-
IDENTIFY thinking their last hour mad arrived,
and expecting every moment to see the
Wali nf oil 6W0 all
women were shrieking and the children
baw)ing. while the men were either swearing
| or praying. This was kept up for nearly
| half an hour, when the commotion fiually
subsided, and the police persuaded the Deo-
pie TO return to their homes Similar scenes
were witnessed in Mulberry Jersey and
Mott streets, where the Italians have their
colonies. The fright, however, was not so
| intense, and after a little their loud shouts
and wild gesticulstions ceased. A few
| minutes after the shock grey-haired man
rushed into Madison Street Police Station
| and said several houses in Monroe street had
| tumbled down. Ambulances were called
and the reserve force sent out by the Ser
| geant. On arriving at the place indicated,
| they found the street in front of large
| tenement, was crowded with an excited
| throDg of people but there was no indication
of any accident the panic was caused by an
| excited man, who rushed into the street
shouting, the house is falling. Many in
stances of a similar character were reported
| in the teDementhouse district but as far as
can be ascertained, no damage anywhere
was done. In many houses the doorbells
were set ringing by the shock
Its caUse was a matter of much specula-
ton, especially among the more ignorant
classes, and it was a long time before many
understood the real nature or the occurrence.
In Central Park the shock was more severe
than in the surrounding regions. There were
| large crowds on the walks that were at once
| thrown into a state of violent excitement by
the strange rumbliDg in the ground, which
was distinctly heard. The animals in the men
agerie were frightened by the shock, and
many of them were seen to tremble rs IL N
| great fear, while they remained perfectly
still for some time after it occurred. Opera
| tor Hoffman, at the Arsenal, was thrown
from his chair but was not hurt. The globes
of the lamps in his office were cracked The
ceiling of the tenth precinct station mouse
was badly cracked, and frame house at l47
Lewis street, was cracked in several
places ia and one ~, OF hothe the SooaUsn women
unconscious from fright. A street car in
avenue B was lifted from the track several
| times, and several houses are reported thrown
| down. At the drug store on NInety-ninth
street and Tenth avenue, several bottles were
thrown from the shelves. The policeman of
the Brooklyn bridge reports that the shock
was distinctly felt there, and the great to #ers
at either end oscillated yisibly, while the
bridge itself rocked. The shock
of the earthquake was felt generally
| along the river frOat aud the
piers were shaken as if heavily loaded trucks
were passing over them.
At the iron stea mboat pier structure of
! solid masonry, the motion was so violent
that the ticket.takers rushed from their OF.
| fees to ascertain the cause. Late in the
afternoon the boats brought back crowds
from Coney Island There the shock seemed
more violent than in the city. The p.azzas
and dining rooms of the great hotels were
well filled when the rumbling noise was
| heard, followed by the rocking OF
the ground which made the windows
rattle and shook dishes and wine-glasses
from the tables There was general rush
| for the open air. and for some time grelt ex-
element prevailed. At the new piers there
! was a similar shock, and even the chairs rat
I tied about There was a general rush to-
/ ward the main entrance, people being under
| the impression that the structure was giving
| way. AS the shocks did not recur, appre.
| tensions on this score were allayed. In
| Brooklyn the earthquake was felt very
| generally throughout the city. Along the
river front and in the Eastern District the
! shock appears to have been heavier and OF
| longer durstion. Everywhere the people
| abandoned their houses; some in terror, and
others to learn of the calamity that had be-
| fallen their neighbors. At Greenpoint the
people started upon a run for the immense
oil works on the shore of Newtown Creek,
thinking an explosion had occurred there,
while all the fire companies harnessed their
horses TO respond to the alarm which they
thought would soon follow.
The sensation experienced on board the
receiving ship, Vermont, at the Brooklyn
| Navy Yard, was similar to that felt when
broadside is discharged from a ship at some
! distance. According to the story of one of
! the sailors, there was a distinctly-felt jar,
| and noticed by all aboard. Persons travel
| ing in the street cars felt vibration, and in
many instances the wheels of the cars seemed
to leave the track, producing the same effect
as when they pass over loose switch. The
bell of the Presbyterian Church, in Green
| point, swayed back and forth and rang sey-
eTal times loud enough to be heard by all the
people living in the neighborhood. Among
other evidences of the violence of the
| agitation in Brooklyn may be men ntioned
the stopping of clocks, throwing down OF
high piles Of bricks. the swinging of lamps
and pictures aud the like.
Many Sunday-schools were in session at
the time and the teachers in some instances
had great difficulty in alleviating the terror
of the children aud pre- ting panic.
From the reDQrts received from T.oup