The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1868. THE EARTHQUAKE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 248, 19 October 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1868. THE EARTHQUAKE.

This city was, at an early hour this morning, visited by one of the most, severe earthquakes which has been experienced since the settlement of the province. The weather duriLg Sunday evening had be^n unseasonably warm and oppressive, and it is stated that a slight tremor was felt by many persons about 8 o'clock, but it was not until 17 minutes past 12 o'clock that the principal shock, (for it has beeu followed by many others), aroused the citizens from their slumbers, and created no slight consternation by its violence an! the long continuance of its vibrations, which lasted for full half a minute. Indeed many persona are inclined to assign a far longer iluratiou to the tremulous convulsion which was experienced ; much intitu 'e may, however, be allowed for the exaggeration and alarm which such mu abnormal state of things is sure to product?. Thd direction of the earthquake appeared to be from West to East and the motion was decidedly vertical and un heaving, heralded by the deep mysterious rumbling sound which invariably accompanies these visiiations. iSome idea may be formed of the general panic created by the earthquake from the fact thatwithin five minutes aiterwards the city, previously enveloped in the calm and darkness of midnight, became suddenly illuminated, every house showing a light, aud the streets being thronged with persons anxious to discover what damage had been sustained by their own or their neighbors' domiciles. It was not for a considerable time that confidence was restored, and people returned to their homes, only however to be again disturbed by n succession of minor shocks, which occurred at intervals of about an hour from the principal convulsion, that which occurred at 20 minutes to 4 being the most severe. Since that time several other shocks are eaid to have been experienced, none of them however were at all severe, or eveu generally perceptible. Judging from the noise which prevailed at the time of the principal shock, bells ringing, and crockery smashing, with other accompaniments, it might reasonably have beeu anticipated that, it would have fallen to our lot to chronicle a very considerable am<uiut of damage resulting from the earthquake. We are gratified to state that this is not the case ; with the exception of the destruction of some stacks of chimneys at the Government Buildings and at the College, and some solitary instances iu other parts of the city, the injury to property has been altogether insignificant. The Provincial Buildings, it is true, both externally and internally, show many ominous cracks iu the plasterwork, but, save the twist which each of the chimney-shafts has evidently sustained, completely opening the brickwork, aud making their reconstruction imperative, together with the fall of two siuglt chimneys oo the roof of the new room now in process of erection between the PtoviueialHall and the Resident Magistrate's Court, these buildings have escaped without any moreserious injury. A similar fate bei'el the chimuey-s tacks at the College, all of which have suffered in more or less degree, the he vy Elizabethan caps being, in several instances, entirely displaced aud remaining in a very precarious position. The lofty chimney just erected at the R.vglan Brewery shows a fissure of some length, aud has been shifted about two inches. Several other isolated chimneys in the town and at tue Port have either been thrown down or portions of tht-in displaced. The new stone buildings in Trafalgarstreet, about wiiieh much curiosity and

anxiety were eviuced, seem to have stood the shock bravely, one or two slight cracks only being perceptible in the plaster. A long and threatening fissure appears in the building now erecting for Mr T. Milner, which may probably suggest the propriety of providing a stronger support for so heavy a superincumbent mass of masonry than that wh'i ;h exists at the preseut moment. The vessels lying at anchor in the harbor all felt the influence of the earthquake, experiencing the curious grinding sensation, peculiar to such occasions, as it' they were grating over a rough bottom, but no peculiar phenomena were observed in rhe motion of the sea. We have already alluded to the sudden change in the temperature which occurred yesterday evening, when the barometer "fell suddenly to 29.30; the large number of falling stars or meteors observable last night to the westward, and also the red ami fiery appearance of the sky to the northward, about the fime of the principal shock, have also furnished subjects lor conjecture. We nifty alsomenUon thattheearthquake of 1848 occurred at 1.40 ou the morning of Monday the J6th of October, the Suudny previous having also been the second iu the month. Not the least curious feature iu tlu shock of this morning was its effect upon the lowe'" orders of creation, the dogs harking furiously, and the cocks crowing their loudest, as if to protest against su>;h an abnormal interruption of their rest. We look wish much anxiety for information relative to the results of the earthquake at Wellington and also in ihe VVairau, where similar visitations have been ofieutimes severely felt. We huve no dehire to add new terrors to the minds of our readers by reechoin:z the opinion expressed by many amongst, us, whose pa-^t experience in such matters entitles ib to consideration, to the effect that some still further illustrations of volcanic force may be expected to follow on the events of this morning. It is evident from the literature of earthquakes, that they are not only iiKirea.sing in number, but also in intensity. The terrestrial earthquake wave proceeding in rndii from a focus of origination, extends to 540, 180. and 60 geographical miles, and there can be no question that the. coast line of the Pacific is the gr,-at field of elevation and depression. Such facts, combined with our previous experience of these matters, unquestionably point to the possible recurrence of such visitations, and, perhaps, even on a more terrible scale, but hitherto Nelson has enjoyed a peculiar immunity from any serious injury atisiug out of such causes, and we nriy take comfort that the earthquake of today has been far surpassed, both ia violence and iu duration, by more than one oi its predecessors. We find that the tide, instead of running down, was standing still at 3 o'clock this afternoon, at which time a strong tide should, under ordinary circumstances, have been ebbing fast.