St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-09-01
A CITY ENGULFED
Probability That Charleston, S. c.,
Has Been Swept by a Tidal
Wave.
No Communication With the Place
Possible by Rail or Tele-
graph.
An Earthquake Shock Swept Over the
East and South Early Last
Night.
In Many Places the People We're Driven
Frantic With Sudden
Fear,
And Rushed From Houses and
Hotels in Very Scanty
Apparel.
Most Severe Results Were Felt in
the Upper Stories of
Buildings.
And Rushed From Houses and
Hotels in Very Scanty
Apparel.
Most Severe Results Were Felt in
the Upper Stories of
Buildings.
An EARTHQUAKE Shock.

An Earthquak Ike Shock
NEW YORK, Aug. 31.-Since the earth
| quake shock there has been no teiegraphic
communication with Charleston, S. c.,
| from any point in the country. The tele-
graph authorities have been unable to get
press dispatches or other communications
| from there. This circumstance occasions
great concern. That section of the country
seems to have been the center OF
the disturbance. Savannah, Ga, reports
| that the shock was the severest ever felt in
that locality. 1t is known that bridge in
| the vicinity of Charleston was shaken from
| its foundations and the wires
all lost, but that is not so seri-
Gus as the fact that various
other points through which there
should be communication with the city are
unable to get anything from the place.
Sept. 1, 2:05 a. MP to 2 a. m. there
had been no word from Charleston, S. G.
A report has been received from point
twenty-five miles from the city that the
railroad tracks leading from there have
been submerged.
AT WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31.-At 9:55 O'Clock
tonight the desks in the Associated Press
Office in the Corcoran building began to
vibrate in peculiar but unmistaakble fash
ionthat suggested an earthquake. A few
minutes later the janitor reported that the
upper stories OF the building were rocking
back and forth, and the night manager of
the Western Union Telegraph office made
similar announcement, with the additional
information that the clock on the western
wall of the room had stopped. Telephone
messages from gentleman connected with
the Associated Press Office, who lives on
Massachusetts, avenue, and from other
points in the city, reported that the Orna-
ments on mantel-peceS were rafting. The
telegraph operators in Atlanta, few
minutes before this, had notified the Wash
ington operators that the ''shake" was
coming and to look out for it, but no at
tentiOn was paid to the warning, as it was
regarded as Joke.
Two shocks occurred, the second of
longer duration and more severe than the
first, and few seconds later it was felt in
all parts OF the city, creating considerable
CONSERVATION. Several meetings in pro-
gress in various parts of the city were
broken up by the frightened members,
thinking the buildings were falling, rushing
from the halls into the street
At the opera house the large audience be-
came frightened by the shaking of the
building and stampede ensued. The occu-
pants of the galleries, mainly gentlemen,
jumped to their feet and rushed peIl nell
down the stairs, falling over one another in
their efforts to escape from the building.
and stopped for nothing till they reached
the street. The audience in the
lower part of the house was
composed principally ladies. N;,+ they
were less frightened, and few lei their
seats. The performers went on with their
pieces, and quiet was soon restored. No
one was injured. People on the street did
not feel the shock, and the first knowledge
they had of the occurrence was obtained
from the sight of the frightened inmates of
houses rushing from them into the streets
The Western Union operator at Bowie
Md, about twenty miles from Washington,
autographed that the earthquake cracked
the walls of his station and stopped the
clock.
HIS PREDICTION FULFILLED.
WASHINGTON, Aug. s1.-The officials of
the signal service bureau report that four
distinct shocks were felt here. The first
began at 1854 and lasted forty seconds, the
second was felt at 1904 and was
followed by another at 1910 and by
a fourth at 1890. Prof. Cap
en-, the weather prophet of this city,
predicted several days ago that lawful and
terrific" earthquakes would be reported
about this date. He says that it is posi-
BILE that there will be another about 2
o'clock tomorrow morning. When the
shock came tonight Mr.. Capen was in the
Republican Office writing his predictions
for tomorrow. AS soon as the build
ing began to shake the editors. reporters
and compositors on the Republican and the
Post, which are in the same building, all
ran out, but Mr.. Capen remained at his
desk in blissful ignorance of the fact that
his prediction had been fulfilled Mr.. S.
Brown, chief clerk of the state department,
was in the opera house when
took place Mr. Brown stood up
in his box and shouted to the people to
keep their seats, and by his GOODNESS pre-
vented the occupants of the lower part OF
the house from following the example of
the people above.
AT CINCINNATI.
CINCINNATI, O., Aug. 31.-At 9:16 p.
H.. city time, slight shock of earthquake
was felt here The printers in the Sun
office started to run down stairs, thinking
the building was falling. The shock was
quite perceptibe at the telephone exchange
and other buildings, but it was not noticed
by persons on the streets. The officers and
reporters at police headquarters in the
city buildings made stampede from the
shaky building into the street, as the build
ING has been expected to collapse for sew
eral wears. At all the hotels there was
more or less fright or confusion. The same
NAV be SAID of the theaters, although a
panic was narrowly averted at Henck's.
All the clocks in the Western Union tele-
graph office stopped at 1854 p. m. Prob
ably the worst scare was in the composing
room of the Commercial Gazette Office.
There the swaying terrified the
printers and dozen or so jumped
out of the windows to the roof
of the adjoining building, distance of six
feet. One of them was somewhat bruised
in his haste, but was not seriously hurt.
At Terre Haute two distinct shocks were
felt. The shocks were about ten seconds
apart. and each was of about twenty sec
onds' duration. Windows were ratified and
in several places plastering was dislodged
from ceilings. Buildings shook until the
occupants fed in alright, being under the
impression that the structures were about
to fall. Reports from various quarters of
the city state that sleepers were awakened
by the swaying of beds and rafting of win
dOws,
AT CHICAGO.
CHICAGO. Aug. 31.-Erratic actions on
the part of the barometer in the signal office