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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION - . ATLANTA. GA., TUESDAY AUGUST 10 1884. TWELVE PAGES.
ASHES OR BREAD.
>R. TALMAGE???S SEP MON ON THE
ABOVE SUBJECT.
Man Ha? Doapiae the J World pimply Beoaaie Ho
Cannes Win It???We Have ty Our Sins Slain
the Con of Goa???la There Any Boss!-
i bility of Our. BeecueP Bio.
I Bdrmon l>y the Rev, T. DeWitt Tolmnge, D.
p. Subject, ???Ashes or Bread.??? Text*,
Realms cii. 9: ???I havo eaten ashes like
bread;??? aud.Isaiah xliv. 20: ???lie feedeth on
ashes.???
David iu the first passage tells us how
through troublo he had couro down to a con
dition typified by ashes. Iu the second pas
cage Isaiah describes the idolatry and world
lines* of bit time. The world spreads a great
feast and invites the race to sit at it. Platter*
f "''???'aped up. Chalices are full. Garlands
AvreatFio the wall. The guests sit down amid
outbursts of hilarity. They take the fruit and
it turns!into ashes*. They uplift tho tankard*
and their contents prove to bo ashes. Thoy
tcucli tho garlands and they scatter into ashes.
I do not know any passage of Scripture which
so apothegmatically tet?? forth the unsatis
factory nature of this world, for eyo and
longue and lip and heart os this particular
passage, describing tho votary of the world,
when It soya: **IIc feedeth on ashes.???
I shall not take the estimate by those whoso
life has been a failure. A man may despise
tho world simply becouse ho cannot win it.
Having failed, in his chagrin ho may decry
that which ho would like to havo had as his
bride. I shall, therefore, only tako the testi
mony of thoso who have been magnificently
successful.
In the first place, I shall ask tho kings of
the csrth to stand up and give testimony, tell
ing of the long story of slcoplcss night* and
poisoned cups and threatened invasion and
dreaded rebellion. Ask the Georges, ask tho
Henrya, ask the Marys, ask the Louises, ask
tho Catherines whether they found tho throne
a safe seat, and the crown a pleasant covering.
Ask tho French guillotine in Madam Tus-
eand???s museum about the queenly necks it has
dissovered. Ask tho Tower of London and it*
headsman???s block. Ask the Tuillerios, and
Henry VIII, and Cardinal Wolsey to rise out
of the dust and say what they think of worldly
honors. Ghastly with the first and second
death, they rise up with eyeless sockets and
grinning skeletons, and stagger forth tinablo
at first to speak at all, but afterward ho&rsoly
whispering: ???Ashe*! Ashes!???
I call up also a groun of commercial adepts
to give testimony; and hero again thoso who
have been only moderately successful may not
testify. All the witnesses must bo millionaires.
What a grand thing it must bo to own a rail
road, to control a bank, to possess oil tho
houses on one street, to havo vast investments
tumbling in uj??on you day after day whether
you work or not. "No; no. William B. Astor,
a few days before his death, sits in his office in
Hew York, grieving almost uutil ho is sick
because rents have gone down. A. T. Stewart
finds his last days full of forboding and doubt.
When a Christian mau proposes to talk to
him about tho matters of tho soul, ho cric3:
???Go nway from me! Go away from inc;???not sat
isfied uutil tho mau has got outside the door.
Come up, yo millionaires, from various come-
terics and graveyards, and toll us now wliat
you think of banks and mills and factories
and counting houses and marble palaces and
presidential banquets. They staggor forth and
lean against tho cold slab ot the tomb, mouth-
. iiig u'.Hh. tho:toothless gums and gesticulating
with llcshloas hands and shivering with tho
chill of sepulchral dampness, while thoy cry
cut, ???Ashes!???
I must call up now also a group of sinful
plcosurists, and here again I will not take the
testimony of thoso who had merely the ordi
nary gratifications of lifo. Tho witnesses
must havo had excess of dolight. Their pleas
ures wero pyramidal. They bloomed paradl-
eoicnlly. If thoy drank wine it must oo tho
best that was ever pressed from tho vineyards
of Hockhoim. If they listened to musio it
must be the costliest opera, with a world re
nowned priiua donna. If thoy sinned thoy
cha'scd polished unclcanncss and gracoful de
spair and glittering damnation. Stand up,
Alcibiades, and Aaron Burr, and Lord Byron,
and Charles tho sccoud???what think you now
of midnight revel aud sinful carnival and
damask-curtain abomination. Answer! Tho
color goes out of the cheek, tho dregs aro sor-
p??ttU in the bottom of the wine-cup,
()rfU^ight> lights-quenched in blackness of
darkness. They giugie together tho broken
glasses and rend the faded silks, and shut
the door of the deserted bauquetting hall,
while they cry, ???Ashes! Ashes I???
