The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-08-14
the EARTHQUAKE.
4 shock 1T 300 Yesterday Afternoon
aud Ms inrldrms.
MUCH 100 ABOUT NOTHING
How People iichnyr rudrr sudden Fright
children i'lwllpE, Women
screaming, Men swearing
Amer All Nothing,

~
shock of earthquake, lasting about ten
seconds. At thir hour, q p, mrpnrliruIars
have been received ut the Western
Union Office here, showing the effects
from the following points, Tho At
lantic highlands near Sandy Hook,
Long Branch, Philadelphia, New Haven,
Boston, EliZobeth, Plainiicld, Spring
lake, Marthas Vineyard and Portland,
Maine. At the last named point II was
| slight, Reports have also been received
from many of the sub-oillcos about New
| York. The reports rs TO its duraiion are
diverse, hut the average seems 10 Toe
about ten seconds.
Tho operator nt Providence was
vaguely questioned as 10 whether he
had heard or seen anything unusual,
and he promptly replied that he had his
hands ON the steam pipe and that Il had
| trCmblcd violently, lilo had been look
ing up and down the street To discover
the heavy team which mp 20 the time ui
inquiry no had supposed was passing
Tho question made Linn suspicious of an
earthquake, The suspicion was psOmptly
cOrNTurd by various people rushing in
Ia the streets aud into the Office asking
/ Tor an explanation.
Nig:li -. M, Nrlnntic, Highland, OK
u1rirunnl Second shock, but less viu-
i,a, thHu the first.
. At Philadelphia the scatloldng on -
/ new building going up on the corner "i
! Sixth and Reed streets, was shaken Viu-
!cutly and some bricks ON the boards
were shaken OH and fell To the street be-
Ow.
| The scvcrcst shocks were reported
from Soabright, New jersey, where the
depot was shifted 10 one side, shaking up
mo contents and alarming the inmates.
. - 4:.b y. IN. au Intellectual effort was
4 4. IsHt, tf.l,
] had been in communication with
/ tic local office up to the time Of the
shDrk. The operator just had timo Ia
report the shock together with the fact
that the Jars of his battery had been
/ overturned when the wire gave out.
At Hartford Il barehcadcd man rushed
| lYuntically To the telegraph Office, hold
/ ing in his hand newspaper which he
| had been reading. lie said he had been
rocked violently, and that the plaster on
the ceiling above him had been cracked,
and in some places had dropped oil on
| the floor.
In Brooklyn tho streets were alive
with people who had come out to AS
certain the cause OF the rocking and to
| gossip about il. one cool-headed OBJ
/ server, upon the first perccptible mo-
don. took out his stop watch and
timed the vibrations. He reported
| that the shock begun at 2:C6:50 and that
| the first shock lasted just ten seconds,
and that quoting down rs he had de
! Scribed il, it took nearly fifty seconds
more. Oll-hand SuesserS as to the dura-
| ton varied from five seconds to two
minutes, according to the extent OF the
Observers fright and his Judgment Of
| the ght of time.
At McnlO Park and Trenton the shock
was tinUi al 800 p. M, while at more
southerly points it was felt ut 2:lO.
Exaggerated reports come in from
various points. From Trenton it was
reported that water in the river was
dashed to foam. 4 passenger ar
and said the story was absurd, and that
| the water was IA placid and muddy as
usual.
The telegraph manager at Coney
! Island, promptly asked Tor particulars
of the explosion, supposing that some OIL
refinery, or powder mill or dynamite
| factory had Blown up. a few minutes
there that the whole Island
had been thoroughly shaken and that
guests and visitors were very greatly
| alarmed, flight in some cases amounting
to panic. Neither Cape May or Atlantic
| City noticed any unusual motion, and 50
far AZ carly reports indicate Philadelphia
! was the southern limit of the shock.
] -
| but slightly felt.
In the main local telegraph Office the
| hundreds of people present felt serious
movement of the floor in the seventh
/ story, but there was no electrical phc-
nomenon connected with it, ana no cleo
tricul disturbance.
The first impression which seemed to
,trilie the inmates of houses in
| New York was that the building wrS
about to fall, and the people ran into
the streets, only to discover neighbors
rushing out, amazed like themselves.
Then, as there was no evidence OF a
catastrophe, the people returned to their
homes, realizing there had been an
earthquake.
their houses a few minutes, apparently
trying to get at some solution TO their
fears and watching. the faces and man
nnrs of others. Women and children,
as they regained some degree of CON
| tidence, returned to their houses.
The men remained in groups in
the streets discussing an occur
renee SO unexpected and so
startling. An earthquake is a thing SO
unlocked for III this part OF the world
that its causes and history of most
| terrible ones become topics Of para
mount interest. Above all, the people
were concerned in trying to find out
| from those they talked with whether
second, and perhaps Subsequent shocks
were likely to follow.
| At the observatory Of the United
States signal service, the time of the
earthquake and its duration were noted.
Assistant Observer II. L! Human, and
| Merring, were at the time in the otlice,at
200 feet above the level of the seas. The
first intimation Of the earthquake was
low rumbling sound, like the mutter-
| A. 4: Va;
Immediately followed by shock like
that of a violent explosion. which
caused the building to culver, although
il did not shake perceptibly. A rafting
continued about eight seconds and was
accompanied by rumbling sound
which gradually died away. The first
shock felt was about ten minutes past
o'clock.
In many instances it is being reported
that clearly defined rocking movement
was felt and dishes in pantries were
shaken from the shelves. Thus far, how
ever, no damage of any kind is reported,
while the shock was felt strongly in
dwellings.
Persons travelling on elevated railroads
did not know of the occurrence until
told of it by people getting in at stations,
and the shock felt on elevated stations
was slight compared with that felt on
the ground beneath.
AS far as can be assertained the shock
is entirely imperceptible on water:
immediately after the shock had been
felt at the Police Central Office cons.d-
cradle confusion was accustomed and an
impression at first became prevalent
that violent explosion had occurred in
the neighborhood. A little Investigation,
however, led acting Superintendent San
ders to the conclusion that the cause OF
the disturbance was y real earthquake.
He at once sent out Il general despatch
to all precints asking for information in
regard to the shock in the city.
Answers soon began to pour in, and