The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-09-09
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[Contined from first page,1
struct tents out of bed sheets. spare avn
ings, and any ether material upon which
they can lay their hands. The work Of
digging out the dead bodies from The ruins
is progressing as rapidly as 1t can progress
during the excitement and panic. Thus
far most of the known deaths are of col
ored men. Among the whites whose
bodies have been recovered are Dr.. 4.
Alexander Hammond, and Ain6ley Robe
son. Many Of the dead are lying unburied,
principally of the poorer class Of colored
people, who must be buried By the county.
At SIS o'clock tonight the citizens were
grouped in the squa. prepared for another
night of horror when the now familiar,
but terrifying rumble was heard, and few
seconds later another earthquake shock
passed through the city. making the
twelfth shock since the great disaster OF
last night No damage was dones but the
women and children, whose nerves are
shattered by fear and exposure, ran wildly
about. shouting and screaming. Three or
four steamers are in port, including Inc
buoy tenders, and many of the homeless
ones have been provided with berths on
these boats. Fortunately the weather has
been good, and the hardships are not as
severe aa they might have been. The SIT
uation, however is becoming horrible. a
community cut off from COMMUNICATION
with the rest of the world, afflicted, and
with the prospect of immediate DEATH is
about the condition of this people. NO
trains have departed or arrived here IN "A
hours. 1t is said that all the railroads
leading into the city are broken up, ana
that all the railway tracks are twisted into
the shape of snakes.
THE RICHMOND PANIC.
RICHMOND, Sept. ].
The feature of the earthquake here was
the alarm that the prisoners were about to
break out of the penitentiary ard the
summoning Of the military to drive
them back. No such excitement has oc-
CURED since the city was evacuated by
the Confederate army. The convlcts
were terror stricken and fearful scene
ensued. Finally two cogvicts in their mao
struggle succeeded in forcing the prison
doors. and rushed madly about, 1t is sup
posed TO liberate their fellow-prlsonefs.-
Only the night force Of guards were on
hand at the time, and they were not able
to cope with the eight hundred maddened
cony1cts who tore at their cell doors.
The two who succeeded in getting be-
yond the walls were followed, but it re-
auired large number of the guards to
hold them. There was no way OF reach
ing them all at once, and the hoarse muir
murs of the crowd outside made II
impossible for any one to go in the midst
of the prisoners, who resembled the in
mates of mad house. The first military
company to reach the scene was the AT
tuck Guard, composed Of negroes. 1hey
CHANGED to be drilling at the time and the
beating of their drums as they marched
out served only to increase the terror
The large majority of the convlcts were
negroes and had all the superstition OF
their race. Many of them imagined that
the day of judgment had come. Others
thought the people Of the city had risen to
sweep them from the face OF the earth,
but when in some way the word was passed
among them that it was an earthquake The
scene in their midst beggars description.
They were soon powerless and their mis-
oru snont itself in ShriekS until bV degrees
they were Gained.
AS they were being quoted, however.
the city was becoming more excited as ru-
mors of general uprising ofconvlcts were
spread in the town. The marching sol
diers made the matter worse. Men, women
and children were in the streets, which
were alive with the moving mass pouring
towards Inc spenit tnti~ly. Many CT the
women wer% terror-stricken by the earthl
quake. It was not Il ntil long after mid
zesohb that order WctS restored.