The San Francisco call., 1906-05-14
BIG EARTHQUAKES OF 1895
AND 1868 ARE RECALLED
Other Disturbances Caused Considerable
Property Loss. but Added Terror
of Fire Was Missing.


Following is an extract from a book,
:" American Progress, or Great Events
of the Greatest Country" published in
the Denver Post.
The earthquakes in California, espe-
cially those which occurerd in 1865 and
1868, and both in the month of October,
! were the most disastrous in respect to
the value of property destroyed, that of
October 81, 1868, being particularly so.
At San Francisco the motion was east
and west, and several buildings on Pine,
Battery and Sansone streets were thrown
down, and a considerable number badly
damaged.
"The ground settled, which threw the
buildings out of line. The principal
damage was confined to the lower por-
tion of the city, below Montgomery
street, and among old buildings on the
made ground. The Custom house, a
brick building erected on rile ground,
which was badly shattered in the earth
quake of 1865, had now to be abandoned
as unsafe. Business in the lower part
Of the city was suspended, the streets
were thronged with people, and great
excitement prevailed. The parapets,
walls and chimneys of a number of
houses fell, causing loss of life and
many accidents.
At one place the ground opened sew
eral inches wide and about forty or
fifty feet long, and in other places the
ground opened and water forced itself
above the surface. The water in the
bay was perfectly smooth at the time
of the occurrence, and no perceptible
n CT llrh0nPa +n0E r,loon fharo. cbooly
felt aboard the shipping in the harbor,
as if the vessels had struck upon rocks.
The morning was moderately warm, and
q dense fog covered the city. Not the
slightest breeze was percentible. The
first indication of the approach of the
earthquake was a slight rumbling
sound, as if something rolling along the
sidewalk, came apparently from the di-
rection of the ocean. The shock com
menced IN the form of slow, horizontal
movements, while the movements of the
great earthquake iof 1865 were perpen-
dicular. The effect on buildings, too,
of the earthquake of 1868, was widely
different from that of 1865. In the
latter glass was broken and shivered
into atoms in all the lower parts of the
city by the perpendicular oscillations,
while comparatively few walls were
shaken down or badly shattered.
"The earthquake of 1868 broke very
little glass, but the damage by the fall
ing of cornices, awnings and walls was
immense. Mantel ornaments and
shelved crockery were everywhere
throw down and broken. Topheavy ar
ticles of furniture tumbled over; tanks
liquids stopped their contents; clocks
stopped running; dorbells rang; tall
like steeples and towers,
were seen to sway, and the motion of
the earth under the feet was unpleas-
antly plain to walkers; horses started
and snorted, exhibiting every sign of
fear, and in some cases dashing off Gu
riously with their riders; dogs crouched,
trembling and whining, and fowls few
to the trees, uttering notes of alarm. !
The panic among women and children
was, for time, excessive, and their
cries and tears were very moving.
At Oakland the shock was very Sc
we're, throwing down chimneys and
greatly damaging buildings. In several
localities the ground opened, and a
strong sulphurous smell was noticed af- !
ter the shock. The courthouse at San
Leandro was demolished, and one life |
lost. At San Jose several buildings
were injured. The large brick court
house was wrecked. The shock was
light at Marysville and Sonora, and
severe at Grass Valley.
"It was also felt, with a great deal !
Of severity, in Stockton, Sonoma, San |
Lorenza, Alvarado, San Mateo, Peta-
luna, Vallejo and Sacramento. In the
latter place flagstaffs and trees vibrated
ten feet, and water in the river rose and |
fell a foot and a half ,,