The San Francisco call., 1905-01-02
TOWER OF HALL
OUT OF PLUMB
Earth Jolts Monuments of
Past and Present Power
and Partly Unseats One
SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE
Forces of Nature Remind
People of City of Their
Energy by Jarring Things

Old Mother Earth has expressed her
self as displeased at sun spots or some
equally mysterious and disturbing ele-
ment and has grumbled so much that
the outer crust of this particular part
of the globe has trembled until man
kind has wondered what has happened
to make the old lady so angry.
Half a dozen shocks of earthquake
were felt yesterday afternoon, and two
of them were severe enough to remind
the frivolous New Year merrymakerS
that there are more things in heaven
and earth than are dreamed of in his
tin-horn philosophy. Very little dam
age was done by the temblors, except
that San Francisco was reminded, by
the partial unseating of the dome of
one of the south towers of the City
Hall, that, speaking of administra-
tionS, there were others
The tower, which appears to have
been very poorly constructed, was not
damaged to such an extent that it can
not be repaired. 1t was shaken from Its
base and leaned over toward the Lar
kin street side, but not sufficiently to
be detected except on close observa-
ton. That there might be not the
slightest way for an accident left open
in event of another shock of severe
nature, two policemen were stationed
near the tower to warn persons passing
that way to keep from under
The temblors seem to have been felt
most severely in the Mission, accord
ing to the reports of the Weather Bu-
reau. AT first it was thought that the
ground undulations were due to the
explosion of blasts in the Southern Pa
cific cutoff, South San Francisco, but
the three or four mild temblors at 2:45
o'clock in the afternoon were followed
at $3.50 o'clock by a hard shake that
lasted six seconds and was Immediate
~ followed by a slight earth movement
that was barely perceptible. AT AIS
o'clock there was another sharp shock
lasting four seconds, and again at 1858
in the evening a gentle reminder that
all was not well under the sod.
Several windows were broken in the
top stories of downtown office build
ingS, and at Ingleside the crowds
thought an immense blast had been
fired, so sudden and jerky were the
shocks In several of the churches
where afternoon services were in prog
ress there was consternation in the con-
gregation. The wonder is that there
have been so many shocks. There is no
record of such an extended series or
earthquakes in this section in the sci
entific classifications of such matters.
At the City Hall two of the shocks
caused the building to creak and grind
in such a manner as to badly frighten
those who were in the corridors and
about the offices. The damage to the
south tower, it was said, was due to
faulty construction as much as to the
earthquake. The prison officials say
that the force of the quake seemed
very great on the ground floor, while
others who were on the top floors de-
clared that while the shock was some
what severe they did not think it was
nearly so bad as the heavy earthquake
of five years ago.
On the water front the quake was
felt at the ferry depot, but the shock
was slight. The ferry building, how
ever, is built on a sunken cylinder pier
foundation on a springy mud bottom,
and earthquakes are never felt there
so severely as in other parts of the city.