Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1886-09-09
CHARLESTON IN RUINS
Great Destruction Of Life and
Property.
Caused by an Earthquake

swept under Charleston, s. c., causing
more loss and injury to property and far
more loss of life than the cyclone of year
before. The city is wrecked, the streets
are incumbered with masses of fallen
bricks and tangled telegraph and telephone
wires, and up TO an early hour it was al
most impossible to pass from one part of
the city to another
The first shock was by far the most Sc
we're. Most Of the people, panic stricken,
with their families passed the night in the
Streets which even in the morning were
crowded with people afraid to re-enter
their homes. More than GO persons were
killed or wounded. Among the whites
killed and fatally injured are NJ. j. Lynch,
DR.. II. Alexander Hammond, Ainsley
Robinson.
The principal business portion of the
city was destroyed and hundreds of per-
sons were rendered homeless Men were
frantic, women were bcseeching mercy,
and children were in tears. The main
station house, the city hall, Hibernian h all,
and many other well known public build
ings, including st. Michael's church, were
irreparably damaged. Broad-st. presented
a spectacle OF the utmost horror. Even
women armed with hatchets, fought
valiantly to rescue the imprisoned unfor-
Inmates. Meeting-st, from Broad to
Hasel, is wreck, and is lined with un-
fortunates. To add TO this horror Of the
scene many fires broke out and were in
effectually fought by the fire department
The night was hideous with the groans Of
fhe dying, the screams of the wounded,
and the prayers of the uninjured. 1t is
impossible to estimate the losses of person
or property at present.
At s'25 a. m, precisely, on the morning
of Sept. /, another wave swept over the
city. By that time the people who had
been out on the public parks and open
places all night had ventured into their
houses to get their clothing and to eat.
The approach of the quake was heralded
by the usual rumbling sound resembling
distant thunder. Then as il gradually APP
preached the earth quivered and heaved,
and in three seconds it had passed, the
sound dying away out in the distance. 1t
was destructive.
The city was complete wreck. st.
Michaels church and st. Philips church,
two of the most historic churches in the
city are in ruins, as is also the Hibernian
hall. The police station and many other
public buildings and fully two-thirds OF
the residences in the city are unbeatable
wrecked either totally or partially. It
is impossible at this time to give a correct
estimate of the casualties. 1t Is
expected that between 30 and 100 persons
have been killed and several hundred
wounded.
At the time of the first shock fires broke
out in five different places in the city.
About 20 houses were destroyed by fire.
Scarcely 100 houses in the city are occu-
pied at this time, the people being en-
camped in the open places. All the stores
are closed, and scarcity of provisions is
feared, not from want of provisions, but
because no one can Ice got TO reach the
stores to sell them.
The city is wrapped in gloom and bust
ness n. Is entire entirely Suspended. st. st;
stecple will come down, likewise the stee-
pie of st. Philips. The steeple of the
Unitarian church has fallen. The porticos
of Hibernian hall and the main station
house are demolished. There is much in
jury to mansions on the east and south
battery. The portico of the Ravenal man
sion is down.
Hardly a house in the city escaped in
jury, and many are so shaken and cracked
that hard blow would bring them to the
ground. Fissures in the earth are noticed
IA ON which a fine sand exudes. a sulphur
Gus smell is very noticeable.
The loss by fire and earthquake cannot
be accurately estimated, but can be placed
safely at S5,O0O,000. AS far as could be as
certained during the night fifteen or
twenty were killed and a much greater
nupber wounded in all sorts of ways. The
loss of human life will be large and it will
take days TO get at the accurate number.
Shocks equally severe were felt at dis
lance of thirty-five miles and have done
inestimable damage to railroad and tee-
graph property. Charlestown is now en-
tIrely isolated from the outside world.
In Other Places.
The same night in Cleveland, Washing
ton, Terra Haute Cincinnati Chicago,
Louisville, Raleigh, Savannah, Memphis,
Atlanta, Pittsburg, st. Louis, Milwaukee
and several other cities there were harm
less panics, people fleeing from their
houses, or from theatres and halls situated
in upper stories. In some places the in
habitants sat up through the night, fear
ing recurrence of the quakings. At
Richmond, Va, TO increase the excite
ment, 500 prisoners in the penitentiary
became panic stricken and began ham,
mering on the doors of their cells. Guards
endeavored to quiet them without effect
whereupon a call for the military was
sounded by the fire bells. In few min
utes the soldiers were Fastening to the
scene. Company after company reported
for duty in rapid succession, one colored
company being the first on the ground.
While this was going on, the streets lead
ing to the penitentiary were crowded
with people excited to an intense degree
by exaggerated reports that one of the
walls of the penitentiary had fallen and
killed n number of convicts In half
hours time from 5000 TO 10000 people
were in the vicinity of the penitentiary.
At 1880 everything had become quiet, the
military being on duty and the prisoners
in their cells.
In Cincinnati probably the worst scare
of the night was in the composing room
of the commandments ONCE. There
the swaying terrified the printers and
dozen or so jumped out of the windows to
the roof of the adjoining building, a dis
tance of six feet.
A panic was created at the public library
reading room, Chicogo. The floor of the
apartment Is suspended from the ro0i OF
the court house and forms a sort of gallery
or half story. About5O people were in the
ROOM and the swaying of the floor caused
them to rush terror-stricken down the
narrow stairways, which were choked in
an instant with struggling masses of hui
mainly. The crush was only momentary
and the crowd scampered quickly through
the broad railways and into the street.
Dewitt Billsby of Media, Pa, guest
at the hotel Duquesne, Pittsburg, was sit
ting in room on the fifth floor. He says
the rocking of the building made hims sick
at the stomach. Looking out of the win
dow he plainly saw the city hall, an inn
mense stone structure just opposite, trem-
Lle and sway back and forth.
At Albaugh's opera house, Cleveland,
the large audience became frightened by
the shaking of the building and a stampede
ensued. The occupants of the galleries,
mainly gentlemen, jumped to their feet as
soon as the shaking began and rushed pell
nell down stairs, falling over one another
in their efforts to escape from the building
and stopped for nothing until they reach
ed the street. The audience in the lower
part of the house was composed principal