Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1925-07-09
Mrs. NEI4i.ISGER WRITES
CONCERNING EARTHQUAKE

and Mrs. w. h, Dye VI lHio pi'NS'
Santa Barbara, CAL, June 20, 70
Monday, lao p. m.
Dear folks:-It is with tremp-
ling hand | write. OF course you
have received the telegram we sent
this morning 1t may, not be sent
vet, but it has been written. Iem-
norary HEADQUARTERS for the western
Union are in the new city hall lawn
as is everything else of importance.
Dr. Mellinger is there now attending
meeting of city officials, to see
what can he done to straighten up
affairs.
DR.. Mellinger was in the garden
when the first shock came. ! had
been awake for some time. We had
taken the children to church last
night and being up later than usual
I.told them to lie still and rest When
tbe first shock came, staggering
back and forth / reached the chill
dren and took each one by the mana.
Another shock came, and the mouse
seemed to plunge. / thought the
house would cave in before | could
reacn the uOOI anu SCI ~ uAiAONAN1A.
You will never know the terrible
feeling | had When DR.. Mellinger
came in the house he turned off the
gas and electricity We could hear
Mrs. Garnder. neighbor, scream
ing. The bricks from her chimney
were falling on her and she was cut
and bruised. DR.. Mellinger carried
CriIloxy'c the
street. Their house being a one
story bungalow was injured bul
very little. Margaret and Eleanor
don't want to leave my side because
they have been so badly frightened
today. People are out driving in
stead of staying in their homes.
8 D. m, Monday: The children
are now asleep in Alice Crilley's
bed and | have a cot by their bed
for DR. Mellinger. We cooked on
our grill in their yard today. To-
morrow we will have temporary
place fixed in our yard to cook and
sleep in. 1t isn't safe to sleep in
our house as quakes are still be-
ing felt.
Mrs. Barry was here today; she is
going to sleep in her yard tonight
Raymond isn't at home; he is at
tending Stanford university. The
turning off of the gas and electricity
by some one was all that saved the
city. I was talking to a friend to-
day who had been in San Francisco
during the earthquake. and who
said it didn't do as much damage as
the one here has done, but it was the
fire which followed that destroyed
so much property.
Tuesday a. M: Dr. Mellinger is
on special police duty: he got in at
a. m. and left at 5 O'Clock Our
house is damaged more than it
seemed to be at first The outside
chimney and brick mantle in the liv-
ing room are gone, which has left
large opening. The chimney
through the den and kitchen is
wreck The house moved back on
the lot quite a little. Door sashes
are broken loose; windows in the
basement broken. and the back steps
are broken loose from the house
Sectional bookcases toppled over,
pictures fell from the wall; nearly
all my good vases are broken, but
not so many of my china dishes were
broken as one might have imagined
would be Piano and roll top desk
moved out from the wall, and ev-
erything else accordingly. Luckily
when we returned from church |
set the children's harps in the sun
parlor They toppled over against
the wall, but weren't damaged. We
have so much to be thankful for. If
the quake had come Sunday even
ing when the people were in the
churches and theatres, there certain
iy would have been panics. or had it
come an hour later when people
would have been in their places of
business and offices, there would
have been many more deaths; and
had school been in session, many
lives would have been lost as there
were several school buildings de-
stroyed. The new ST Frances hos
pital so near our home is destroyed,
and doesn't look as if it could be re-
built One of the nurses was killed.
The patients were taken to the Cot
tage hospital which was only slight
ly injured. One Father at the Santa
Barbara was killed.
The county home three and half
miles from the city, is destroyed;
the inmates have been removed un-
harmed. The city managers new
home on the Mesa is completely
wrecked, as are many other homes
1t had been rather hot for several
days, and some one said fine earth |
quake weather" DR.. Angle who |
killed was such fine young married
man. He had gone to his office
early to do some laboratory work;
then he was going to Los Angeles to |
attend a convention. ] had the !
children at his office a few days ago !
for him to care for their teeth. He
was SO fond of children and told |
them things they will never forget. |
The new Granada theatre building |
which was considered the least in |
jured of the large buildings, was !
moved several feet onto the street. |
DR.. .Mellinger hasn't been in his of |
fee, but DR.. Shermier has been in |
his and says everything is toppled
over. / thing DR. Mellinger is figur- .
ing moving his office into one of his |