Evening star., 1935-10-19
Two Killed, Many Hurt in
Climax to Week of
Trem0rS.
CITIZENS FLEE HOMES;
BUILDINGS ARE TOPPLED
School Walls Crash, Glass Breaks.
Troops Ordered to Stand
By in Crisis.
By the Associated Press.

HELENA, Mont, october 19.-A
still trembling earth crust that caused
two deaths and injured at least IA
persons kept apprehensive residents
Of this area eyeing doorways today.
Though there had been no repiti-
ton of the severe shock at 9:47 o'clock
last night. the earth rumbled and
shook at intervals throughout the rest
Of the night and early morning.
A fairly heavy tremor about 4 am.
brought nervous householders again
to the street, but its duration was
brief and additional damage light.
Heavy Rolling Felt.
Again, soon after 8:35 am, the
region felt a heavy rolling followed
by lighter tremors.
The severe overnight shock, sixtieth
OF the sequence. tore at the mountain
Gus Continental Divide and spread
into three States-Montana, Idaho
and Washington, and one Canadian
province, Alberta.
The vibrations gripped this city of
$4,000 with such intensity that Oscar
Baarson. city engineer, estimated the
damage might run as high as s1,0O0,-
600. Other estimates were several
hundred thousand dollars lower.
Col. E. H. Williams. commander of
the l63rd Infantry, Montana National
Guard, ordered members of the Helena
company to be prepared for service,
but martial law was not declared.
Brick Buildings Fall.
As the quake swayed Helena for
about II seconds, the brick facing on
many buildings peeled, crashed into
the streets and was scattered. The
shock began at 9:47 pm, Mountain
standard time.
The front wall Of an unoccupied
structure fell and killed David Harris.
colored. The building stood on South
Main street, an historic traffic artery
which follows Last Chance Gulch,
scene Of glamorous mining adventures
Of yesteryear.
The second fatality was recorded
today when Charles Siggeling of Ap-
pieton, Wis, transient, died of in
juries he received in the collapse Of
q roof at the transient camp.
Among the injured were Julia Pat
ton, student at st. Vincent Academy,
.lit by flying bricks: Marie Kirwin,
Stenographer, hit by falling debris;
A. B. Jackson, twisted back when
caught under falling porch; Dorothy
Korch, East Helena, broken leg; Maj.
Sol. Peterson. United States property
and disbursing officer. severe head
lacerations. badly injured nose and
face, caught in collapse of floor at
National Guard Armory: Mrs. Lyman
Sperry, badly injured, legs, and Mrs.
Dona Sorrick, fractured arm.
City in Darkness.
The entire city was thrown into
darkness by the paralyzing of light
and power facilities.
A new half-million dollar high
school. which went into use this Fall,
suffered severely. A chimney was
knocked down and brick fell from the
walls. Two floors caved in at the Ma
tional Biscuit Co. factory.
The roof of the State arsenal fell
and damaged trucks and National
Guard motor vehicles.
A large part of the coping on the
Algeria Shrine Temple, perhaps the
city's outstanding structure from an
architectural standpoint, was torn
away, but the spire, about 400 feet
tall, was unscathed.
After the walls of the high school
auditorium collapsed. flames flared
briefly in the chemicals of the labora-
tory section. Another fire developed
in a private home where gas fittings
were torn loose by the constant grind
ing of the earth.
A city grown sleepless after seven
nights Of shock ran into the open.
The screams of children were heard
with the crash of crumpled plate glass.
Downtown confusion was more in
tense. From the theaters poured the
early audience. Ushers stood guard
and, though some persons tainted from
fright, none was badly hurt.
Hayden Simpson, once trombonist
for Sousa and Whiteman, brought his
horn into action on Main street in
a medley of march tunes. Hotel oc-
cupants, standing in night attire,
marched back inside.
Almost the entire western half Of
the State felt the shifting of the
earth's substructure. Reports Of
quaking which resulted in negligible
damage came from Bozeman, Butte,
Billings, Missoula, Shelby and a half
dozen other smaller cities extending
from Yellowstone National Park north
to near the Canadian border.
Minor tremors occurred at Spokane
and walla Walla, Wash, and Lewis
ton, Boise and Moscow, Idaho.
DIR. Francis Thomson, president Of
Montana School of Mines, said the
earth tremors probably were caused
by slipping masses Of rock along