The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1898-04-07
THE NAVY YARD
At Mare island, Damaged BY the Earth.
quake Shock.
Five Families Narrowly Escape Being
Buried in II wreck ed Building in san
FrancIsco-Much Property in
the City Damaged.

WASHINGTON, April 1.-Information
received Mt the navy department from
San Francisco shows that the yard at
Mare Island suffered severely from
Wednesday nights earthquake shock.
The saw mill and paint shop of the
bureau of construction and repair was
entirely destroyed and considerable
other damage done. The Charleston
is in the dry dock and it appears has
sustained no serious damage. Commo-
dore Hichborn. chief of the bureau of
construction and repairs. says the loss
sustained will res ult in "a months set.
back to the work in hand.
SAN Francisco, April 1.-This city
and portion of the state were shaken
at 1l:4s Wednesday night by the most
severe earthquake experienced here
since 1865 when several persons were
killed. This time however, no fatalities
have been reported.
Five families narrowly escaped be.
ing buried in wreckage by the col.
lapse of the tenement at 445 Clemcn.
tina street. which followed the rocking
tremor. Propped upon the frailest of
supports, with practically no founda.
ton, the fiimsy structure sank three
feet below the sidewalk in the
shifting sand and now stands a
misshaped mass, ready to tumble like
a pack of cards at the first disturbance.
The occupants, most of them awakened
from sleep. were caught us in IL trap.
Doors warped out of shape would not
open and windows were iammed
The doors were finally burst open
and the women. many of them scarce.
ly able to walk. were conveyed across
the way and cared for by friends. AL
were gotten out without injury,
except William Howe, who was badly
jammed by falling timbers Mrs. j
n Davis. an old lady of IS years. and
NJ. Herman Kaiser. the latter au III.
valid. had to be carried from their
wrecked homes.
Along the water front and among
the shipping in the harbor the shock
was very severe Windows were broll.
en-, glasses and crockery We're shat
tered in the saloons and residences,
and exciting personal experiences were
related by many Out on the bay a
violent tidal wave lifted small boats
high upon its crest and threatened
death to their occupants.
The old supreme court building. on
the corner of McAlIister and Larllin
streets, was shaken up considerably,
the visible signs of the Zismic visita-
tion being one chimney tilted at an
angle of Is degrees from the perpen.
dicular, and turned almost completely
around from its original position,
The 19-story Claus Spreckels build.
ing was not jured in the least though
it swayed like great tree in a storm.
At least one hundred stores south Of
Market street suffered severely. chiefly
by the breaking of frail articles.
At the store of II. Van Costelbeck on
Market street, several hundred dollars
worth of interior decorations were in
jured.
The drug store of Z. Happensbcrger
on the northwest corner OF Mission
and Sixth streets, was damaged Sc
verely. The rear room was mass of
broken bottles. the mixed contents Of
which almost flooded the store.
The entire electric light system on
all the floors of the White house On
kearney street, was thrown on by the
vibration and the building was brill
liantly illuminated.
Telegraph and telephone wires were
badly crossed, and for a short time
communication was in nterrupted
In the Winchester house, Al Third
street. the windows broke, walls and
ceilings cracked, scattering broken
glass and plaster, and coal oil lamp
was upset by the vibration at the
house of Mrs. Hayes, 173 Minnesota
street. The oil ignited, but was soon
eXtinguished.
The shock was apparently confined
to Northern California, the southern
part of the state reporting Thursday
morning that no shock was felt there.
Vallejo and Mare island suffered much
damage, the loss at the navy yard be-
ing estimated at not less than S25 900.
The naval hospital was wrecked and
the government saw-mill blown down.
In the town OF Vallejo, just across
the channel, the loss runs into
the thousands. At the University
of California in Berkeley the SisIno-
graph at the students observatory in
Berkeley shows that the shock lasted
between 80 and 40 seconds. The gen.
eral direction of the vibration was
from east to west. The instrument
shows that the shock was very heavy
in small area. A slight vertical vi
bration is also recorded by the instru-
ment.
Owing to damage done by Wednes-
day nights earthquake work has been
shut down in the Mare Island navy
yard temporarily. and the 1,7OO EN-.
ployes are idle. Only two of the build
mas aScapa6 damora