Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-05-28
DISTINCT TREMORS FELT IN ROCK
RIVER VALLEY, ALSO IN ILL
NOIS, IOWA AND MICHIGAN.
DISHES AND BOTTLES BREAK
Saloons, Drug and Hardware Stores
Suffer Losses by Breaking of
Fragile Objects.
FIRES FOLLOW AURORA, ILL, SHOCK

MILWAUKEE, Wis. May %, 1909.
An earthquake lasting for a few sec
| Onds to three minutes shook southern
Wisconsin. nearly all of Illinois, sections
Of Iowa and the lower half of Michigan
this morning.
The motion was from north to south
and was first reported in Chicago at
/ S:25. at $40 in BelOit, where the build
ings of the college rocked violently, and
at S:45 in Racine The shock was dis
! tlnctly felt in the entire Rock river val
! ley, where buildings trembed and dishes
ratified on the shelves. A special from
| BeIOlt says that several people were
| stricken by the unusual vibrations.
Delavan, Whitewater, GAINESVILLE, Lake
Mills, Mineral Point reported that con
| siderable damage was done III saloons,
/ drug stores and hardware stores where
! fragile objects, such as bottles and other
| pieces of glassware fell from shelves
and broke on the floor.
Shock Alarms Racine.
! Every person in Racine was alarmed
! at the shock. The city hall was badly
shaken and all electric light and other
! fixtures on the walls were knocked out
! of place. Desks were moved in the mu-
nicipal court building. The water in the
! river rose a foot, but no tidal wave ac-
cOmpanied this phenomenon. Telephone
messages state that the tremors were
felt all over the county.
Cities in Illinois reporting the shock
are Lamont, Joliet, Lockport, River
! dale, Downers' Grove, Orland, Napier
vile, Evanston, Peoria, Kewanee. Au-
rOra, Rockford, Bloomington, Dixon and
! Galena, besides many other smaller
! cities. Burlington and Dubuque, Ia,
and South Haven, Mich, felt the shocks
| distinctly. In the Michigan city win
dows were shaken and china was brok-
en- by the vibrations.
Small Fires Started
Several small fires were started by the
! oVerturning of stoves and many CHM
neys were raised. Aurora, Ill, is said
to have suffered particularly in this re-
spect.
In Chicago the shock was generally
| felt, but i'll Il great majority of cases
was attributed to ordinary causes, such
as the passage of street cars. elevated
! trains, blasting in distant quarries or the
! passage of structural iron on big trucks
through the streets. 1t was not until
newspapers made their appearance with
/ the story that the public learned that
they had passed through a natural phe-
! nomennn.
Damage in Chicago and elsewhere was
confined to the breaking Of dishes and
! ornaments shaken from mantel pieces or
! tables. No fires of material consequence
were reported. In the outskirts of the
/ city several smalI-fres were started but
were eXtinguished by the hOuseholders
/ themselves.
Communication Is INTERRUPTED.
During the period of the vibration it
was almost impossible to get correct tele-
! phone connections owing to the swaying
of the wires against each other. At
Rockford, ILL.,, all the college buildings
rocked violently. Many persons expert
enced difficulty remaining on their feet.
At Joliet, chairs and other light OBJ
! jects were overturned and at Dixon gas
| fires were shaken out.
The shock passed through Sterling.
| ILL.,. and Whiteside county aft S.3S
! o clock. One shock was distinct and al
though no heavy damage resulted, peo-
pie rushed from their homes in fear.
REPORTS from outlying districts are slow
in coming in because Of wire troubles.
! but indications are that the shock did
considerable damage in the vicinity of
! TampicO, Erie and other small towns
! IN the southern part of this county.
The vibrations lasted fifteen seconds
in Cedar Rapids, la. They were most
severe at Coe college, causing students
to rush from the fourth toor of the
| building.
Dubuque Buildings Tremble.
| The first earthquake shock in Dubuque
occurred at $50 and continued ten sec
! onds. The second followed almost imme-
| diately and was of shorter duration.
| The shocks were felt throughout the city,
| but were worse in the down town dis
| occupants rushed into the streets in
! terror. The bank and insurance office
| building, a substantially seven-story
! structure, was shaken violently and sew
| eral hundred occupants made hurried
| exit choking the stairways in their
| .,r-fn - IL H.
| turing plants, there were several panics
when machinery ratified and goods and
| crates fell.
Collie Describes Quake.
DR.. George l.. Collie, dean of Beloit
college and an authority on earthquakes,
| said he took particular notice of the
| shock this morning. Il recognized at
| once that it was an earthquake" said
| the dean. Il then observed particularly
and noticed that the motion was an east
and west direction. | believe it will be
! found that this was the taiI-end of some
! big earthquake, although it is possible
| that it occurred in some part of the
world where it would not be observed
! by man. | noticed that the movements
! of the earth were those indicative of
an earthquake and that it worked up
! to a climax"
Dean Collie said he had noticed other
earthquake shocks in Beloit, but this
was the most severe he had ever OBJ
served The last one was in 1896. In
the house Of o. J. Johnson, a clock
was stopped by the shock Clinton
Rockton. Shirland Roscoe and other
small places all report the quake was
felt in their vicinity.
The shock was felt in Monroe Wis,
shortly after s O'clock.
| QUAKE EXPERT FEELS