The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-09-11
EARTHQUAKE i'm New Orleans.
IN. o, Daily States.l

IN. O. Daily States.l
The earthquake which nearly de-
molished Charleston, South Caro-
lima, and shook up several States,
also had its effect on this city. 1t
has caused hundreds of our noblest
and best citizens to lie in a way that
would make a Texas horse-trader
hide himself behind corn crib and
weep and wish he was dead. The
moment the dreadful news was re-
ceived the people gathered about
the bulletin boards and discussed
the details. They asked each other
if they felt the shock; and every last
living soul of them said they had.
Some saw building shake as if
seized with chill, others heard a
rumbling sound and noticed that
the windows ratified without any
apparent cause. While several dis
tinguished voters declared that the
shock was so violent that their
watches stopped. The men who were
in bed or at their homes did not
know an earthquake had occurred
until they saw the morning papers,
but they stepped up and lied about
it just the same, and talked in q
way that would have led an unso-
phisticated stranger, unacquainted
with the ingenuity of New Or
leans man, to believe that they
had always lived next door to an
earthquake.
The States, however, is perfectly
satisfied that the shock was felt
here. A citizen, who looked as if
he had pain in his head, was seen
and described the sysptoms of an
earthquake in such modest and
correct manner as to leave no doubt
that he was telling the truth. He
had been with party of friends
Tuesday night and was on his way
home when the first shock came.
He felt, yea, verify, he saw the
ground sink under his feet and spin
around like roulette wheel, and it
made him so sea-Ack that he hook
ed one arm about a passing lamp
post and froze to it, expecting every
moment to be dashed to pieces.
Things finally got quiet and he
abandoned the lamp post, not with
out some fear, and started on his
homeward journey, when the sec
ond shock occurred. This was
much more violent than the first.
The ground under his feet sudden
ly upheayed and threw him head
foremost against dry goods box
on the sidewalk and then picked
him up and flung him into the gut
ter and bruised him severely. He
had just emerged from the gutter
and was crawling about the middle
of the street hunting for his hat
when the third shock hurled him
into the arms of a policeman who
advised him to- take a cab and
get home as soon as possible. He
accepted the advice, and feels now
if it had not been for the police
man the earthquake would have
rolled him over the entire town.
When he reached home he got a
shock more violent than any he had
received. 1t occurred just about
the time his wife noticed that he
was hatless, that his coat was split
up the>back, and there were large
daubs of mud on the knees of his
breaches. He says that the last
shock tore the shoes off his feet,
ripped his clothing from his form,
and dashed him into bed, where,
with a loud angry roar sounding in
his ears, he soon became insensible.
This citizen, who knows a good deal
about earthquakes, states positive
ly that it was the severest he ever
experienced, and he has been on
or, we should say, has figured in
many of them, and he knows one
when he sees it. So does his wife.
80 = A. 70