The Portland daily press., 1886-09-02
AWFUL RUIN.
The Earthquake Causes Great Loss
Of Life at Charleston, S. c.
The Principal Part of the City In a
Mass of Ruins.
Fires Break Out in Many Places ard
Add to the Terrible Scene.
Many Families Without Food and
Homeless.
Trains Rush into the Water and are
Wrecked.
People In Many Southern Towns
Terror Stricken by the Great
Calamity.


Calamity.
The Result of the Scientific obser
vations at Washington.
CHARLESTON, S. c., Sept. IAN earth
quake such as has never before been known
in the history of Charleston, shook this city
last night, shortly after 10 o'clock, causing
more loss and injury to property and more
loss of life than the great cyclone OF las
year. The city is wrecked, streets are en-.
| numbered with masses Of fallen brick anC
tangled telegraph and telephone wires, anc
up to an early hour it was almost Impossible
to pass from one part of the city to anotner
Most of the people passed the night In the
| streets. which even this morning Wert
crowded with people afraid to re enter tnell
homes. More than 60 persons were klllec
and wounded, chiefly colored; FIRES i14 6roke
ly after the earthquake, and some are stll
burning, but there is no danger of spread
ing. There is no way Of leaving the city a.
| present Many people were seriously II moi
fatally injured. Broad street presents
| spectacle of the utmost horror. Even Wom-
en-, armed with hatchets, fought Yallantly 70
rescue imprisoned unfortunates. Meeting
street. from Broad to Hard, is wreck, aud
lined with unfortunates 10 add to the nor,
were Intellectually fought by the fire depart
ment The night was hldeous Win tne
cries of the dying, the groans Of the wound
ed and the prayers Of the injured. IL IS I'M
| possible to estimate the loss OF life or prop
erty at present. .,.s
ten distinct shocks. No disorders have yet
| taken place today but considerable anxiety
is felt as to the outcome OF the night. Inc
| principal business portion OF the CITY was
destroyed, and hundreds OF persons U.s. were t;r
women beseeching mercy from the Almighty
and children were in tears The main sta,
| tion house, City Hall, Hibernian Han, ana
| many other well-known public buildings, IN
Guiding St. MichaePs Oh Church; rchn,a Were Were
seriously, If not fatally, injured
NEW YORK, Sept. |.
Manager Dealy, Of the Western Unlcn
| Telegraph Company in New York, received
| at $50 o'clock this morning the following
| from the manager of the Richmond, va,
| office: "Our manager at Charleston is de-
moralized. Allhis force but one man mas
| deserted. There is a big loss OF life and
property. am trying to get bulletin OF
| something tangible"
The Western Union manager at winning
| tom North Carolina, telegraphs that the sec
| tion master Of the Atlantic Coast line, sta
| toned 12 miles from Charleston. reports that
last nights earthquake shock wrecked
bridge near there. A negro from four miles
north of Charleston reports that water
tank is down, the ground upheayed ana the the
tracks misplaced. In several places the
ground is cracked and boiling water is COM
ing from it. This report coming from the
source it does must be taken with grams Oh
allowance. Augusta can get no one on the
Charleston circuits.
AT Longlev. South Carolina, the shock
burst the mill dams and destroyed many ieet
of the railroad tracks. Telegraph wires
were also destroyed. No trains are running,
The telegraph company has started nald
cation Great damage is reported at Sumer-
vile. The railroad is badly broken on both
sides of Branehville.
At Ridgeville the railroad is under water
and the earth has caved IN In seVeral places.
CINCINNATI. Sept IA singular effect of
last nights earthquake here was a very gen.
eral feeling of dizziness. Nine people OUT Oh
ten imagined that they were SICK, ana many
did not know till this morning that the dls-
turbance was in the earth. The largest
building in the city and one of the strongest,
| the government building, rocked violently
with three distinct vibrations, The large
| clock was stopped and mirrors broken. IN
! the large six and seven story fats 10 thls
city the vibrations were severe. Dishes
| were thrown from the cupboards and articles
| from the mantels, while chandeliers were
a9itated as if by strong wind. Probably
| twenty or thirty meetings or lodges ana So
| cieties were broken up wlthout mo!lon 10
| adjourn At the old armory building on
| Court street the plaster on celllngS was
| broken.
