EARTHQUAKE OF SEPTEMBER THIRD 349 



Flermer, J. P. Fults, Jr., A. Johnson, T. Smith, and D. Stevens. Messrs. 

 Cox and Fults have written newspaper accounts of their experienced^ and 

 Mr. Flenner has described it to the writer. This shock was not severe 

 enough in Disenchantment Bay to throw a man off his feet. This is 

 within the area of indurated rocks. 



Yahutat. — Ai Yakutat village, thirty miles distant, Mr. C. E. Hill, a 

 surveyor ; Mr. Beasley, the storekeeper ; Rev. Albin Johnson, the mission- 

 ary, and Mrs. Early, a native woman, have stated^^ that the houses rocked 

 and shook violently, a door swung to and fro and shut with a crash, 

 dishes rattled, a table moved, the trees and flag poles rocked back and 

 forth, and the water crossing a reef in the bay was whipped into a mass 

 of seething foam. It was impossible to stand up without support. The 

 region is one of unconsolidated glacial deposits. 



There was a general shivering of the earth and then a long jerk; the 

 vil)rations were from two to three seconds in length, coming from the 

 northwest and running southeast, slowly at first and then coming shorter 

 and faster and irregularly until they had lasted about 5 minutes. There 

 were slight tremors the rest of the day. 



Dry Bay. — At the native settlement at Dry Bay, near the mouth of 

 Alsek Eiver, 60 miles east of Yakutat, tlie shock was so severe that men 

 were unahle to stand. 



Lynn Canal. — At Dyea, 150 miles east of Yakutat, A. J. AValker and 

 J. E. Beegle, of the United States customs sendee, report that the shocks 

 were severe enough to cause lamps to swing, doors and windows to rattle, 

 water to spill from dishes, and piles of freight on wharves to be over- 

 turned. Earth-waves traversed the sand flat on which Dyea stands, 

 making people dizzy and causing difficulty in walking. 



At Haines Mission, south of Dyea, the shocks were accompanied by the 

 moving of furniture, the swaying of trees, rolling of logs, difficulty in 

 walking, and by cracking of the ground.^^ 



I 



" L. A. Cox : Sitka Alaskan. October 14, 1890, 

 J. P. Fults, Jr. : The Seattle Daily Times, September 28, 1800 ; New York Sun, Sep- 

 tember 20, 1899. 



13 C. E. Hill : Seattle Post-Intelligencer. September 2.'^. 1800 ; San Francisco Examiner, 

 clipping dated Seattle, September 21, 1809 ; Toronto World. September 25, 1899. 



The statements from Mr. Beasley, Rev. Mr. .Tohnson. and Mrs. Early are from re- 

 plies to the earthquake circulars and. In the case of Mr. Beasley, from conversations 

 with the writer. In succeeding pages much information regarding earthquake observa- 

 tions In Alaska is quoted. In cases where newspaper articles, official reports, diaries, 

 etcetera, are not cited the information was obtained from the earthquake circulars sent 

 out or from Interviews with the observer. Exact quotations or abstracts have been 

 made in most cases, although the quotation-marks have not usually been inserted in this 

 text. 



" San Francisco Chronicle, September 22, 1899 ; same, dispatch dated Tacoma, Sep- 

 tember 9, 1899. 



