The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-09-09
Seventeen Years Ago.

loaded with lumber, the master Of
which, Capt. X, we shsll call him for
short, as he is averse 20 having his
full name appear in print, has uuder-
gone earthquake experiences OF char
acter which do not often fall to the
lot OF one man. 'A''"
The Post reporter having spoken in
reference to the Martinique disaster,
Capt. x. said:
Il was down at Montevideo when
the Mont Pelee eruption occurred,
which was, Of course, too far eff to
feel the effects or any of the after
effects. However, I have never had
any experience OF volcanoes. I have
experienced earthquakes twice in my
life, the first being the terrible earth
quake at st. Thomas, in 1869. and the
second being at Charleston, in 1886.
In 1869 sailed from New Brunswick
with cargo Of lumber for ST. Thomas.
Reaching that port had just finish
ed unloading when the earthquake oc-
CURED that destroyed the town and
killed large number Of people. You
reoe!lect the St. Thomas earthquake
was folic:ved by tidal wave2 Very
well. The shocks began early in the
morning. I was down in the cabin
when the first came, and it felt ex eot-
ly as though my vessel had been ram
med by some larger craft. Ihastened
above in great alarm, only to find that
the ship was safe and sound end shst
nothing had occurred to cause her any
injury. Soon we realized that an
earthquake shook had passed. Several
othesa sellewed during she day, saa
we wera beginning 20 grow used TO
them, when che main shook arrived,
shaking down over twosthirds OF che
bRildinge ia ST. Thomas. IL was In.
deed terrific shock. ehought Of
che eiEie enc vessel he'd been broken
into thousand parts. The crash OF
falling buildings on shore had barely
suboidod, when the water in the har.
boz began reoeding at frightful rate,
running out to sea with the swiftness
OF q mill raue. Soon oil the vessels
in the harbor were stranded. Fortu-
nately for ourselves, on our arrival We
had tied up at wharf that skirted
the shore of creek, or bayou, at the
north end Of the town, to unload.
This bayou was full of deep holes,
some Of them below the average depth
Of the harbor proper, and although
the receding waters left the bed of the
bayou dry in places, it did not drain
these natural basins, in the largest
and deepest Of which my vessel had
the good fortune to be lying at the
time of the earthquake. The harbor
had been dry about twenty minutes.
when the sea rushed back again in
the form of terrific bore, or tidal
wave, which sundered the cables Of
oil save three or four Of the vessels in
the hsrbor and left them stranded
high and dry in the main street Of
the town. By reason OF the fact that
We lay in pool OF water, my vessel
escaped the fate OF the others, al.
though, as it was, We were badly shak..
en- up and almost swamped. Two OF
my men we're washed overheard and
drowned.
The Charleston earthquake, how
ever, was altogether different, both in
the absence Of q tidal wevo as we'll as
in other respects. It SO happened on
this occasion that [ was in the cabin
when the two principal shocks occur
red. l Was busy ct the time On some
accounts, when Twas startled by what,
to me, sounded like about one hun
dred workmen, caulking thc bottom Of
my ship. I never in ell my life ex-
perienced such peculiar sensation.
Had the ship been in the dry dock
with q lot of men caulking her bottom,
instead of lying as she was in the
water, the noise Of their hammering
would have sounded exactly like that
produced by the earthquake shock.
The deception, was perfect / rubbed
my eyes and was on the point Of going
above, but being very busy, hesi-
tated, and then, concluding that I had
been deceived in some way, returned
TO my work with the intention of as
oertaining the cause Of the strange
noises later. Il never dreamed Of its
being an earthquake shook. You see,
after my st. Thomas experience I had
fiattered myself that I could tell an
earthquake shock the minute / felt or
heard it. At st. Thomas the heavy
shocks felt and sounded as though q
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