Washington sentinel., 1899-05-13
T,,E > ~, SENTINEL
How an Earthquake Looks and
Feels.
ZibbiHc0kPs Magazine (U..SJ


town OF Sonoma, about forty miles
north OF San Francisco, stepped
out of public house on the vii
lage plaza and paused a moment
on the threshold to enjoy a perfect
moonlight night before vending
his way home. Not a breath Of
air stirred the foliage of the tall
Lombardy poplars that hanked
the lofty spire OF the Methodist
church directly across the street,
and nature seemed buried in pro-
found slumber. AS he stood there,
looking about, the spire Of the
church began to dance and rock
in a most extraordinary way right
before his amazed and terrified
eyes, and the Lombardy poplars
lashed the air as il swept by a
cyclone. At the same tine the
citizen found himself dancing an
involuntary jig on the sidewalk,
while everything else in the village
wasapparently dancing, too, in the
craziest way. Vague crashings Of
crockery and the shivering Of glass
windows startled his ears, and
from the bowels Of the earth issued
a deep rumbling like subterranean
thunder. He turned pale as he
realized that he was IN the midst Of
the liYelIest kind OF a California
earthquake.
AT the same time, FIVE miles
south, young lady, lying in bed
gazing pensIvely out OF her open
window, saw a row OF lofty gum
trees nod their elevated heads at
each other, then exchange pro-
found obeisances with the polite
ness OF knights and danes in
stately minuet. Her scream was
heard half a mile away. AT the
same time, too, farmer, two miles
to the southwest, being awakened
by some mysterious agitation,
opened his eyes, and to his conster-
nation found himself looking from
his bed out into the open moonlit
country, he whole side OF his
house had fallen out. At the same
time, again, l myself shaking like
jelly, awoke to find my wife sitting
up in bed, and the room full OF
children and domestics. huddled
together like sheep, whiteas chalk
and wringing their hands in terror
They had rushed to the chamber
OF the head Of the family-as If he
could do anything.
That was a great shake-the
tremblor Of March 50, 1898. AS l
lay in bed my newspaper instinct
led me to note the duration Of the
shock by the night clock on the
bureau. 1t was just three minutes.
1t seemed thirty. The shock it.
self did not continue so long, but
three minutes elapsed ere the oscil-
lations caused bY the shock ceased.
When it is considered that the
average earthquake lasts only
about ten seconds, the severity Of
this shock way be realized. Dur
ing these three minutes the house
shook and ratified as If the root
might come crashing down upon
US at any moment. In the morn
ing, when we made a tour OF in
spection through the dwelling, we
found that everything on brackets
and shelves on the east and
west walls had been thrown TO
the floor, while most Of the
articles on the north and south
walls were undIsturbed. Vases
and brio a-Drac by which my
wife set great store were smashed.
The earthquake had kindly cleared
out the parlor chimney for us,
though it had unkindly shaken
down pile of SCOT on a fawn col
ored rug before the fireplace and
ssnt broken bricks down out OF the
fiue clear across the floor and
under the piano at the other end
Of the room. AS for the mural
ornaments of that unhappy parlor,
they were a wreck on the floor.
This particular earthquake,
while not the severest on record,
was sufficiently violent to attract
wide notice BY the press Of San
Francisco and adjacent towns. It's
area was remarkably limited. The
centre OF disturbance extended
from the east to the west along the
north shore OF San Pablo Bay,
which is a continuati On OF the Bay
OF San Francisco, and was only
about fifteen miles long by three
or four miles wide. 1t was in this
slender zone that the damage was
done, though the wings Of the
shock extended a radius OF fifty
miles round about. The greatest
damage was at the United States
Navy Yard at Mare Island, on the
east shore OF San Pablo Bay.
Here a number Of buildings were
either shaken down or badly
cracked, and the loss to Govern
ment property at the time was
estimated at from hve hundred
thousand to two million dollars:
the inside estimate is probably |
nearer the mark. The cruiser
Charleston was on the dry dock at |
the time, and it was supposed she
had escaped without injury; but
when the Spanish war broke out
and she was ordered to Manil to |
reinforce Dewey and incidentally |
10 capture the Ladrone Islands on
the way, it was found that she had !
been slightly damaged, and the
expedition was delayed several |
days in consequence.
Directly in the seismic zoue was
the Tubbs ranch, on what is known
as Tubbs's Island. This is a re-
claimed salt marsh, and the land