A most decided shock was felt in Cum
mingsville in the northern part OF the city.
| Lights were put out and bottles broken Id
- Throughout Ohio dispatches indicate that
! the shock was general and that it occurr ed
| at almost the same instant. At Hamilton
| bearders in hotel ran from their rooms ~
| fright, and walls were said to sway one ano
half inches at Canton tour snGcRs tSa nmr metf i
and south Half of the people were IN tns M
streets talking of the strange experience, 1ol
long time after the event. At NeWcom ers
glass was irattled distinctly At benson +
meeting broke up in panic Cosnocoo4f 6O froI, dea
two shocks. The same story comes IRON
nearly ievery town in Ohio People were
frightened but no actual damage was done
SAVANNAH, Sept. 1.-Three distinct earth
quake shocks were felt here this, morning
The last occurred at $40 All the shocK'
were of short duration and not Vlolent. A.,
At Longly, 10 miles from Augusta, Tn
earthquake destroyed mill dam and TN
water washed away the road bed OF thu
south Carolina railway. A train dashet
into the flood and an engineer and nremal
were drowned. The engine IS now lorI.
feet under water.
At Tybee the shock was more severely fel
than in Savannah. The people on the IS
land rushed from their houses TO the peach
The oscillation lasted for several minutes
The lantern lenses in the light mouse Wer
broken and the machinery OF the lamp wa
disarranged. People on the beach fearet
that every moment tidal wave would sweel
the town.
CHICAGO, Sept. IA special despatc
from Mooney, Ind, says: Persons Just U
from the northeastern corner OF Lawrenc
county tell interesting stories OF volcanic III
dications in the earth near there, very SIM
lar to what occurred some time ago at Bal
Mountain, n C. Rumblings in the, cart
are heard and occasionally sharp explosion
occur. On the farm of Christian Llnken
bach, Sunday morning, one OF the moSU Sc
we're of these explosions occurred, not owe
$50 yards from the house. The, noise wa
like the explosion of steam boiler ana tn
earth was torn up for yards around,
cloud of smoke and dust assembled 90 lee
high. In it were pieces of minerals, stump
of trees, Iroots and rocks. The earth 10
wards around was covered with the debris
and great hole was left in the ground, yer
deep, which has not yet been explored
Among the debris are. fragments OF OF
which are almost solid iron. The countr
is very rough and broken and well-fillc
with minerals,
, WASHINGTON, Sept. 1.--Notwivhstandin
, several alarming rumors last night, it is dis
! | covered this morning that there was no 81
! rious damage from the earthquake here. :.
! few dishes were broken and some wal
were cracked, but the fright was genera
Some of the cases of fright now seem anus
ing but they were serious at the time; se'
: eral cases of violent Mysteries are reportc'
r A panic in theatre was barely avertet
Clocks were stopped, and in two instance
/ turned half way around upon the mantle
e pieces Telephone communication W;
| stopped. The most massive buildings shool
l In some parts of the city frightened person
/. who had retired rushed into the streets
S their night clothes. Nervous people suffe
= ed much. The printers in the publishir
t offices and the telegraph operators in gre
f measure rushed down from the upper stori
4 of high buildings into the, streets At tt
g high Portland flats one or two persons we
e barely restrained from throwing .themselv
e from windows in their fright. The beds
: the Garfield Hospital were so shaken as
y greatly alarm the patients. Inc occupan
!. of the high building in whleh the telephol
It headquarters are located feared that it wou
d fall and rushed into the street. The prlso
n ers at the Jail were thrown from their bed
+ Five ladies tainted at Albaugh's Theatre.
+ The telegraph operators IN Atlanta, fe
S minutes before the shock was telt here, no
d fed the Washington operators that t
+ ''shoek" was coming and to look out for
e but no attention was paid to the warning
t. it was regarded as a joke.
g Scientific observations OF the earthqua
/ were made at the signal office, as follows;
Time Duration. Charactt
954 40 seconds. Most Seve