Los Angeles herald., 1905-01-08

The occurrence of four distinct
earthquake shocks in San Francisco, in
Oakland and around the bay during
the past week has again set the public
mind to specializing about what has
always been bugaboo in this state.
Singularly enough, the temblor has
been associated with the name OF Cali
fornia since the American occupation;
and this though, since the opening of
the nineteenth century, there has been
more destruction of property from
earthquakes in Massachusetts, than in
the Golden state, and there has been
fifty times more havoc from seismic
disturbances in South Carolina than in
the Pacific states of the Union. Though
this is true, doubtless tens of thousands
of people, who had intended to- settle
in the Golden state changed their minds
in early days, on account of the sup
posed prevalence of the dreaded tenn
blor hereabouts; and other thousands
have gone back to the east on account
of occasional shakes. The popular eX-
preston forty years ago was that a
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a thing as has been so frequently re-
ported from Guatemala and other Gen.
trail American countries, where multi
tudes of people were killed and whole
cities blotted out.
The most destructive earthquake as
on that part of the Pacific coast which
now forms a portion of the United
States was at San Juan Capistrano,
about sixty miles south of Los Angeles.
1t was some time during the war of
1872, and it owed it's fatality to the
fact that services were being held in
the old mission church at the time.
The temblor shook the roof down upon
the worshipers, and many of them were
killed. The same disasters have fire.
quently occurred in Central and South
America, owing to the fact that the
holding of divine services and the ad-
vent of the earthquake were coincident,
or the people had fled to the churches
for refuge. 1t can scarcely be pre-
sumed that Providence had a grudge
against the piously inclined
My First Earthquake
I shall never forget my first expe-
rience of an earthquake. 1t was in San
Diego, and 1 was occupying a little
building set on uprights, a sort of an
mex to the hotel of that name, kept by
Captain Daniels. AS L was editing
morning newspaper L kept late, or,
rather early hours. L had just blown
out my light and was settling down to
and trembling of my bed, 1t was ex-
actly as though some immense animal
were under the cot and had striven to
rise up, and falling in the attempt, had
made several futile efforts to roll out
on TO the floor,
/ noticed that l became very sick
at the stomach, a quite usual accompa-
niment of an earthquake, although 1
did not know it at the time. l had no
idea that / was being treated TO my
first temblor, but got up lit my lamp
and looked under the bed, fully expect
ing to find a monstrous beast of some
kind, which l was prepared to encoun-
ter. revolver in hand. My surprise was
great to see nothing. 1 then concluded
that my enemy must be under the
house, and carried my inspection un-
der the uprights on which 1t was
built. With the same result. went
to bed and let ii go at that. When 1
got up in the morning l heard every
body talking about the earthquake and
knew ! had undergone my seismic
initiation.
In those days there was in San Diego