Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-09-10
FORMER EARTHQUAKES IN CALIFoR-
MA.


There is something i'll bred in an earth
quake. It comes right along without
sending IN card, and in good old Pacific
coast days the FIRST warning a citizen got
was to have Il yard or so of chimney drop
down his back and see his house swap
lots with his neighbours. Travelling from
Los Angeles to Fort Tojon, when was II
small boy, | remember seeing a assure
from 90 to 100 feet wide and of unknown
and sunless depth, which was caused by
one of the little shocks of the last centu-
ry. 1t is 80 miles long, and is quite as in
teresting rs it was cracked up to be. At
Fort TETON, in 1859, we had pond of sew
eral acres area just back of the barracks,
and an earthquake came along one night
and drank it up, much to the disgust of
several thousand bullfrogs, who were
compelled to get up four-mile jumping
match to a swamp down the valley. But
the first shock | went through was that
of October s, 1865, which shook up the
whole State of California, scared Oregon
half to death, and even excited comment
in Navada and Utah. 1t came along about
| O'Clock in the afternoon, accompanied
by the usual rumble. | was in the gym
nasium trying to break my back on the
flying trapeZe, when my attention was
suddenly called to the fact that | was
violently thumped against the side Of the
building, and then that Il lot of loose tim
bers were floating rapidly down from the
ratters. | ran to the campus, saw the
chapel bowling to the dOrmitory and the
clock tower trying to waltz, and heard
the wrenched timbers shrek and groan {;
hen the bells rang ont a wild and dis
cordant peal, and falling chimneys and
shattered glass were added to the tumult-
ala # hn ri Drg,t
sors and the yelling of 400 fitting boys,
while above all this chaotic sounds rose
the mighty roar of the CONFUSION, as of
the grinding of acres of flint and the
rushing of many winds. Then suddenly
boys and buildings recovered their per
pendicular, and the rector came out from
the cellar, and after he had recovered his
breath told us that it was an earthquake,
! but that we mustn't be scared, for we We're
all in the hands of a bengnant Provi-
| dence, and-here second shock came
along and the rector skipped down cellar
again.
The next great earthquake happened
along AT $40 on the morning of October
/ q, ISIS | was in Il third-storV room OF
! the Occidental Hotel, in san Francisco
and enjoying Il cigarette, when a slight
rattling OF the sash drew my notice. 1t
continued nine or ten seconds and then
ceased. | knew the shock was over, and
]
nerve enough to lie abed while it lasted
| Suddenly the building rose vertically
| about ward and descended again with Il
| thump which brought down every inch
of plaster in the room. Then 1t rose again,
and this time shattered the window. The
third upheaval fetched down half the
chimney, and thought it was time to get
up and see what the other half intended
doing. Then the hotel INDUCED in a jig,
varied by an occasional wild plrouette,
and the motion was something like that
of a runaway street car of the track, but
more active and noisy, and sounds from
the corrido. : convinced me was not the
only resident who was enjoying 1t. 1t
was rather early in the morning, but
somehow everybody seemed to have
walked up full of activity and enthusiasm,
and there was scrub races along every
hall to see who would get down stairs
first, and the prevailing scenery was
something like that of Il ballet | had a
squirt down two flights with IL fat lady
wrapped in blanket and held my own
pretty well, but she cleared the last nine
stairs in one motion and won, but lost the
blanket When we all arrived IN the ro-
tunda the clerk said he thought it was an
earthquake, and SAID IT lasted Just 1O sec
onds, and was sorry hadn't arisen soon
err and been down in time to see that clerk
pull ont his watch and time the phcnOme-
non. At the corner was large drug
store, and the earthquake had taken all
| the bottles at once and compounded gen
eral prescription on the floor every mule
and horse on the street bad taken into his
head to run away, and the thoroughiare
| was lined with spOkes and harness the
| sidewalks were a mass of broken glass,
| pulveriZed chlmneyS, and plaster there
| was a crack on Market-,treet two blocks
| long and foot wide, and several witness
es were ready to be sworn to the state
ment that during the upheaval they had
seen ii open and shut like Il clam ; eight
CHASTITY corpses were carried to the
morgue, victims of IA misplaced belief that
1t was safer to run out of building than
stay within there We're not less than q
shocks during the day everybody ca:lpeo
in the streets that night, and there was Il
reign of terror generally Tor week. The
! damage in window glass, ,crockery, plaS
| ter, and brickwork amounted, il was said
to $40, OOO. 900. but think the surprise il
| gave was worth more than twice that a
mount.
If a man wishes to act according to rule
during earthquakes he had better make
up his mind beforehand and commit the
plan to memory for sclentlnc observers
have noticed a general tendency TO hurry
and disorder during an active upheaVal
Old Californians, when an unusually
sharp shock comes, get in the doorway OF
under an arch, avoiding thus the falling
| plaster, and the position Is safe one ull
less the walls themselves crumhle. I(
run outdoors is highly dangerous one l.
apt to catch the broken glass and falling
chimneys, to say nothing of walls ant
cornices. Perhaps, alter all, the sales
way is to 90 up in balloon the day be
foIe and stay there until the trouble Il
| over.
THE BOYS WHO WORE THE BLUE.