Evening star., 1936-08-30
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star
The Charleston
Earthquake.
On the night Of August 81. 1885, Char
lesion, s. c., was wrecked by an earth

lesion, s. c., was wrecked by an earth
The Charleston toll of forty-one lives
Earthquake. and caused prop
erty damage to the
amount Of $5,00000O The shock, which
traversed the Eastern seaboard from
Florida to New York, was distinctly felt
in Washington. The following. in The
Star of September l, is description. in
part, of the effect of the quake in this
city:
IAN earthquake shock Of considerable
violence was experienced in this city last
evening. The first tremor. occurring a
few minutes before ten o'clock. was fol-
lowed by another about ten minutes later.
The quaking was so alarming that many
persons in panicky condition made their
way from buildings to the street. The
shocks made themselves manifest every
where by the vibration of chandeliers. the
rattling Of loose windows and doors and
the rocking of movable objects in the
Corcoran Building, on Fifteenth street:
the Evans Building. on New York ave-
nue.; the hotels in the vicinity of Tenth
street; the Grand Army Hall. on Ninth
street: the Masonic Temple. on F street.
and other tall buildings. and in the de-
partment buildings the occupants felt
the shock and hurried from the buildings.
There was a great deal of alarm mani
tested in this unusual occurrence, and
many people in their fright reported the
fact to the police. The telegraph opera
tors in Atlanta few minutes before this
had notified the Washington Western
Union operators that the shake" was
coming and to look out for it. but no at
tention was paid to the warning, as it
was regarded as joke.
"At Albaugh's Opera House. where the
Summer opera company was singing
Mascot when the first shock occurred
it was felt distinctly by the persons in
the gallery. many Of whom. being alarmed.
started hastily to leave. Those sitting
in the lower part of the house did not
at once discover the cause for the move
ment. but supposed there was a fight.
A panicky feeling prevailed and many
rose to 60. A few minutes later q second
shock occurred. and many Of those re-
naming concluded 1t was time to 60
and went.
I'm some parts Of the city bells were
rung in the houses In some houses this
disturbance was attributed to rats or to
spirits. The members of one afirighted
family on Capitol Hill deserted their
house and camped for a time in their
back yard. The occupants of the Port
land flats were considerably alarmed.
Secretary Lamar. who has apartments in
one Of the upper stories, felt the shock
to such an extent that he hurried from
his room to the lower floor without watt
ing to dress himself with his usual care.
Mrs. Henry Brock, proprietor of the Con-
gressional Hotel, on Capitol Hill, was
thrown from a chair to the floor. The
colored bartender was sitting on the
banister at the time, and he was thrown
heels over head down the areaway.
"A widow employed in the Treasury
Department. living in South Washing
ton, was sitting in her room counting
her money and making up her monthly
account. Suddenly she saw her money
move and thought there was burglar
in the house. Going to the window, she
called murder and police. In a few
moments all the neighbors gathered in
front of the house, but no policeman put
In an appearance. Finally some OF the
citizens discovered that an earthquake
had taken place, and the widow came
to the conclusion that she had made
mistake. A gentleman residing on
Thirtteth street said that when the shock
came some captive guinea pigs belonging
to his boy squealed very piteouSly. He
then opened his window and found that
all OF the dogs of West Washington were
howling."