The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1886-09-09

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
Thirty-Six People KILLED and
One Hundred Hurt by
the Shocks.
ttCHARLEsToN, S. c., Sept. ., 1885,
The great earthquake of August 81,
1886, will not easily be forgotten by
the people of Charleston. In the vio-
lence of its first shocks, in the fearful
destruction it wrought to property, in
the awful loss of life itinvolved, in the
large number of serious casualties
which were the result of its work and
in the general panic which oyermas-
tered the people of the city it is with
out doubt the most remarkable eccu-
rance of its kind ever experience in this
country Charleston, the beautiful
city by the sea, appears to-day like a
gigantic ruin. Hundreds of hand
some residences have been laid low.
Thousands of other dwellings and bus
mess houses are unsightly, torn and
tottering, masses of brick and mortar.
The streets are well nigh impossible
from wreckage and tangled telegraph
and telephone wires, and up to to-
night her parks and other open
places-even her cemeteries-were the
places Of refuge for her panic stricken
people.
SURVEYING THE RUINS.
| The people are gradually taking ac-
count Of the details of the injury
worked by the earthquake and the
list of damages to property is start
ling. A limited section in the south
of the city is a sample OF the whole.
Standing at the Post Office and look
ing west an almost impossible road
way of debris meets the eye. The
building of the Chamber of Com
merce is badly damaged, portion of
the south and east walls having been
thrown down by the violence of the
shock, and the buildings OF Walker,
Evans & Bogswell have also suffered,
while the heavy granite slabs which
formed the parapet of the NeaCS and
Courier Building lie upon the side
} walk, leaving the slate roof and por-
portion of the attic floor exposed. AL
, most the entire front OF the building
|, occupied by Myers cigar store and
Smiths stencil establishment is torn
J out, leaving the upper floors exposed
The Plenge Building at the corner ol
!, Church street was badly damaged
Most Of the buildings on the street are
: more or less damaged, but the VIC
lence of the earthquake is most per
ceptible at the historic intersection
of Broad and Meeting streets. The
} police station is almost a. complete
wreck. The upper edge of the wal
has been torn down and that OF the
j north wall has fallen on the roof Of tht
} porch, carrying it away and leaving
} only the large fluted pillars standing
The City Hall apparently escaped Sc
rious damage, but it is badly cracked
+ on the east wall, and the Court Hous'
/, building is badly damaged, the wall
7 being cracked in several places anC
portions Of the roof and gables being
thrown down. The ireproof building
seems to stand as a rock. The gable
of the north and south porches, how
ever, made of solid brown stone, hav'
: been thrown to the pavement below
This appears to be the only damag
done to the building.
REMARKABLE PHENOMENA.
All over the city the injury is of tn
n same charactar. A special repor
7 from Mount Pleasant, oppositeChar(es
; ton, says that a sink near the German
Church, which on Tuesday was full 0
dry sand, is now full of fresh water
/ Near Shell street there is cabin oc
L cupied by colored man that is CON
d pletely surrounded by yawnin
;f chasms, extending through the earth
surface for ten feet and over. A
9 around this there sinks of fresh waite
IS and masses of mud with queer looE
l. ing soft substances that have neve
- been seen before. 1t is contended b
r many that the mud and other sui
81 stances found around the village ar
volcanic matter
b, Just after the first great shock O
d Tuesday night there was decide
!. and distinct smell of escaping sulphu
'' ic acid gas over the entire villag
n The smell lasted throughout the nigf
" and was distinct in those localitie
10 where the cavities in the earth wei
most numerous. Some say that po
tions OF the mud thrown up by til
water spouts are strongly impregna
d, ed with sulphur and that small po
tions of sulphur can be found in tt
Il mud. Not far from Charleston on ii
= road to Summerville extensive mount
70 of clay were thrown up, as also hillocl
ct of sand, in most cases in the shape
inverted cones, the hollow parts
which had evidently been formed |
action of the water returning into IL
- depths from which it had been raise
- In many cases the erupted matter hs
IS streamed away from the breaks
of the surface of the earth to distan'
as of from twenty to fifty feet. In 9th
places there were fissures almost i
= variably extending from north
CT south. These cracks were not wit
is and extended downward always in
IN slanting direction. The matter tn
was thrown up was of dull, da
= slaty color, and was mixed with gra
IS ell. There was also little shale, al
is in general the mud resembled th
ng which is thrown from the bottom
fe the phosphate pits along the riv'
80 The water in some places had t