The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-04

Y The Great Lisbon Earthquake.
Hs The most disastrous earthquake o.
which we have record was that Of Lis
bon in 1855, and it may be Of interest
sto give q few extracts from the &C.
count Of an eye witness. The account
was probably written by a merchant
who lived IN Lisbon at the time and
was published by Charles Davy IN 11S1s
1t was on the morning Oh this fatal
day (Nov* i. 1850, between the hours
of 9 and TO- that i was set down in my
department, just finishing Letter.
when the papers and table i was writ-
ing on began to trarnble with IL gentle
motion. which rather surprised me- as
i could not perceive a. breath Of wind
stirring. Whilst i was rejecting with
myself what this could be owing TO.
but without having the least appre~
hensiou of the real cause, the whale
house began to shake from the Very
foundation, which ait first i imputed to
the rafting Of several coaches IN the
main street: but on hearkening more
attentlvely, / was soon undeGeINed. as
! found it was owing ia a strange,
frigntfuI kind of noise under ground,
resembling the hollow distant rumnitug
Of thunder. All this passed in less than
minute.
In a moment i was reused
stunned with a most forrid crash, as
if every edifice in the city had tumbted
down at once. The house I was in
shook with such violence that the up
per walls Immediately fell &% and
the walls continued rocking to and fro
in the frightfulest manner, opening in
several places. To add to this
terrifying scene. the sky in a moment
became so gloomy that l could now
distinguish no particular object.
"In the midst of our deyotfons Con
the river bank) the second great shock
came on. little less violent than the
first. So You may judge of the
force of this shock when / inform you
it was so violent that 7 could scarce
keep on my knees. Upon this,
turning my eyes toward the river,
which in that place is Near four miles
broad, / could perceive it heaying and
swelling i'm, the most unaccountahle
manner, as no wind was stirring. I'm
an instant there appeared at some
small distance, a large body Of water,
rising as 1t were like q mountain. JIG
came on foaming and roaring, and
rushed toward the shore with such I'M
.petuosity that we all Immediately ran
for our lives as fast as possible; many
were actually swept away and the rest
above their waist in water at a good
distance from the banks.
Zone (r.laster Of a vesseD Informed
me that when the second shock came
on, he could perceive the whole city
waving backward and forward, Hike
the sea when the wind first begins TO
rise; that the agitation Of the earth
was so great even under the river, that
it threw uD his large anchor from tse
mooring, which swan, as he termed II,
on the surface of the water; that i'm
nediately upon this extraordinary con-
cussion, the river rose at once near
twenty feet and in a moment suhSlded;
at which instant he saw the quay, wfth
the whole concourse of people upon IL,
sink down, and at the same time every
one of the boats and vessels that We're
near it were drawn into the cavity
which he supposed instantly closed
UPON them, inasmuch as not the least
sign of wreck was ever seen after
ward
A third violent shock followed the
first two and the river continued alter
nately rushing in and retiring. Inc
tremors of the earth continued. with
less violence, for days, making the
more difficult examination of the ruins
of the city, which was almost COM
pletely destroyed, with about $4,000 OF
it's inhabitants.
with regard to the buildings, it was
observed that the so1idest in general
fell the. fist. Every parish chuTGa,
convent nunnery, palace and pubic
ediffce, with an infinite number OF pFi-
vate houses, were either thrown down
or so niserably shattered that it was
rendered dangerous to pass by tneni-
WILLIAM j. HOPKINS
Drexel Institute.