EAETHQUAKES ON THE PACIFIC COAST 53 



185S. November 26; 13:35 a. m.; VII. 



San Francisco. " A violent earthquake was experienced in the city 

 this morning at twenty-five minutes before one o'clock. It con- 

 sisted of two shocks, separated by an interval of a few seconds, 

 and lasting altogether about half a minute. It is considered to 

 have been nearly as violent as the great shock of February, 1S56, 

 and to have lasted much longer. A great»deal of alarm was occa- 

 sioned in some of the larger structures of the city, partir.ularly 

 in the Montgomery block, and in the Rassette House and other 

 extensive hotels. A number of buildings were vacated temporarily. 

 At Musical Hall, where the Independent National Guard were 

 having a ball, the shock was not noticed on the dancing floor, 

 though the building was very much shaken. In the Merchants' 

 Exchange building, opposite the Custom House, some large cracks 

 were made, and a portion of the cornice in the U. S. District 

 Court-room was shaken down. At the City Hall some small pieces 

 of plastering were shaken off, but no serious injury was done; 

 nor, indeed, have we heard of any damage in the city. At the 

 Union Hotel, adjoining the City Hall, the window-blinds were 

 observed to flap violently against the windows, and it was thought 

 by persons in Merchant Street that the building would fall, so 

 violently was it rocked. In many portions of the city bells were 

 rung and crockery rattled." — B. Ms. — 8. F. Bulletin, November 

 26, 1858. 



1S58. November 26; VIII. 



San Jose. " The earthquake was more severely felt at San Jose 

 than any that has before occurred there. Every family had 

 dishes, glassware, or clocks broken by falling ofE the shelves or 

 tables. Almost every grocery store had bottles, etc., thrown off 

 the shelves and broken. Every brick, adobe, or concrete building 

 was cracked or injured in some way, or had the plastering broken 

 off. Some plastering was broken off the City Hall. The Jail and 

 Sheriff's office, a two-story brick building, was damaged consider- 

 ably by the cracking and falling of the plastering. The new Bap- 

 tist church had the front walls cracked in several jjlaces. A new 

 brick building, only one story high, eighteen by twenty feet in 

 size, and very firmly built, was cracked throug'h the center, and 

 had the plastering shaken off. Mr. Minor's concrete building had 

 two corners and a part of the cornice shaken off, damaging it to 

 the extent of about five hundred dollars. Our informant saj^s: 

 " Mr. J. Lewis' large clock was stopped at just eighteen minutes 

 and twenty-two seconds before one o'clock, which must have been 

 the exact time of the commencement of the trembling. He looked 

 at his watch at the conclusion of the shock, when it was just eigh- 

 teen minutes to one — which would make the diaration of the earth- 

 quake just twenty-two seconds, if the watch and clock kept the 

 same time. The undulations were from the north to the south. 



