Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-04
fed to the flames, with reckless disre-

fed to the flames, with reckless disre
| gard Of their value.
| In Woo Tung alley. where the head
| quarters of the famous tongs, or high
| binder societies, were situated, the
demonstration took another form. The
| pavement was torn up and in a few
| minutes a deep hole was excavated in
the street. Into this hole valuable
| goods Of all kinds were dumped and
even sacks Of silver coins We're emptied
in the hope that the great earth dragon
would be persuaded to stay in his un-
derground home.
In ali the streets throughout the Chi
nese district thousands of the frenzied
orientals could be seen kneeling hour
after hour, chanting their prayers at
the top of their voices and beating
their heads on the pavement. When
the police tried to interfere and pre-
vent the building of fires q riot took
place, and II was soon seen that any
attempt to control the maddened China
men would be foolish, so the officers
withdrew. The panic in Chinatown
continued during the night and part
of the next day until, persuaded by the
iaNl tLtit Tic Cui LII hdt CCdsCu W II
bic, the Celestials put stop to their
orgies of sacrifice.
An amusing scene then took place.
The Cinnamon who had been eager to
destroy their property the night before
seemed determined to reclaim their
valuables from the evil dragon. and
the big hole in Woo Tung alley be-
came the scene of pitched battle as
those who had buried their offerings
there fought to regain them. 1t be-
came necessary to call in a squad of
police to settle the disputes.
While these strange scenes We're be-
ing enacted in Chinatown another pan
ic of Il different nature was taking
place across the bay in Oakland. The
shock was more severe in Oakland
than in San Francisco, but fortunately
the business houses were deserted, and
no lives were lost. A number of build
ings were warped and damaged by the
upheaval, and they afterward We're
condemned and torn down.
The earthquake Of 1898 was felt from
northern California to southern Next
CO. The shock was more severe in the
south than in San Francisco, and Te
huantepec, a city in Mexico of several
thousand Inhabitants, was destroyed.
The Pacific coast has been SO fire.
Quently visited by earthquakes that it
was deemed unwise until a few years
ago to erect tall buildings in San Fran
cisco. 1t was only with the advent Of
modern steel construction, which was
believed to render tall buildings safe
from the earth'S tremorS, that sky
scrapers made their appearance on the
Pacific coast.
The last earthquake that occurred in
San Francisco was about the middle of
January, 1900. Several distinct shocks
We're felt early in the morning. causing
the vibration of buildings all over the
city. The chief building affected was
the ST. Nicholas hotel. which was Sc
verely shaken. The walls collapsed in
certain parts of the structure, patrons
were thrown out of their beds and fur
niture was destroyed.
In 1904 there was severe seismic
in Los Angeles, which was
felt throughout the city and for a radi-
us of several miles all around. No ac-
tual damage was done, but this was
the most severe shock that ever has
been felt in southern California.