July, 1887.] ELUOTT society. 141 



mainder of tlie drive, heard the roarmg at irregular intervals coming apparent- 

 ly from the S. W. , and varying at times to the W. N. W, , but not being con- 

 scious of any jarring or shaking. Upon our arrival in our summer village, 'The 

 Barrows, ' about 2^ mUes from Oakley Depot, N. E. E. R. , "we were quite sur- 

 prised to find that they had been terribly shaken up, plastering having been 

 thrown down, chimney tops toppled over, and things thrown down from beau- 

 reaus, shelves, &c. Upon inquiry from parties who were in the village at the 

 time, as to the direction from which the roaring noise had come, all agreed 

 *from Suramerville, ' or W. S. W. That both the noise and the wave came 

 from that direction, seems to be borne out by the fact that the glasses, &c., 

 which were thrown down, were all on the West side of the rooms and were 

 thrown towards the East. Dr. Barker, who was in bed at the time, says that 

 the studs of the chamber in which he was inclined towards the East, and a door 

 between his room and one adjoining, which opened from West to East, was 

 forced open, and striking against the basin stand caused the water to be thrown 

 in the same direction. In other houses where things were overthrown, the di- 

 rection was the same. During the night, and the following day, the shocks 

 continued at varjdng intervals, and with varying degrees of intensity. At one 

 moment it would be as though some heavy object had been hurled against the 

 house, and the next time it would seem as though the house had been bodily lift- 

 ed from its foundation and was rocking and tilting just as a boat on the water 

 would do. From 9.55 on the night of August 31st, to 5.15 p. m. on September 

 1st, I had noted twenty-four shocks, plainly and distinctly felt. Others claimed 

 to have felt many more than this, but I only noted those about which I was 

 absolutely certain. The direction of all these shocks appeared to me to be the 

 same, from S. W. to N. E., but there is a great diversity of opinion upon this 

 point. My friend. Dr. Jos. P. Cain of Pinopolis, told me that at the time of 

 the first and greatest shock, he and his wife were returning home after paying 

 a visit, when he heard the awful roaring, * which sounded as though some 

 mighty propeller were grinding along with terrific force in a subterranean tun- 

 nel just under the road,' and added, ' I could almost swear that the sound came 

 from North to South, but my wife is equally positive it was from South to North, ' 

 Thinking that the one shock was all they were to have, they continued on their 

 way home, and Dr. Cain says that just as he was about to lift the latch of the 

 gate which is on the West side of his lot, the earth again upheaved and ' the gate 

 shook and rattled back and forth in his face, indicating that the shock had 

 come either from West to East or mce versa, ' he could not tell which. Others 

 in that village ( 6 miles North of ' The Barrows ' and 4 W. N. W. from Monck's 

 Comer,) are equally positive that the movement was from N. W. to S. E. In 

 connection with this I will mention that, in a store at Oakley Depot ( frame 

 building ) goods were thrown from the West, South and North sides to a com- 

 mon centre. One curious feature of the disturbance is to be seen at ' Old Mul- 

 berry ' plantation, ( Mr. MUliken's ). Commencing with the first house at the 

 foot of the hill and going up towards the dwelling, the chimney of every alter- 

 nate house is thrown off, and I noticed that alternation also at Mr. F. W. Hey- 

 ward's Pimlico plantation, though not to so great an extent as at Mulberry. 



