New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-09
EARTHQUAKE WAS IN TOWN:
TIE VISITOR DID NOT STAY LONG. THOUGH.
IT STOLE IN AND OUT LIKE THIEF IN The

IT STOLE IN AND OUT LIKE THIEF IN THE
NORTHWESTERN AFTER 1T VANISHED.
Not q seismometer was on duty yesterday officlal-
~ 10 recognize the baby earthquake WHICH, so'iic
nconlc s,v lifted up its wall at the gates OF TINS
.,,rr stont KS n. m Ine voice OF riic cartir
ouake came TO some as the rumble OF thunder 70
others it Vas ::..se the rolling of artillery car
riaucs. and there were persons who said that wn'n
ttev heard it they were positive that the Eass
River tunnel had gone on another rampage Inc
dwe,,ur in Harlem was not quite certain wilethef
tbo family In the Hat above were Closing tne
folding doors. or the boiler in the basement hao
cone' crashing up through the roof FROM the
Wcst Side came reports that window frames nau
ratified. walls had tremblcd, and that mantei orna
ments had been placed in jeopardy. in one
Tcndcrloin Precinct it was noticed ~ ia1e re'-
elcrs that the pavemcnts shook. ana the lamp
nosts stretched forth their arms TO- support
,veary wayfarers. In the upper and ccntrai parts
NJ the city most of the witnesses 70 inc co"ins
If the earthquake wcrc found and 1t Is SAID tnat
tho shock was noticed rs far as farkvllie, H. L.
All this disparity in the testimony OF Witnesses
might have been avoided If the scisinonH'ers
had done their duty. ,a.. q
A. tho I-pitcd States Weather Bureau in the
Equitable Building none OF the Instruments
.hovod =, disturbances The aneroid paragraph,
=, oxooodinolv delicate instrument, did not show
tbo slightest vibration. There was no record
:. tho Covcrnmcnt meteorological stdtion at the
old Arsenal Buildings and at the observatory
Of Columbia College the Instruments are 50
Jared by the passing Of the trains on the New
Work Central Railroad that an earthquake wou'1
he passed unnoticed. -
We have no official report Of an carthauake,'
said Mr. Dunn, of the Weather Bureau. but there
IL 40 much testimony the subject mat there
can be no doubt that there was some KIND OF,
disturbance 1t must have taken place ABOUT
10 40 n. H. Naw-York las been visited by earth'
ouakes before. On August 10. 1884. three dis
tnet shocks were felt. and on August 81 1852
a shock was distinctly felt ~
Tho clock nointcd to twenty minutes OF when
captain Richard O'Connor. Of the Tcndrrloin re
cinct washing his hands in the kitchen OF his
| home in West Fifty-sccond-s'.. became aware OF
n suler mnrmuring or hum, in the street outside.
| Even a. the sound caught his ear tho murmur
,yclIcd into roar that grow londer and louder
until /. eliminated in doacning crash t'a'
| shook the house to its foundations. Then all was
still Stupcficd with amazcmrnt the captain stood
motionless for moment. expecting that the hous'
would fall in on him and on his sleeping FAMILY
| upstars But minute passed. and nothing nap
| pencd and he presently went to bed bordering on
| the strange phenomenon Only once De1orc h"'
| he met with similar disturbance OF the elenic1t''
| This was years ago when he was on duty AZ Long
Branch as "A detective sergeant from headImartSrs
| Then Long Branch was visited b. ali uniouDte''
| ear,hrnake that startled every out OF his or
her senses. and brought hundreds Of night-cappcd
| and bcd-gowned forms into the streets.
| In thinking over this phenomenon said thf
| captain yesterday. Il am absolutely sure tNa'
| las, nights visitation was An earthquake, pure
| end simple The manifestations were in all re-
| spects the same. There were the n'uiI'"d, suiien
| rumh!ino ike the booming OF distant cannon
gradually swelling with a roar and crash; thf
momentary swaying and rocking Of the GROUND
| and the vibration in the air. In all | think thf
| disturbance lasted about fifteen seconds. NY
wife upstairs had been awakened by the shock
| ond fell, the bed violently shaking and rocking.
When tho shock struck the city the uptown
| streets were sprnscd with people on their way
| home As the distant rumblins fell Oh their ears
tl,cy stopped and listArcd while tho rumble brok'
| TO "A roar ard tho pavement trrmbled under thcii
| feet Almost instantly there was silence again
| .V,rthauake." siid some, Explosion sal
| o,ber, but no one thought il worth while TO MAKE
further investigations The policemen on pcs
| felt the shock. but each solaced himself
| with the comfortable conviction that it meant al
, oXplos!sli, and that III" explosion was
| long way of his beat The reporters and ser
gcants on duty in the Thirtietl-st. station near
,be crash that shook every movable thing in fh'
charge room. Then the reporters rushed out ih''
the street and fer the next hour hurried around the
| Nine tccnth Precinct in search of an explosion
| bu. didn't find any Incidentally il may be r.
| marked that while nearly every precinct captain
| hcvond Thirtieth-st. makes reference to I'M
atmospheric shock in Mis- report. mention OF ar
texposcn in any part Of the city is to lie ioun'
In any Of the precinct returns.
IL is remarkable. however. that the full force
of the shock was felt only on the West Side allow
rhirty-thrd-ss. and west of Central Park
although Roger Harrison. the night engineer at TN
i Arsenal talking with John DonOhuc. was almce
shaken OF his chair IN the Nevada. Dakoti
and other big apartment houses on the west aid
Of the park away up to the boundaries Of Harlem
hundreds Of sleepcrs awakened. Some mel
dressed and hurried out into the streets in the be
lief that an explosion had occurred somcwher
in the ncighborhood. To those in the streets th
sound of the disturbance was not nearly so heav!
| as TO those indoors.
Bat many well-known men, including lca1in
police officials, heard ard knew nothing OF tn
earth quake. Superintendent Byrnrs, who live
In West Fifty-cighth-st., said: Il should b
a pretty likely sort of man 70 notice any man
festation Of that kind, and did not get to be
until 3 o'clock this morning. Yet I heard an
knew nothing of the earthquake"
INSPECTOR Mclaughlin was in Upper Broadwa
with two detective-sergcants just about the tim
the earthquake was around, but apparently 1t di
not come his way. Inspector Williams said
; Il was very much awake at o'clock this mort
ing, and blissfully unaware OF any disturbance
} II a juvenile earthquake had stroed along til
street think l should have noticed IT," Ncitht
Inspector Conlin nor Inspector McAvoy felt tn
; shock Commissioner Slcehan was fast as!cel
George Stone deputy assistant CHIEF clerk ";