A troop of infidels: There are a great many
in this day who try to feed their soul on infi
delity, mixed with truth. Their religion is
made up of ten degrees of humauitarianism
smd ten degrees of transcendentalism, and ten
degrees of egotism, with one degree of gospol
truth, and with that mixture ???they make the
poor miserable cud which their immortal souls
chew; while the meadows of God???s word aro
green and luxuriant with well* watered pas
Tures. Did you
you eyer meet a
find a contented
days of Gibbon and Voltaire down, not one.
- They quarrel about God. They quarrel about
the Biolc. They quarrel about each other.
They quarrel with themselves. They gather
all the Divine teachings, and under them the
fires of their own wit aud scorn and sareasm,
and then they dance iu the light of that blaze,
and they scratch amid the rubbish for some
thing with which to help them in the days of
trouble and something to comfort them In the
days of death, finding for their distraught aud
destroyed souls, ashes???ashes! Voltaire de
clared: ???This globe secius to me more like a
collection of carcasses than of men: I wish I
h ad never been born.??? Hume says: ???lam
like a man who has run on rocks and quiak-
?rinds, and yet I contemplate patting out on
tho sea in the same leaky and weather-beaten
craft.??? Chesterfield says: ???I have been be
hind the scenes, and I have notioed the clum-
currant witn weir watered pas-
ou ever see a happy infidol? Did
t a placid sceptic? Did you over
ed atheist? Notone. From tho
??ey pulleys and the dirty ropes by which all
tho scene is managed, and I have seen and
smelt the tallow candles which throw the illu
mination on the stage, and I am tired and
eick.??? Get Up then. Francis Newport and
Hume, and Voltaire, and Tom Paine, and all
tho infidels who have passed out of this world
into the eternal world???get up now, and tell
???what you think of all your grandiloquent de
rision at our holy religion. What do you think
now of all rant sarcasm ot holy things? They
come ehrioking up from the lost world to the
grave-yards where their bodies were entombed
and point doMi to the white dust of dissolution
and cry: Ashes! ashes!
Oh, what d poor diet for an immortal soul.
The fact is the soul is hungry. What is that
unrest that sometimes comes across you? Why
it it that, surrounded by friends and even the
luxuries of life, you wish you were somewhere
else, or had something you have not yet gain
ed T The world calls it ambition. The physi
cians call it nervousness. Your friends call it
the fidgets. I call it hunger???deep, grinding,
UECppeasble hunger. It starts with ns when
we are born,' ana goes on with us until the
Lord God himself appeases it. It is seeking,
and delving and striving, and planning to get
ecicetbing wecaunct get. Wraith says: ???It
Is not in me.??? Science says: ???It it not in me.???
Worldly applause says: ???It ia not in me.???
Binful indulgence says: ???It is not in ma.???
Where then U it? Gn the banks of what
stream? Slumbering in what grotto? March
ing in wbiit contest? Expiring on what pil
low? Tell me, for this winged and immortal
spirit, ia there nothing hut ashes?
In eommunion with God, and everlasting
trust of Him, is cemplete satisfaction. Solo
mon d.scribed it when he eompmd itti ce lir
hcu.e., led golden eh??m?? ud bounding nin-
d..r,??nd dmybrck ud intpind touch; to
..ffion, locnl.iumr, towhitotorth ud hud.
heavy with gold ring., ud town of ivory
ud onuunenUl figoru, but Chri.t c??ll?? it
tread I 0, funiibod, y*t immwUl *oul,why
net ccmo and get it? Until our sin* uro par
doned there is no rett. Wo know not at what
monunt the bounds may bay at us. Wo aro
in a i nstlc, and we know not ot what hour it
may be besiegid; but when the soothing voi?b
of Christ cornea across our peturbatiou it is
hushed forever. A merchant ???iu Antwerp
leaned Charles V, a vast sum of money,takiug
for it u bond. One day this Antwerp raorehaut
invited Charles V. to dint> with'him.aud while
they were seated ot the tublo, iu tho presence
of the guests, the merchant had u firo built ou
n platter in the center of the tublo. Then ho
took the bond which the king had given him
for the vast sum of money, and hold it in tho
blaze until it was consumed, and tho king con
gratulated himself, and all the guest* congrat
ulated tho king. There was gone At last the
final evidence of his indebtedness, mortgaged
to God. We owe u debt wo can never pay; out
God inviteg us to the go.pel feast, and iu tho
fires of crucifixion agony he puts the last rec
ord of our indebtedness, ami it is consumed
forever. It was so in tlio cuso of tho dying
thief expiring in dark despair, with tho judg
ment to come staring him in the face, and the
terrors of hell laying hold of hh|soul. Ho had
faith in the crucified One, and his faith won
for him on immediate entrance into Paradise.
