Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-09-10


or moderate wind would loosen them and
topple them over. The deaths up to Mon
day night resuting from the disaster were
81 - white people and % colored. Many
OF the people are living in tents or under
rude shelters OF boards, and cook their food
over fires made from the debris which fills
the streets.
We give below extracts and descriptions
which convey IA general idea OF the ruin
which has been wrought aud the phenomena
attending the disaster.
The FirAt Night Of Terror
DESCRIBED BY A GUEST OF TUE CHARLESTON
HOTEL.
Mr.. Thomas H. Tolson Of Baltimore one
of the passengers who came north from
Charlie lon after the earthquake, gave re-
porter AN account Of his experiences
Il WAS stopping at the Charleston Hotel,
he said. The evening preceding the earth
quake had been exceedingly warm and close.
There was not a breath of air stirring. The
sky had urid appearance. Many people
noticed aud spoke OF this stiffness Of the air.
| had been sitting out doors opposite the no.
tel aud soon went to my room, which WAS
on the third floor from the ground. When
LIT my gas | heard noise, and suppOsing |
had brok, II something, made an inspection,
but could find nothing broken. Then | went
to place my hat on n bureau, aud Just then
the shock came, without any warning.
would have fallen if had not thrown my
hands out and chung to tue window. 1t
seem, d an though the hotel was lifted up and
swung backward and forward a distance of
fifteen or twenty inches at each vibration. |
WAS terrified. At the very first shock the
| lights in the house all went out and | was in
perfect darkness Then the plasterinR began
| to fall 1t flashed on my mind that | should
endeavor to get out of the house, and | got
out into the corridor and CROPPED my way in
utter darkness, amid falling plaster. Other
people in the house were likewise cropping
| their way out. When reached the ground
| floor | could see little from the reflection
from the street lights. The air was filed
with plaster dust. All around was a terrible
roaring aud moaning sound, and the din WAS
| heightened by the falling Of timbers. |
found the the front door OF the house closed
| A fortunate thing for me, as it saved my life
| 1t took me a moment to find the knob, and,
a. | was looking for it, tons Of brick fell
down from the upper part OF the house in
front of the door II | had found the door
open | would have been buried under the
bricks. ran out through the heaps OF fall
en- bricks, and fell twice in getting to the
middle of the street. There | remained ter
ror stricken.
Two shocks came after | reached the
middle of the street, one faint one seven
minutes after the first, and another more vi
client than the second nine minutes later.
| The three shocks occurred within sixteen
| minutes. l remained in front Of the hotel
for IA long time-until l O'Clock. | did not
know what to do. was so unnervcd that
could scarcely stand. As it became quieter,
no more shocks occurring, | went up the
street to an open space and remained there
| until 3 o'clock. There we had another slight
| shock At o'clock l went TO the Battery
park and found it crowded, several thousands
OF terrified people having assembled there.
There | remained during the remainder OF
the night At : O'Clock another faint shock
WAS felt. At daylight l, like others, felt more
encouraged, and moved around to see what
destruction had been done. found at the
Battery front some of the most costly houses
in the city cracked from the ground TO the
top, and some portions OF the buildings wer,
destroyed completely. All of the Charleston
residences are built with porches in front
many having substantial pillars, and these
porches were all thrown down. There wal
not house in Charleston that had its chin
neys standing
THE terror among the people during thu
night was intense. They rushed through tn,
streets frantically, calling on God to hav'
mercy on them. People who perhaps neve
prayed before then prayed aloud. 70 thi
was added the shrieks of the wounded ant
the lamentations of those who had los
friends Here and there parties with light
were looking through the ruins for the miss
ing ones. The greatest terror and confusion
reipned everywhere. When the shock cam
men, women and children ran out into thu
streets in their night clothing, and Remained
in that way during the night, huddled togeth
er. None would venture back into tn
i | HOUSES The least little shock was likely /
s thorw the houses to the ground. Dayligh
: was never welcomed as it was by the thous
l. ands of t,rrOr-stricken people in the street
of Charleston on Wednesday morning.
Mr.. Tolson thinks that the published est
mate of damages was too low, and that three
d fourths of the city would have to be rebuilt
Il The people killed, he said, were killed Will
leaving their houses by the falling of debri'
y The Effect ON the COIOred People
Scenes ISIGIfuI and GrOtesque.
It would be simply impossible TO exagge
r ate or to depict in sufficiently descripty
e language the effect of Tuesday nights Wis
u tation on the colorod people Of Charleston
v Never was such an opportunity of noticing
e public exhibition of superstitous fear. The
e fed from their homes they knew not wher
and as they ran hither and thither throug
binding clouds of pulverized mortar, the
filled the air with dismal groans of despa
and lamentations of terrified distress 4
usual with them in their devotions, the nan
Jesus was most frequently used, and AZ
, supplcating God face to face they shriekt
out in the very helplessness and pathos
despair such sentences as do, my maste
u Jesus have mercy on me-" "Oh, sweet Jesu
y, save me, save me, Let me live through III
re- night, dear God, my Savior, Hold me 1
r. once more, thou blessed Christ my master
n and other fearful supplioations which inten'
Is fed the horror of tho situation, and went Il
toward demoralizing the white people, wi
were also rushing blindly hither and thith
into the fitful glare Of pickering lights, {
most ecipsed by the shower of dust The
was death in the air il was below and aroun
and was expected none knew whence, on
the feeling was ever present that everybo'
stood face to face with the menace of insta
death. People chung TO each other like brot
ers aud sisters They all knew each other
part and parcel of a community that had {
capped terrible fate.
10 the dismal gloom some woman cried OF
"Get to the green, get TO the green, and
most in a twinkling the oolored people ma
a rush for that haven of safety. 1t seem
as if all Charleston was already there. AT
an hour or 10 prayer meetings were orga
lied, and the singing and screaming was Ike
up until daylight. At that time the watc
word was passed around, "The battle ia ov'
but the soldiers must not rest, and this
der was carried out on Wednesday and Thu
day nights. On Thursday night, on Mari
Square, the sights and scenes baffi'd descr
ton. The coored people were unrestrain
aud committed all manner or frenzied exec
Que incident out of many will illustra
Near a dozen boys who had fallen down in
paroxysm of religious frenzy was large Il
which had been gayly decorated for some {
tive occasion. In the door stood a very