146 PROcEEBmGS OF THE [Julj, 1887. 



ence to any one favorite or particular point of tlie compass, As all of the 

 heaviest shocks occurred either at night or else at so early an hour in the mor- 

 ning that they found most people in bed, the visible effects at the moments 

 when the walls were in the act of oscillation, were not perceived with any de- 

 gree of certainty ; however, about 2.45 p. m. on Friday, 22d October, a gentle- 

 man, while conversing with two or three others in his office, had ample occular 

 evidence of the movement of the walls of three three and a half stoiy biiildiugs 

 situated in the office yard. It was a confusing and singular scene/ His office, 

 situated upon the second floor of a three and one-half story brick building, was 

 surging to and fro, as were also the other walls in view, but the motions of the 

 four did not unite with anything approaching a concurrent swing, the move- 

 ment most apparent was from East to West and the reverse, and appeared to 

 move, at the height of thirty feet, five or six inches out of their perpendicular. 

 Though no walls in sight were precipitated to the yard, yet the crushed mortar 

 of the masonry was violently thrust out horizontally, as each West wall would 

 be thrown from its normal position to the West ; nothing of this kind was ob- 

 served of the East walls. 



This shock was supposed to last twenty seconds and in that space of time the 

 yard was filled with a cloud of impalpable mortar dust. ... 



If it is supposed that the section of country which Ues between Dorchester 

 and Summerville, is above the seat of chief disturbance, then the shocks have 

 left us no memorials that would estabhsh the depth of the centre of impulse. 

 The ejected sands, muds, clays and water are those which have always been 

 found here near the surface. The clays seen in the sides of the uncui'bed wells 

 in Summerville are the same as those thrown up by a near by crater, and, 

 though the water in many of these wells rose three to eight feet, yet the arte- 

 sian wells in Charleston, 2,000 feet deep, were not affected. No evidence of a 

 volcanic nature has come to the surface, not even was the exuded water warm 

 in any established instance. Nor do we hear of the upheaval of any of the 

 phosphate rock beds which are so frequent in this identical territory. " 



Mrs. Mary B. Reid sends this extract from her journal : 



"Fbiday, Aug. 27th, H's fever continues and his head seems troubled. 

 About 8 A. M. he wanted to know what was going on down stairs — complained 

 of noise when all was really quiet. Stranger still, he persisted that his cot had 

 been heaved upward, then rocked ' just as if on a big wave in the surf, bear- 

 ing me up bodily, then carrying me down again with a swing from East to West. ' 

 He refuses to beheve it is the fever in his head. 



Saturday, 28th, afternoon. Just now heard a dull, but heavy boom, thought 

 it was thunder and ran out to look, but saw no sign of a storm. This is queer 

 for it was perfectly distinct and about the same sound, now I think of it, as 

 from the guns of the blockading fleet during the war. Perhaps it was the re- 

 port of blasting at some of the works on the outskirts of town, like that which 

 startled folks a*- the Custom House some time ago. 



