The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1886-09-09

tons viSloly sWayed 70 and fro, the crash OF
falling masses of stone and brick and motar
was heard overhead, and without the terrible
roar filled the ears and seemed to fill the mind
and heart dazing perception, bewildering
thoughts, and for q few painting breaths, or
while you held your breath in dreadful antici-
patton Of immediate and cruel death, you felt
that life had already past, and waited for the
end as the victim with his head on the block
awaits the fall of the uplifted ak.
1T is not given to many men to look in the
face Of the destroyer and yet live, but it is lit
tie TO say that the group of strong men who
shared the experience above family described
will carry with them the recollection Of that
supreme moment to their dying day.
NONE EXPECTED TO ESCAPE.
A sudden rush was simultaneously made to
reach the open air and flee TO place of safety,
but before the door was reached all reeled to-
gether TO the lettering wall and stopped, feeling
that hope was vain that it was only question
of death within the building or without-to be
buried by the sinking roof or crushed by the
topping walls. The uprosr slowly died away
in seeming distance. The earth was still, and
oh, the blessed relief of that stiffness. But
how -udely the silence was broken. As we
dashed down the stairway and out into the
street, already on every side arose the shrieks,
the cries of pain and fear, the prayers and
wailings of terrified women and children,
men.
"0ut in the street the air was filled to the
hight Of the houses with whitish cloud of dry,
sitting dust from the lime and mortar and shat
tered masonry, which, falling upon the pave
ment and stone roadway, had been reduced to
powder. Through this cloud, dense as fog, the
gaslights hickered dimly, shedding but little
light, so that you stumbled at every step over
the piles of bricks or became entangled in the
lines of telegraph wires that depended in every
direction from their broken supports. On every
side were hurrying forms of men and women
baTeheaded, partially dressed, some almost
nude, and many of whom were
CRAzED WITH FEAR Or EXCITEMENT.
Here woman is supported, half fainting, In
the arms of her husband, who vainly tries to
soothe her, while he carries her into the open
space at the street corner, where present safety
seems assured there a woman lies ON the pave
ment with upturned face and outstretcbed
limbs, and the crowd passes her by for the time,
not pausing to see whether she be alive or dead.
"a sudden light flares through window
overlooking the street. 1t becomes momenta-
rily brighter, and the cry Of Fire resounds
from the multitude. rush is made toward
the spot. A man is seen doubled up and help
less against the wall but at this moment some
where out at sea-overhead-deep in the ground
lis heard again the low. ominous roll, which
is already too we'll known 10 be mistaken. 1t
grows louder and nearer like the growl of q
wild beast swiftly approaching his prey, and is
forgotten again in the frenzied rush for the
open space, where alone there is hope of secur-
ity, faint though il be. The tall buildings on
either hand blot out the skies and the stars, and
seem to overhang every foot of ground between
them; their shattered cornices and copings, the
tops of their frowning walls, seem piled from
both sides to the center of the street. 1t seems
that touch would now
SEND THE SHATTERED MASSES
left standing down upon the people below, who
look up to them and shrink together as the
tremor of the earthquake again passes under
them, and the mysterious reyerberations swell
and roll along like some internal drumbeat
summoning them to die. And il passes
away, and again is experienced the blessed feel
ing of deliverance from impending calamity,
which IL may well be believed evokes q mute
but earnest Offering Of mingled prayer and
thanksgiving from every heart in the throng.
again, far along the street. and UP from the
alleys always that lead into it on either side,
10 heard that chorus of wailing and lamenta-
tion which, though it bad not ceased, was
scarcely noticed moment before. 1t is a
dreadful sound, the sound of helpless. horror
stricken humanity, young and old, the strong
and the feeble alike where all are so feeble
calling for help from their fellow creatures and
raising their anguished voices in petition TO
Heaven for mercy whore no human aid could
avail. It is not a scene 10 he described by any
mortal tongue or pen. 1t is not a scene TO be
forgotten when once il has been witnessed,
when the witness has shared all its dangers
and
FEELS ALL ITS AGONY.
"The crowds poured from every direction
into the main public square or park, as though
IL had been q charmed circle and life depended
on passing within its grassy bounds. Street
cars, carriages, and other vehicles were ranged
in lines on the streets surrounding the square,
while the horses stood as though shifting the
ground in anxious inquiry. The colored peo-
pie everywhere were loud and increasing in
their utterances of alarm, In the singing of
hymns, and in fervent appeals for Gods mercy.
Danger brings all of US 10 the level of the low
lest. There were no distinctions Of place or
power, pride or caste, in the assemblages that
were gathered together in Charleston on Tues
day night. 1t is a curious spectacle to look back
upon. II Is a good one to remember for white
and black alike. There were instances of unself-
ish devotion, OF kind and loving regard be-
tween master and servant, mistress and maid,
in the presence Of O common i'll and of a threat
ened 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 home, the writer found the
same scenes OF distraction and wreck which
marked nearly every home in the city. All
the houses in the neighborhood had suffered
seriously, and streets, yards, and gardens were
filled with the
FALLEN CHIMNEY5 AND FRAGMENTS 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 instance.
Women and children, reused from sleep or in
terrupted 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
il might be. Invalids were brought out on
mattresses and deposited on the roadway. No
| thought was given 10 treasures left behind in
the effort 10 save the peculiar treasure of life
itself, suddenly become so precious in the eyes
of all-the invalid woman and the robust man
| alike.
Until long after midnight the streets were
filed with fugitives in sight OF their homes
| Through the long hours that followed few were
the eyes, even OF childhood, that We're closed in
sleep. Charleston was full of those who watched
| for the morning, and never in any city in any
land did the first gray shades that mark the ap
proach of dawn appear so beautiful and SO vel
come TO eyes as they appeared 10 the thousand;
OF people who hailed them this morning from
| the midst of the countless wrecked homes in oul
thrice scouTged but still patient still brave, still
hopeful, still beautiful city by the Sea-"
THE CASUALTIES.
As may be easily imagined there were man,
heartrending scenes of death and suffering