Oh! to have all the sins of our past forgiven,
or.d to havo all possible security for tho future
???is not that enough to make a man happy?
What makes that old Christian so placid?
Most of his family lie in the village cemetery.
His health is undermined. His cough will
not let him sleep nt night. From tho day ho
came to town he was a clerk, until this, tho
day of his old ago, it has been a hard fight for
bread. Yet how happy ho looks. Why? It is
bccauso he feels that the lamo God, who
watched him when ho lay iu his mother???s
arms is watching him in the time of old age,
and unto God ho has committed all his dead,
expecting after a while to see thorn again. He
has no anxiety whether ho go this summer or
next summer; whether ho bo carried out
through tho snow bank* or through tho dais
ies. Fifty year* ago bo learned Itliat all this
world could give was ashes, and no reached up
and took tho fruits of eternal life. You sco his
face is very white noW. Tho crimson current*
of life seem to havo departed from it; but un
der tho extreme whiteuess of the old man???s
face is the flash of tho daybreak. There is
only one word in all our language that can
describe his feelings, and that is tho word
that slipped oft* tho nugcl???s harp above Bethle
hem???peace! And so there are hundred* of
souls here to-night who havo felt this almighty
comfort. Their reputation was pursued, their
health shattered; their homo was almost, if
not quite broken up; their fortune went away
from them. Why do they not fiit down and
give it up? Ah! thoy have no disposition to
do that. They nro saying while I speak: ???It
is my Father that mixed this bitter cup, and I
will cheerfully drink it. Everything will be
explained after o while. I shall not alwuys
be under the harrow. There is something that
makes me think I am almost home. God will
yet wipe away all tears from my eyes." So
says these bereft parents; so says theso mother
less children; so say a great many in this
house to-night.
Now am 1 not right in theso circumstances,
iu trying to pursuadu this entire audiencs te
give up ashes and take bread? To givo up tho
unsatisfactory things of this world and take
tho glorious things of God and
eternity? Why, my frionds if you
kept this world as long ns it lasts
you would havo after awhile to give it up.
Thero will be a great fire breaking out
from tko sides of tho hills; thoro will
ho n fulling llnmo and ascending ilamo;
in it tho earth will bo overwhelmed.
Fires burning from within, out; fires
burning from above, down; this earth
will be a furnace, ami then it will bo a living
coal, and then it will bo an expiring omber,
and the thick clouds of smoko will lesson aud
lessen until thorn will be only a faint vapdr
curling up from the ruins, and then the very
last spark of the earth will go out. And I sea
two angels'meeting 'fcneh other ovor tho gray
pile, and os one.lilts past ho cries: ???Ashos!???
and tho other, as he sweeps down tho immen
sity, will respond: ???Ashes!??? while all the in-
finito spaces will echo aud re-ccho, ???Ashes!???
???Ashes!??? ???Ashcsl???
Ohl God, forbid that you and I should chooso
such a mean portion. My fear is, not that you
will not sco tho superiority of Christ to this
world, but that through soino dreadful Infatu
ation you will relegate to tho future that which
God and angels, and churches jubilant and
triumphant declare that you ought to do now.
My brother, I do not say that you will go out
of this world by tho stroke of a horse???s hoof,
or that you will fall through a hatchway, or
that n plank may slip ???from an insecure scaf
folding and dash your lifo out, or that a bolt
may fall on you from an August thunder
storm; but I do say that in the vast majority
of cases your departuro from the world will
he wouderfuUy quick, and I want you to start
on the right road boforethat crisis has piungod.
A Spaniard, in a burst of temper, slow a Moor.
Then tho Spaniard leaped over a high wall
ami met a gardener aud told him tho whole
story, and the garduer said: ???I will make a
pledge of confidence with you. Eat this poach,
and that will bo a pledge that I will bo your
protector to tho last.??? But, oh, the sorrow
and surprise of the gardnor when he found
out that it was his own ion that had been
slain! Then he coma to the Spaniard and
said to him: ???You wero cruel. You ought
to die. You slew my son, ami yet I took a
pledge with you, and 1 must keep my pro
mise.??? And so ho took tho Spaniard to tho
stables and brought out tho swiftest horso.
The Spaniard sprang upon it and put many
miles between him ami tho scono of crime,
and perfect escape was effected.
We have by our sins slain tho ton of God.
