194 H. G. FOEDHAir THE EARTHQUAKE 



one gentleman in St. Albans heard the flap of a small table in bis 

 bedroom move up and down several times, the flap knocking 

 against its support. From all this it seems that tbe vibration or 

 oscillation was an up-and-down one, eventually if not at first. The 

 time is variously given here as between 5.30 and 5.35 — I believe 

 the latter is most likely to be correct — and the duration of the 

 shocks as about half a minute, from which, knowing how apt we 

 all are to underrate that interval, I should think it most probable 

 that it was about a quarter of a minute. — John Hopkinson, The 

 Grange, St. Albans. 



1 was lying awake at the time, so I am able to say that there 

 was no noise either preceding or accompanying [the shock]. The 

 movement was a vibration, or shaking, lasting perhaps as much 

 as half a minute, and causing the china on a washstand in the room 

 to rattle very audibly. There was no feeling of the bed being raised, 

 nor of a wave of shock such as I have felt on one previous occasion. 

 The time was, as near as 1 could tell, 5.30 a.m. My house has only 

 cellars, ground floor, and first floor, on which are the hedrooms. — 

 [Miss] Eleanor A. Ormerod [F.ll. Met.Soc], Torrington Souse, 

 St. Albans. 



The impression produced on the mind of a correspondent at 

 St. Albans was that someone had tilted his bed upward from 

 beneath him. — Herts Mercury, 19 Dec, 1896. 



In St. Albans the "wave" caused no little consternation, as in 

 other parts of the country. The motion was experienced at about 

 5.30 a.m. Several of the wakeful citizens assert that they felt the 

 oscillation quite distinctly, while others were aroused fi-om their 

 slumbers by the unusual tremors, the jingling of crockery, and the 

 slamming of doors. Some seemed to think that an explosion had 

 occurred, while others state that they experienced a movement 

 such as that caused by the heavy traffic near their dwelling, 

 unaccompanied, however, by any of those familiar sounds. The 

 vibration lasted several seconds. — Herts Advertiser, 19 Dec., 1896. 



New Barnet. — About 5.27 or 5.30 a.m. on 17th Dec, Mrs. Fryer 

 and myself were awakened by a noise as of heavy pictures or 

 furniture falling in the dining-room below, and almost immediately 

 we felt our beds rock with a decided movement from E. to W. I 

 then noticed a sort of creaking of the outer wall as after a severe 

 strain. The whole shock did not appear to last more than three or 

 four seconds. — A. Ellen Coles, Beaufort Lodge, New Barnet. 



Oscillations were experienced at Barnet. — Herts Mercury, 19 Bec.^ 

 1896. 



Hatfield. — On the occasion of the recent earthquake, bottles 

 piled up in my cellars here were thrown down and strewed about 

 the floor. They were all secure at night. — C. Butler [F.S.A.], 

 Warren Wood, Hatfield. 



An engine-driver on the Great Northern Railway declares that 

 after passing Hatfield the line practically rocked, and he feared 

 that either the permanent way had subsided or that his train had 

 become derailed. — Herts Mercury, 19 Bee, 1896. 



