Connecticut western news., 1886-09-15
THE STORY OF DISASTER.
THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE IN
 CHARLESTON,
Later and Interesting Details of the
 Affair-A Wrecked City.
AN EARTHQUAKE NIGHT.

AN EARTHQUAKE NIGHT,
 The Charleston Ne,os and Courier says:- Lying awake under the broad canopy of heaven watching through the endless hours of night, while helpless women and children are sleeping around, what horrors present themselves
 earthquake, whose mysterious and resistless force you feel passing beneath you like might wave of the ocean, is felt thousand timee in imagination to once in reality. To it are added the horrors of B yawning chasn1 and en- gulfng wave, with the wild efforts to escape for yourself and loved ones whom you see holding for dear life to tree or twig, or fleeing to some strong building that the waters cannot over- come. The sky seems of a pinkish tinge and the stars bedimmed by nebulous haze. The air is hot and stifing. What mean these DOT
 tents? Shall the city be buried beneath show CTS of gravel like those that have already fal- len? Will part of the mainland be broken of and slip into the sea
 Wearied by wild imagihings such az these,
 exhausted nature is about to surrender to con- quering sleep, when suddenly you are con- scious of an approaching shock, the buildings of the city quiver like the leaves of the forest, the great we've of mysterious force passes un- der you with more or less jar according to the Severity of the shock, and recedes in the dis tance, leaving you again prey to the horrors of imagination.
 If the shock is of the second or third rate of force as compared with the great shock of Tuesday night last, women and children jump from their extemporized beds on the green sward and gather around with pale faces and trembling limbs, while their beseeching looks stir your deepest sympathies-wor of soothing and encouragement are all you have to give. You as helpless they, but
 their trusting you makes your words of value. While you soothe and cheer them as best you may, you are inwardly cursing the coward
 men who have also jumped from their places of repose and are hurriedly putting on their
 coats and shoes as if they would flee they know not whither.
 In five or ten minutes their excitement is over; first one and then another returns to his or her couch, and finally silence settles on the scene, save when the shout of some negro ex- horter on the next square is raised to an unusual pitch and breaks the stiffness of the night.
 So wears on the weary night till the dawn begins to illuminate the east, and the cheerful crow of the cock is heard re-echoed from roost to roost. Slowly appears the welcome sun, and then the camp Is broken, people thank God | that their lives are still spared and wend their | way to their respective homes to take up the | thread of daily cares and troubles, but ready | at moments notice to flee to the open l ground.
 PECULIARTTIES OF THE EARTHQUAKE. The original shock, taking Charleston as the | centre, lasted from 17 to 20 seconds, certainly not longer than 25 seconds. The motion was succession of sharp plunges towards the | earth, with sharp and immediate recovery, the oscillations being about equal. In changing | the motion from east to west there was, per- haps, twisting, as chimneys and lamps were | wrenched halfway round after the 15 seconds | of oscillation. There were subsiding tremors | circulating for perhaps three minutes, with | nothing like the first oscillation however, and | no new impulse.
 ! The earthquake was accompanied by dull, roaring noise, which outlasted the first shock l by half hour and returned with every subse- quent tremor. The roaring in underground | and best described as long rolls of thunder, | deadened. In the cities it is mingled with the l rattle of glass and rumble of rocking houses. In the country it is heard as plainly as cannon made or thunder. It has never been 80 loud as with the first shock, but has been heard with | every tremor. Listeners declare that it has none of the sharp, grinding sound of rough | friction, but rather the dull, mellow sound of
 air steam laundering in cavities.
 The Assures in the ground are of irregular shape. Usually they discharge brack- blue mud,. but not always: The dis. charging Assures are usually rounded | or oblong, varying in size from a cup to a well, and always swollen for several feet around as if the earth had been pushed up from below. A gentle swell of white sand, perhaps foot high, in the centre, glistening with moisture and crowned just above the crater with pile of blue mud shaped like a bee-hive-that is the usual appearance of the mound Assure. The water flows regularly from pushed up at intervals. Wells have filled to | the very tops and overfowing freely. Everywhere there appears to have been bulg- | ing from beneath the ground that lifted 1t up and forced the water and mud to the surface. The water did not follow the shock instantly, but came perhaps half hour later. DANGER FEARED.
 | A lo,r {o h. ;v ton, MT. Trenholm says, is the sickness of the people. They are so terrified by the shocks, and confused by the statements and predic- tions of the scientists, that they in despair. send engineer officers there. There are not many competent engineer officers in Charles. | ton, and it would be as much as the life of a local man was worth, for instance, to decide l that St. MichaeIs, around which so many | memories which are revered cluster must be | condemned. The people have confidence ill the opinions of these Government engineers, and will generally acquiesce in their judgment as to the stability of the buildings that remain. | FURTHER SHOCKS,
 Severe shocks, were felt in Charleston on
 Sunday and on Monday. The one Monday
 night came from a southeasterly direction,
 lasting two or, at the most, three seconds: It perceptibly shook long one story frame l building, which is temporarily used as the | composing room of the Neacs and Courier,
 and created mild panic among the printers, 1 who started for the door, but were soon called
 back and returned to their work.
 It has had the effect, however, of renewing | and increasing the fears of the people, and
 will unquestionably delay their return to their
 homes. The heavens had a faint pinkish tinge | just previously and the air was still. The
 shock was followed by brisk breeze from the
 southeast.
 1 cHAR1EsroN's HEROES.
 Throughout the whole time of excitement l and danger here the Fire Department of the l city has acquitted itself with honor. The men
 have stood to their posts and have done theU
 duty like heroes. On Tuesday night the.
 reached the places of confagration as soon aa
 possible and began to play upon the burning
 buildings. While they were engaged ill their
 work, surroundedby frightened men, shrieking
 women and crying children, they felt the
 shocks, but still stood squarely to their posts. ] They proved themselves guardians of the city | indeed.
 unsafe and the department has had to camp
 out ever since the memorable Tuesday night
 The engines and horses on the streets and
 the men are by them, ready for any emergency
 that may require their services, None of them
 have been able to go to their homes, and
 some of them have not seen their fam
 lilies since the earthquake began it's
 fearful work. An Alderman said that he had | to refuse permission to a fireman to go to see
 his wife and that he never had so hard duty
 to perform in his life. The City Father talked
 about the bravery and the efficiency of the de-
 partment with tears in his eyes and said that
 Charleston could never repay the debt of grati-
 tude that she owes to her tremen.