Isdhcre any possibility of our rescue? Oh.
yes. God, tho Father, says to us: ???You had
no business, by your sins, to slay my son
Jesus; you ought to dio, but 1 have promised
you deliverance. I have made you the pro
mise of eternal life, and you shall have it.
Escape now for tby life.??? And, to-night I act
merely as tho Lord???s groom, and I bring you
??? tables, ???
out to the King???s stables, and 1 tell you to be
quick, and mount and away. In this plain
you perish, but housed in God you live. Oh,
you pursued and almost overtaken ones, put
on nioro speed. Eternal salvation is the price
of your velocity. Fly I fly! lest the black
hone outrun the white hone, and the battlo-
sx shiver the helmet and crash down through
the insufficient mail. In this tremendous exi
gency of your immortal spirit, beware, lest
you prefer ashes to bread I
A PLOT IN MEXICO
To Assassinate the Government Officer*,
and Change the Administration.
City or Mexico, Auguat 15.???A conspiracy
???goinst the government has been discovered
here, embracing a plot to depose President
Gonzales and put in nis place Jose Maria Igle-
alas, and to assassinate General Dias amt all
the leaders of wbnt Is known as the Tuxtepec
party. The plot is said to be widespread in
the states of Vera Cruz, Pueblo, Morelas and
Quemtaro,and that there ia great public anx
iety. A number of arrests had been made in
tho city during the week, embracing
several prominent persons, among
them Francisco Meyer,ex-minister to France;
Jfirordo Homines, ex-judge of the federal
district of Gregorie; Perea Jordan, a promi
nent lawyer; Goueral Feclicia Chavorr,
Colonel Jose Maria Itodrigues, Jtomon Juarez,
Miguel fialecdo aud Vigal Carrol: also, the
wife of Jordon. The latter had a small
printing office, In which a large number of
posters were found ready for circulation, in
citing the people to revolt againet the present
government and in favor of Iglesias. No
nirtber explanation ia given, but other arne??t*
are expected to be made, and active measures
will be taken to defeat the plot.
Death of a Noted Mason.
Richmond, Va., August 15.???Hon. Henry W
Harry, grand master of the grand lodge ot Virginia
Masons, died to-night at Charlottesville, where he
was stricken with paralysis eight dap since. The
deceased was fifty-fonr yean old. He had been a
state senator, and served In the late war as captain
in the confederate army. He was a lawyer and a
native of Ireland, though raised in Virginia. He
resided at Louisa courthouse, where he will be
hurled with Hi
THE EARTH TREMBLING.
NEW ENGLAND STATES SHOOK. UP
BY AN EARTHQUAKE.
Tbrllllsct8cer.cs In the Different CUies-8????r.
ed to Drnth, usd Terrified PrisonersSUrioXloK
ter Ecleafe???The People ou tbe Streets
Wild With Mxoltement, Etc, JSte-
N ew York, August 10???At about 2:05 o???clock
yesterday afternoon resident* ofthis vicinity
were startled by a severe shook of earthquake,
lasting about ten second*. At this hour, (6 p.
m.) particulars havo been received at tho
Western Union office hero allowing that tho
shock wa?? widespread. The first reports wore
received from the following poiuta: Atlantic
llighlauds, near Sandy Hook, Long Branch,
Philadelphia, New Haven, Boston, Elizabeth,
riunficld, Spring Lake, Cottage City, Marthas
Vineyard and Portland, Mo. At the last point
it was slight. Ileporta were also received from
many of the sub-office? about Now York.
Reports about iU duration aro diverse, but the
average seems to be about ten seconds.. Tho
operator nt Providence was vaguely questioned
as to whether ho had heard or soon anything
Unusual, and lie promptly replied that ho hou
had liis hand ou a steam pipe aud that it had
trembled violently. 11c had been looking up
aud down the street to discover the heavy toatn
which up to the tirao of inquiry ho had sup
posed was passing. Tho question made him
suspicious of an earthquake. This suspicion
waa^ promptly confirmed by various
people rusliing into tho streets
and office, asking for on explanation. At2:15
6???clcek Atlantic Highlands experienced a
second shock, but it was less violent than the
first. At Philadelphia a scaffolding on somo
new buildings going up on tho corner of Sixth
???rid Deed streets, was shaken violently and
some bricks on board* wero shaken off and fell
to the street below. Tho severest shock was
reported from Seabright, N. J., whore tho
depot was shifted to one side, shaking up its
contents and alarming its solo inmate.
