Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1886-09-04
| CITY IN RUINS.

Till nUIuJ.
CHARLESTON, S. c., September 1.
-" What is thatg Earthquake v'
Aud then all was bewilderment and
confusion.
Then the long roll deepened and
spread into an awful roar, that seem
ed to pervade at once the troubled
earth and the still air above and
around. The tremor was now a
rude, rapid culver, that agitated the
whole lofty. strong-walled building,
as though it were being shaken by
the hand OF an unreasonable power,
with intent to tear its JOINTS asnnd.
er and scatter its stones and bricks
abroad, as tree casts its DER rip
ened fruit before the breath of the
gale. There was no intermission in
the vibration OF the mighty subter-
ranean engine. From the first to
the last it was continuous jar, on
~ adding force at every moment,
aud as it approached and reached
the climax of it's manifestation, it
seemed for few terrible seconds
that no work of human hands could
possibly survive the shocks. The
floors were heaving under foot, the
surrounding walls and partitions
visibly swayed to and fro, the crash
of falling masses of stone and brick
and mortar, was heard overhead,
and without the terrible roar filled
the ears, and seemed to fill the mind
and heart, dazing perception, be.
wildering thought, and for a few
painting breaths, or while you held
your breath in dreadful anticipation
of immediate and cruel death, you
felt that life was already passed, and
waited for the end, as the victim
with his head on the block awaits
the fall of the uplifted axe.
Out in the street the air was filled
to the height of the houses with a
whitish cloud of dry, stlfing dust
from the lime and mortar and shat.
tered masonry, which, falling upon
the pavement and stone roadway,
had been reduced to powder.
Through this cloud, dense as a fog,
the gaslight fickered dilnly, shed
ding but little light, so that you
stumbled at every step over the piles
of brick, or became entangled in the
lines of telegraph wires that depend
ed in every direction from their
broken supports. On every side
were hurrylng forms Of men and
women, bareheaded, partially dress
ed, some almost nude, and many OF
them were craZed with fear or ex-
element. Here a woman is sup
ported, half fainting, in the arms OF
her husband, who vainly tries to
soothe her while he carries her into
the open space at the street corner,
where present safety seems assured ;
there woman lies OH the pavement
with upturned face and outstretched
limbs, and the crowd passes her by
for the time, not pausing to see
whether she be alive or dead.
Again, far along the street, and
up from the alleys along that led
into it on either side, is heard that
chorus of wailing and lamentation
which though it had not ceased,
was scarcely noticed a moment be-
fore. 1t is dreadful sound-the
sound Of helpless, horror-stricken
humanity, old and young, the strong
and the feeble, calling for help from
their fellow.creatures and raising
their anguished voices in petition to
heaven Tor mercy, where no human
aid could avail. 1t is not a scene to
be described by any mortal tongue
or pen. 1t is not a scene to be for
gotten when once it has been wit
messed, aud when the witness has
shared all its danger and feels all its
agony"
At Marion Square a great crowd
had collected, as even the edges Of
the wide spaces embraced in il
could not be reached by the neares.
buildings in the event of their fall.
From this crowd, composed CT men,
women and children, OF both races,
arose incessant calls and cries and
lamentations, while over the motley
halfdressed throng was shed the
lurid light of the conflagration
which had broken out Just beyond
the square immediately after the
first shock, and had now wholly en-
veloped several buildings in flames.
in three other quarters of the
town at the same time similar large
fires were observed under full head
way, and the awful significance of
the earthquake may be most fully
appreciated, perhaps, when it is said
that with these tremendous fires
blazing up all at once around them,
and threatening the city with total
destruction, the people whom you
met on the streets or saw gathered
in groups in the open places, evident
ly did not give them a thought. No
one watched the ruddy flames or the
pillars of cloud rising high into the
still night air. All were too intent
on listening with strained sense for
the dreaded recurrence of that hor-
rible growl or groan of the power
under the sea and under the land,
to give thought to the new terror,
though it had threatened his own
home and many homes IN the doom.
ed city. The crowds poured in from
every direction to the square just
described, as though it had been IN
deed a charmed circle, and life de-
pended on passing with its grassy
bounds. Street cars, carriages and
other vehicles were ranged in lines
on the streets surrounding the