p. 74 | Special Mention

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 4, 1902

Special Mention.

THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE IN MEXICO.

An American who resides in the City of Mexico, and was in the district affected by the recent earthquake at the time of its occurrence, sends the following account of it to a friend in Newburgh, N. Y.:—

“While writing at one of the tables of the American Club yesterday at twenty minutes past five, the chandeliers began to sway backward and forward and a low, rumbling noise, resembling an immense chariot passing over the asphalt street, was heard. Books began to fall from the shelves of the library and the inkstands on the tables became animated. I at once comprehended the situation, and rising to my feet, could feel the trembling and undulating movement which permeated the whole building, and at the same time a peculiar feeling akin to seasickness was experienced. The poor fellow was scared to death, some one may say, but not so; for if one considers the situation, he is as safe in one place as another. On a railway train or in a carriage one by instinct seeks the ground for safety; but in this case there is no terra firma. The swaying of the chandeliers brought the glass globes in contact and they fell in pieces. The billiard balls on the tables kept up the game without human agency, the players having sought the street.

“I stepped out on the balcony. The electric wires were swaying as if by a strong wind, the poles losing their perpendicular positions, and the peons had all knelt in the streets, and were crossing themselves confident almost that the walls, if they fell, would accommodate them by falling in instead of out. The carriages had all halted, the horses refusing to go. Broken glass was rattling. Taking all in all, it was a peculiar sight. There were four distinct shocks, and it is declared it was the strongest quake experienced here in years. In the Alameda the water was thrown from the fountain, and the clocks were stopped all over the city. On the outskirts of the city the populace took refuge in the churches, and sank on their knees till the earthquake had subsided. This event is said to be due to the unusual activity of the volcano of Colima, which has been very threatening for the past few weeks. The motion was from east to west.

“The Pan-American Congress was in session, and Señor Alzamora had just begun to speak on the Chile question. At once the whole delegation arose, and clinging wildly to their desks, invoked the protection of the patron saints of their nations. At elsewhere, the danger having passed, every one became hilarious.”