Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-09-10

block awaits the fall of the uplifted axe.
1t is not given to many men to look in the
face of the destroyer and yet live, but it is
little to say that the group of strong men
who shared the experience above family de-
scribed, will carry with them the re-
collection of that supreme moment to their
dying day.
NO ONE EXPECTED TO ESCAPE.
A sudden rush was simultaneously made
to endeavor to attain the open air, and
door was reached all reeled together to the
JotJerIng Wall and stopped, feeling thai
hope was in vain, and that it was only
question Of death in the building or with.
QUITO be buried by the sinking roof or
crushed by the topping walls. The uproar
slowly died away in the seeming distance.
The earth was still, and oh, the blessed re-
lief of that stiffness. But how rudely the ST.
lence was broken as We dashed down the
stairway and out into the street. Already
on every side arose shrieks, cries Of pain
and fear, and the prayers and wailings Of
uAO tOAAlACO WO"Oa oAu CaliulOu, OOlu~
bined with hoarse shouts of excited men
out in the street, the air was filled to the
height of house with whitish cloud of
dry, sitting dust, from the lime and NOR
tar and shattered masonry, which, falling
upon the pavement and stone roadway,
had been reduced to powder. Through
this cloud, dense as fog, the gas lights
fickered dimly, shedding but little light,
so that you stumbled at every step over
piles of brick, or became entangled in the
lines of telegraph wires that depended in
every direction from their broken sup
ports. On every side were the hurrying
forms of men and women, bareheaded,
partially dressed (some almost nude), and
many Of whom were crazed with fear and
exciteme nt. Here
A WOMAN rs SUPPORTED HALF
PAINTING
! in the arms of her husband, who vainly
! tries to soothe her. while he carried her
| into the open space at the street corner,
where at present safety seems ass ured.
There woman lies On the pavement with
upturned face and OutstTetched limbs, and
the crowd passes her by, for the time, not
pausing to see whether she be alive or
dead. A sudden light fares through the
window overlooking tie street. It be-
comes momentari.y brighter, and the cry
of fire resounds from the multitude. A
rush is made towards the spot; man is
seen doubled up and helpless against the
wall, but at this moment, somewhere out
at sea, overhead, deep in the ground, is
heard again the low Eominous roll, which
is already too we'll known to be mistaken;
it grows louder and nearer, like the growl
OF wild beast swiftly approaching his
prey, and all is forgotten again in the
frenzied rush for the open space, where
alone there is hope of security, faint though
it be; the tall buildings on either hand
blot out the skies and stars, and seem to
overhang every foot Of ground between
them; the shattered cornices and copings,
the tops OF their
BROWNING WALLS SEEM PILED FROM
BOTH SIDES
to the centre of the street; it seems that a
touch would 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
reverberations swell and roll along like
some Internal drum beat summoning them
to die, but it passes away, and again is
experienced the blessed feeling of deliver
ance from the impending calamity which
it may we'll be believed evokes the 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 that lead into it on
either side is heard that chorus of wailino
and lamentation, which though it had not
ceased, was scarcely noticed moment be-
fore. 1t is dreadful sound, the sound of
helpless horror. stricken humanity, old
and young, strong and fe eble alike, where
all are so feeble, calling for help from
their fellow creatures. and raising their
aDguished voices in petition to Heaven
for mercy, where no human aid could
avail. 1t is not a scene to be described bv
any mortal tongue or pen. 1t is not a
scene to be forgotten, when it
has been witnessed and when the
witness has shared all its danger and felt
all its agony. The first shock occurred at
seven minutes of ten, as was indicated
this morning by
| THE PUBLIC CLOCKS HANDS,
on all of which had stopped at that fateful
hour, as though to mark the end of time
for so many who had heard the preceding
hour pealed forth by st. Michael's chimes
without thought but of a long and happy
life. The second shock, which was a but
faint and crisp echo Of the first, was felt
felt eight minutes later. AS it passed away.
the writer started homeward to find the
scenes enacted on Broad street around the
sNews and Courier" Office repeated at ey-
cry step of the way. st. Michael g steeple
lowered high and white above the gloom.
seemingly uninjured. The station-house,
a massive brick building across the street.
| had apparently lost its roof. which had
fallen around it. A little further on. the
roof of the portico of Hibernlan Hall,
handsome building in Grecian style, had
| been crushed to the ground, carrying down
part of the massive granite pillars with
it. All the way up Meeting street, which
in respect of its general appearance and
Importance, may be called the Broadway
of Charleston. The roadway was filed
with debris from the tops of walls. In
passing the Charleston Hotel, which, to
carry out the comparison above indicated.
occupies the position of Stewards uptown