Mark Twain in the classic, ROUGHING IT, writes of the effects and of its after-effects on humans that were brought on by an earthquake that he had witnessed, contemporaneously experienced while living and working as a reporter in San Francisco, California, after leaving Nevada:
"As I turned the corner, around a frame house , there was a great rattle and jar, and it occurred to me that here was an item!--no doubt a fight in the house. Before I could turn and seek the door, there came a really terrific shock; the ground seemed to roll under me in waves, interrupted by violent joggling up and down, and there was a heavy grinding noise as of brick houses rubbing together. I fell up against the frame house and hurt my elbow. I knew what it was, now, and from mere reportorial instinct , nothing else, took out my watch and noted the time of day; at that moment a third and still severer shock came, and as I reeled about on the pavement trying to keep my footing, I saw a sight! The entire front of a tall four-story brick building in Third street sprung outward like a door and fell sprawling across the street, raising a dust like a great volume of smoke!...
"The curiosities of the earthquake were endless . Gentleman and ladies who were sick, or taking a siesta, or had dissipated till a late hour and were making up lost sleep, thronged into the public streets in all sorts of queer apparel, and some without any at all. One woman who had been bathing a naked child, ran down the street holding it by the ankles as if it were a dressed turkey. Prominent citizens who were supposed to keep the Sabbath strictly, rushed out of saloons in their shirt-sleeves, with billiard cues in their hands. Dozens of men with necks swathed in napkins, rushed from barber shops, lathered to the eyes, or with one cheek clean-shaved and the other still bearing a heavy stubble...A prominent editor flew down stairs, in the principal hotel, with nothing on but one brief undergarment--met a chambermaid and exclaimed: 'Oh, what shall I do! Where shall I go!' She responded with naive serenity: 'If you have no choice, you might try a clothing store!'...
"The first shock brought down two or three huge organ pipes in one of the churches. The minister, with uplifted hands, was just closing the services . He glanced up, hesitated, and said: 'However , we will eliminate the benediction!'--and the next instant there was a vacancy in the atmosphere where he had stood.
"After the first shock, an Oakland minister said: 'Keep your seats! There is no better place to die than this'-- And added after the third: 'But outside is good enough!' He then skipped out at the back door."
P.844-847. Chapter LVIII (1984)
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
EARTHQUAKE : ROUGHING IT
Mark Twain in the classic, ROUGHING IT, writes of the effects and of its after-effects on humans that were brought on by an earthquake that he had witnessed, contemporaneously experienced while living and working as a reporter in San Francisco, California, after leaving Nevada:
"As I turned the corner, around a frame house , there was a great rattle and jar, and it occurred to me that here was an item!--no doubt a fight in the house. Before I could turn and seek the door, there came a really terrific shock; the ground seemed to roll under me in waves, interrupted by violent joggling up and down, and there was a heavy grinding noise as of brick houses rubbing together. I fell up against the frame house and hurt my elbow. I knew what it was, now, and from mere reportorial instinct , nothing else, took out my watch and noted the time of day; at that moment a third and still severer shock came, and as I reeled about on the pavement trying to keep my footing, I saw a sight! The entire front of a tall four-story brick building in Third street sprung outward like a door and fell sprawling across the street, raising a dust like a great volume of smoke!...
"The curiosities of the earthquake were endless . Gentleman and ladies who were sick, or taking a siesta, or had dissipated till a late hour and were making up lost sleep, thronged into the public streets in all sorts of queer apparel, and some without any at all. One woman who had been bathing a naked child, ran down the street holding it by the ankles as if it were a dressed turkey. Prominent citizens who were supposed to keep the Sabbath strictly, rushed out of saloons in their shirt-sleeves, with billiard cues in their hands. Dozens of men with necks swathed in napkins, rushed from barber shops, lathered to the eyes, or with one cheek clean-shaved and the other still bearing a heavy stubble...A prominent editor flew down stairs, in the principal hotel, with nothing on but one brief undergarment--met a chambermaid and exclaimed: 'Oh, what shall I do! Where shall I go!' She responded with naive serenity: 'If you have no choice, you might try a clothing store!'...
"The first shock brought down two or three huge organ pipes in one of the churches. The minister, with uplifted hands, was just closing the services . He glanced up, hesitated, and said: 'However , we will eliminate the benediction!'--and the next instant there was a vacancy in the atmosphere where he had stood.
"After the first shock, an Oakland minister said: 'Keep your seats! There is no better place to die than this'-- And added after the third: 'But outside is good enough!' He then skipped out at the back door."
P.844-847. Chapter LVIII (1984)