Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-06-06
paper man calmly lays out before them

The newspaper men speedily returned
to their offices and attempted, with ap-
prehensive minds and shaky hands, to
write up the event. Most of them de-
sisted on finding that their presses had
been thrown out of gear by the shock.
ran at the first tremble. ran down
with the rest. Didn't know exactly
what ran for. 1t was out of printing
office. / was the last down stairs and
the first up again. The room was empty.
The wall over the front window let in a
streak of daylight. Plaster and type
were well mixed. Type was pied" every
where. They were just making up"
the paper for the mornings issue.
Presently scared printer put his head
in the doorway. "Jimminyw said he.
did you stay here through 1t alp"
was tempted to lie and establish a
local reputation for GOODNESS and courage.
But principle, for once, won brief vic
tory. said, mo, my friend, was with
you in the flight down stairs"
Then the proprietor OF the paper came
in. He said the earthquake must be
written up" 1t was enterprise"
So We sat down to inform the public
that there had been an earthquake! |
wrote three or four lines, and felt toe
shaky to write more. l handed the pen
to Mr.. White and said, "You write, /
can't" He tried, and found himself in
the same situation. Then came one of
the ''tremors )" more plastering fell from
the ceiling, and everybody went down
stairs again. 1t was not good day for
elaborate literary composition.
Outside again, and tried to collect
myself. j seemed mentally to have
been shaken to pieces also. The en-
eavor was unsuccessful until tried the
anne prescription as the rest. The
whisky proved a sort of magnet, bring
ing together nay scattered faculties.
In about q week after the shock an
adventurous genius utilized it for his
own benefit. He went round and argued
with the principal men of business and
prominence in the citv that there should
be established an Earthquake Bureau"
The object of the bureau wa to collect
facts, statistics, information, and 10 take
testimony as to earthquakes from earth
quake observers. lie implied that
through these means something might
be done to put stop to earthquakes.
So the Earthquake Bureau was es-
tablished. 1t involved a fine suite of
rooms ON one of the principal business
streets, several clerks and fair salaries
all around, especially to the manager.
When all was ready the Earthquake
Bureau opened its doors, the clerks got
their pens ready, the manager put on
his most serious business expression,
and all hands waited for the people to
come In who had something to say as to
the best way for preventing earthquake
The Earthquake Bureau ran about
four months. Then it dawned upon the
people who were regularly taking Ca h
from their pockets 10 support it that al
the facts In creation cou lGn't stop as
earthquake when It had once started.
nor would they prevent one from start
ing if it wished to. So the next collec-
ton plate went around empty. The
Earthquake Bureau suspended operations
and the manager tailed new scheme
into life and activity.
| was present at another earthquake
in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon,
while most of the churches were in SEES
sion. Parson Stone was accused by one
OF his parishloners next day with break
ing oft suddenly in the middle of
powerful sermon and leaving his pulpit
with certain haste which dId not argue
much presence of mind. To which Pal
son Stone replied that under the circum-
stances he thought that "abseLce of body
from that pulpit was preferable TO
presence of mind in it."
The best place to remain during an
Is in the house. There you
are principally exposed to falling plaster
from the ceiling. Out of doors you meet
falling bricks from chimneys, coping
ctones and bogus tin, zinc or stucco ex-
ternal concentrations, which. being
heavier and having farther 10 fall, dam.
age more ones organization if they fall
upon it. The three or four men killed
during my second San Francisco shock
so met their deaths. A house, especially
If 1t contain many rooms, is substantially
a series of hollow cubes, and is, there
fore, almost impossible TO fall down,
though 1t may shatter and crack from
top 10 bottom, as did many in San Fran
cisco.
ruere was an old hotel, the Railroad
house on Clay street, which proved an
instance In point. 1t contained a great
number OF those miserable little boxes
bedrooms in American hotels
and rive stories in height. The buildin
was SO badly damaged by the shock that
the proprletors concluded to remove it
and build anew. The shattered walls
being so dangerous to work on or near.
t ey rugged big log on pair of Shears"
in ancient battering ram fashion, and so
battered that house down. But the
siege required many days, and proved
how every partition wall increased the
selidity of tire house.
A vigorous, healthy earthquake will
unsettle any settled country quicker
than any known phenomenon Oh This
planet. A party of eastern people who
arrived in San Francisco by steamer the
day before the kick up of $685." took the
next steamer for home, and in the in
term preferred to camp out on the plaza
rather than sleep in hotel.
Bret Harte, who was then conducting
che Overland Monthly, owned squarely
to cowardice in the matter of earthquakes
and acknowledged that the shock made
him sick Tor week. He said that one
symptom ofthis illness was having per.
petually before his eyes the uudulating
wave like motion which crept up the
brick walls of a six story building under
which he was passing at the time.
PRENTICE MILFORD.