The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-24
SAVANNAH SHOCKED
TWO SEISMIC TREMORs IN QUICK
SUCCESSION.
AT $40 O'CLOCK LAST NIGHT
RATIFIED WINDOWS AND RECALL
ED THE QUAKE OF 1856.

taxable ''Quakes'-ShOok the Mar
telIO Tower at Tybee and Felt
Along the Coast.
Savannah experienced two distinct
shocks of earthquake last night, the
first at $40 o'clock. followed by anoth-
er with hardly a seconds interval. The
shocks did not exceed more than five
seconds in duration, but were unmis-
takably felt.
Augusta, Columbia. Charleston and
Beaufort also felt the tremor, and the
reports indicate that it was felt
throughout lower South Carolina, and
this part of Georgia. At Tybee and
at the quarantine station it seemed to
be more severely felt than in Savan-
nah. The telephone operator in the
Marte1lo tower at Tybee, forty feet
above the beach. experienced its full
force. The tower seemed to sway.
The windows of the house ratified and
people who were asleep were awakened
by the noise and the rocking sensation.
In the cottages along the beach the
doors and windows shook. The SOL
diers at Fort Screven also felt the vi
bration.
Felt Throughout the City.
Within two minutes after the shock
was felt in the city, the Morning News
telephone bells began ringing. Every
body wanted to know what had hap
pened. Those who experienced the
earthquakes of August and September.
1886, had no doubt. The shocks were
unmistakable and although they lasted
in the minds of many all the way from
a second to five minutes, the actual
duration was hardly more than five
seconds. There was no rumble and it
was difficult to determine the direction
OF the vibration. In the Morning News
building it was distinguishable for five
seconds or more.
The first outside news was a tele-
phone message from Mr.. John
Rourke's residence on CASTOR street,
asking if there had been an earth
quake. The vibration had shaken Mr..
Rourke's house.
Hardly minute later the Associated
Press operator at Charleston reported
the shock there and at Augusta and
in Columbia.
Remembered the Quake of $50.
There was a rush of inquiries from
then on. People who had been through
the 'quakes of 1886 recognized the SEN
Stations they experienced then and
knew what it meant. All through the
southern section of the city where the
houses are frame structures the shock
was more perceptible than in the sec
tions of the city where the buildings
are of brick. 1t was not felt at police
headquarters, the Oglethorpe avenue
fire station or at the Savannah Hos
pital Park View Sanitarium or Geor-
gia Infirmary, but at st. Joseph's Hos
pital it was distinctly felt. The win
dows ratified and the furniture in the
wards shock
Only two policemen reported to
headquarters that they felt the
shock. Patrolman Cowart was send
ing in his report from Yamacraw
when it came and he recognized it at
once. He was opening the door of the
Gamewell box and felt the door shake.
Policeman c. A. Collins was patrolling
Bay street, between Abercorn and Lin
coin, and felt it distinctly. Telephone
inquiries about the shock began coming
in from all directions and the desk ser
geant thought he was the victim of a
joke and that somebody was "guying"
him.
Weather Bureau Didn't Get 1t.
No report was made by the weather
bureau. The assistant observer had
just left the postoffice building when
the shock came. The operators in the
telephone exchanges were momentarily
ratified, but there was no excitement.
On the wharves it was not as dis
tinctly felt as on board the vessels.
At Thunderbolt and Isle of Hope it was
felt even more distinctly than in the
city.
At Montgomery nearly all the
cottsger were shaken and one of them
reported that the artesian we'll near
the trolley station had ceased flowing
a short time before the shock and then
began throwing up mud. Inquiry at
the city works showed there was no
change in the flow of the city wells.
There were few people at the clubs
when the shock was felt, but in half
an hour it was all the talk there and
III the hotels. While the shock was
distinct and unmistakable it did not
occasion any serious alarm. 1t recalled
however, the great quake of Aug. 30,
1886, when Charleston was shaken to
pieces and Savannah got it's full share
of the disturbance.
Felt i'm the Interior.
Dispatches from along the Central of
Georgia Railway show that the tremor
was felt some distance in the interior
as well as along the coast. Bulletins
We're received from Augusta, Columbia,
Charleston and Beaufort.
Augusta, Ian. ga slight earth
quake shock was felt here tonight at
STA o'clock. No damage.
Columbia, S. c., Jan. ga decided
earthquake shock was felt in this city
and suburbs at SIG o'clock.
Charleston, S. c., Jan. 23.-An earth
quake shock was felt here at Sill
O'Clock tonight. There was one dis
tinct shock, which was not sufficient to
cause any damage to property, nor even
TO occasion serious alarm. Reports
from points near the city indicate that
the shock was felt throughout the low
er part of the state