Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-09-02

in resptct OF rs general uifVO'v'
may be called the broad-
way Of Charleston, the roadway Wa
piled up with debris from the tops OF
the walls. In passing the Charleston
Hotel which, to carry out the compar'-
sons above indicated, occupies the po-
sition of stewArt's uptown store IN
New York, the third shock vas
felt, about ten minutes after the
second, and, OF course, caused the
greatest alarm in that neighborhood,
as elsewhe At Marion Square
corresponding exactly with Union
Square in New York, great crowd had
collected, as even the edges Of the wide
space embraced in it could hut be
reached by the nearest buildings in the
event of their fall. From this crowd,
composed Of men. women, and children
of both races, arose incesssnt calls and
cries aud lamentations, while over
motley halfdressed throDg was shed
the
LURID LIGHT OF A CoNFLAGRATIoN,
which had broken out just beyond the
square immediately after the first shock,
and had now wholly enveloped several
buildings in flames. In three quarters
Of the town at the same time similar
large fires were observed under full
beadwsy, and the awful significance of
the earthquake may be most fully ap-
preciated, perhaps, when it is said that
with these tremendous fires blazing up
all at once around them and threaten
ing the city with total destruction,
the people on the streets evidently did
not give them a thought. No one
watched the ruddy flames or pillars of
cloud rising high into the still night air.
All were too intent on listening with
strained senses for the dreaded recur-
renee Of that horrible growl or groan OF
the power under the seas and under the
land to give thought to new terrois,
though it had threatened his own homo
and many homes in the doomed city.
Crowds poured in from every di.
r,ction to the square just described as
though it had been indeed a charmed
circle and life depended on passing
within its grassy bounds. Street-cars,
carriages. and other vehicles were
ranged in lines on the streets surround
ing the square, while horses stood
stock. still, with turned heads, as
though shifting the ground in anxious
inquiry.
The colored people everywhere were
loud and increasing in their declama-
tons Of alarm in the singing Of hymns
and in fervent appeals for Gods mercy,
in which appeals God knows many
proud heart who heard them arising in
the night and in the hour Of his won
drous might devoutly and humbly and
sincerely joined. Danger brings all Of
US to The level of the lowliest. There
were no distinctions Of place or power,
pride or caste, in the assemblages that
were gathered together in Charleston
on Tuesday night. 1t was
A CURIOUS SPECTACLE
to look back upon; it is good one 20
remember for white and black alike.
There we're instances OF unselfish dev0-
tion, of kind and loving regard between
master and servant, mistress and maid,
in The presence Of common i'll and Of
threatened ruin, that showed, as nothing
else could show, how strong is the tie
that binds our white people and our
black people together and this lesson
Of the dread visitor we may hope, too,
will never be forgotten. Arrived at his
hcme the writer found The same
SCENES or DESTRUCTION AND
WRECK
which marked nearly every other home
in the city. All the houses in the
nejghborhood had suffered seriously,
and streets, yards, and gardens were
filed with fallen chimneys and frag-
nents Of walls, while the walls that
were left standing were rent asunder
in many cases from top to bottom, and
were badly shattered in every in
stance. Women and children reused
from sleep, or interrupted in
their evening pursuits by the
sound Of the ruin being effected
above and around them, rushed out
into the streets and huddled together,
awaiting the end, whatever it might be.
Invalds were brought out on mat
tres,es and deposited on the roadway.
No thought was given to treasures left
behind in the effort to save the pecu-
liar treasure Of life itself, suddenly be-
come so precious in the eyes of all, in
valid woman and robust man alike.
Until long after midnight the streets
were filled with fugitiyes in sight OF
their homes. Through the long hours
that followed few were the eyes, even
of childhood, that were closed IN
sleep. Charleston was full of those
who watched for morning; and never
in any city in any land did the first
grey shades that mark the approach oi
dawn appear so beautiful and so vel.
come to the eye as they appeared to
thousands of people who hailed then
this morning from the midst Of count
less wrecked homes in our thrice
scourced, but still patient, still brave.
still hopeful, still beautiful city by the
sea.
And what was Captain Dawson's ex-
perience was that of hundreds Of other-
in Charleston. There were in all five
shocks, diminishing in violence from the
first. What scene was there on The
sidewalk. The streets were dotted with
mothers, wives, and daughters, with
their protectors, awaiting in anxious
expectation still another agony. The
air was thick with horrid rumors, and
the lurid glare Of the fires but height
ened the general ruin.
Another story Of CharIeston's ca
Ismity.
CHARLESTON, September l.-At
earthquake, such as has never before
been known in the history of this city
swept over Charleston last night short
ly after 10 o'clock, causing more los;
and injury to property, and far NOR,
loss than the cyclone of the year be.
fore. The first shock was by far thu