St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-04
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TRAVELLERS, TALES.
Arrival at Washington of PRsSen.
gers From CharlestOn.-Their StO-
rieS of the Disaster.


rieS of the Disaster.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3.-The first pas
sengers coming north from Charleston ar
rived this morning. They were unable to
leave Charleston until yesterday morning
on account of the interruption in railroad
communication. Thomas III. TolSon of
Baltimore, one of these passengers, gave
reporter an account of his experience:
l was stopping at the Charleston hotel. I
was in my room, which was on the third
floor. When Lit my gas l heard noise and
supposed had broken something, but could
find nothing broken. L went to place my hat
on bureau and just then the shock came.
1 would have fallen had 1 not thrown my
hands out and chung to the window. 1t
seemed as though the hotel was lifted up and
swung backward and forward a distance of
fifteen or twenty inches at each vibration.
At the first shock the lights all went out.
Then the plastering began to fall. 1t flashed
in my mind that should endeavor to
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE,
and got out into the corridor and CROPPED my
way in utter dark ness amid falling plaster.
Other people in the house were likewise
cropping their way out. The air was filed
with platter dust. All around was terrible
roaring and moaning sound. and the din was
heightened by the falling of timbers. found
nate thing for me, as it saved my life. It
took me moment to find the knob, and as 1
was looking for it tons of brick fell from the
upper part of the house in front of the door.
l ran through the heaps of fallen bricks and
fell twice in getting to the street. There I
remained terrOr-Stricken. Two shocks came
after reached the middle of the street.
faint one seven minutes after the first, and
another more violent nine minutes later. The
three shocks occurred within sixteen min
utes. I remained in front Of the hotel until !
o'clock. 1 did not know what to do. l was
so unnerved that could hardly stand. As it
became quieter, no more shocks occurring, l
went up the street to an open space and re-
NAMED there until o'clock. There we had
ANOTHER SLIGHT SHOCK.
At 3 o'clock I went to the battery park and
found it crowded, several thousand terrified
people having assembled there. There re-
manned during the remainder Of the night
At o'clock another faint shock was felt. At
daylight, like others, felt more encouraged
and moved around to see what destruction
had been done. found some of the houses
in the city cracked from top to bottom and
some portions of the buildings were 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 was not house in
the city that had its ch1mneys standing. The
terror among the people during the night
was intense. They rushed through the streets
frantically calling on God TO save them. Peo-
pie who perhaps, never prayed before,
then prayed aloud. Then to this was added
the shrieks of the wounded and the lamenta-
lions of those who had lost friends. Here
and there parties with lights were looking
through the ruins for missing people. The
greatest
TERROR AND CONFUSION
reigned everywhere. The people, when the
CHI ntr r-oy ont fnfO q in hai
night clothing and remained in that way dur
ing the night huddled together in the street.
None would venture back into the houses.
g Mr. Tolson said he thought the published
estimate of damage was too low and three
fourths of the city would have to be rebuilt.
The people killed were killed while leaving
their houses by the falling of debris. All who
could leave the city were leaving yesterday.
Mr.. P. L. Bennett left Charleston yesterday
on the first outward train. There were five
cars packed with refugees. For the first two
miles the train moved very slowly, the rails
being twisted. AS the train went along the
people in the car noticed another shock. This
further twisted the rails 1t was, however,
possible to proceed slowly. The people are
at work digging in the ruins for bodies, and
until that work is completed it will be i'm
possible to tell or even guess any way ac-
curately at the number OF casualties Have
the reports of the diaster been exaggerated?
Not bit of it. 1t would be impossible to put
into words any description of the disaster.
My wife and l
SPENT TWO NIGHTS ON THE COMMONS
as did thousands of others. To depict the
dreadful scene would be beyond any mans
powers. There is not one house in ten that
will not have to be rebuilt. There was pc
culiar difference in the manner in which
brick and frame buildings went under. The
walls of the brick buildings swayed and fell
over, while the buildings of wood simply col
lapsed." "Were there any peculiar condi-
lions preceding the shock?' "Yes, it became
terribly hot twenty minutes before the shock.
1t was peculiar screening heat, that never
before felt. I saw people on the streets tax