At 2:30 p. iu. an ineffastual
effort was made to roiso the
Long Brunch office, which had been in coin-
niunicutiun with the local office up to tho time
of the shock. Tho operator just had time to
report the shock, together with the fact that
the jars of his battery bad boon overturned,
when the wire gave out. At Hartford, a bare
headed man rushed frantically to the telegraph
< llice, holding in hi* hand a newspaper which
he had been reading. He said no had been
rocked violently and that the plastering on tho
ceiling above him had been cracked ami in
tvme places had dropped to the floor. In
Brooklyn the streets wore alivo with )??eople
who hud come out to ascertain the cause of Chr
rocking and to gossip about it. Ono cool'
htaded scientist, upon the first percept!bh
motion, took out his stop-watch ami timed tho
vibrations. He reported that tho shock began,
os nearly os could be determined at 2 o???clock
6 minutes aud 50 seconds; that the ftr$t shock
lasted just 10 seconds, ami that tho ???quietiug
down,??? ns he described it, took nearly 50 sec
onds more. Oil-hand guesses, as to the dura
tion, varied from 5 seconds to 2 minutes, ac
cording to tho amount of the observers, judg
ment of tho flight o| time. At Menlo
Park and Trenton tho shock was timed at
2:05 p. iu., while nt more southerly points of
its orbit it wan felt at 2:10. Exaggerated re
ports come in from various point*. From
Trenton it was reported that tho water iu tno
river was lushed into foam. Passchgors arri
ving from Trenton soon after, howover, said
the story was absurd and that tho water was
as placid and muddy as usual. The telegraph
manager at Coney lslnud promptly asked lor
tho particulars of tho ???explosion, supposing
that somo oil refinery, powder mill, or dyna-
mito factory, had blown up. A few
m|nutes later, however, tho foot booains
known there, that tho wholo island hus boon
ilightly shaken by tho vibrations, and that tho
gucets and visitors wore (greatly alarmed, the
(right in somo cases amounting ton panio. At
Cleveland tho shock was plainly but slightly
felt. ???
In the main local telegraph office at 195
Broadway, a hundred peojua present felt a se
rious movement of their floor, tho soveuth sto
ry, hut tlicro was no electrical phenomenon
connected with it and no electrical disturbance.
The first impression which soemed to tako po*s
session of the inmate* of tho houses iu this city
was that the building* wuh about to fall and
the people ran into tno street* terror stricken
???ml with blanched foftes, only to discover that
all their neighbors were rushing out mnazed
and panic stricken, like they woro. No
evidences of??? entnstronbo to bo soon
any where. Many quickly realized that tho
occurence, which hod so startled every one,
w as an caithquako. As a rule, people remained
in front of their houses for many minutes, ap :
ami watching the faces and manner of
others. Tbe women and children, as thoy re
gained some degree ol confidence, returned to
their houses. The men assembled iu groups
in the streets, discussing the occurrence which
had so startled them. Tho faces of tho mon
and women, however, woro a troubled expres
sion and hespoko a dread that
perils)* tho danger was not yet over.
All the people were concerned in trying to
find out from those they talked to whether a
second and perhaps subsequont shocks were
likely to follow. At tho observatory of tko
United Htales signal service iu tho Equitablo
building the time of the carthquako and its
duration were noted. Assistant Observers It.
K. Illnmon and Mervin wero at tho timo in
the office,which is on the roof of the building,
about 200 feet above the level oftliestreot. The
first intimation of the carthquako was a low
rumbling sound like tho muttering* of distant
thunder. It wo* immediately followed by a
shock os that of a violent explosion, which
caused the building to quiver, although it did
net shake perceptibly. The rattling contin
ued for about eight seconds and
was accompanied* by a rumbling
souiid which gradually died away.
The first shock was felt at about eleven min
utes past 2 o???cloek. Tho effect of the jar was
much nioro perceptible in houses of light
structure, in many instances it being reported
that a clearly defined rocking movement was
felt, and dishes in pantries were shaken from
the shelves. Thus far, however, no damage of
any kind has been reported. While the shook
was felt strongly in dwelling houses it is some
what singular that persons travf ling in eleva
ted roads did not kuow of the occurrence until
they were told of it by people getting in at ata-
tfone, and tha^the shock felt in elevated sta
tions was slight compared with that felt oh the
ground below. As for as can be ascertained
the shock was entirely Imperceptible on the
water, and no wave, such as usually accompa
nies a phenomena in adjacent waters, was hero
perceptible.
Immediately after the shock had been felt
at the police central station considsrable mb-
fusion was occasioned, and the impression at
first prevailed that a violent cxpldkiou had
occurred in the neighborhood. A little inves
tigation, however, led Acting Buperintendent
Banders to the conclusion that tbe cause of ths
disturbance was a real earthquake. He at
once sent a general dispatch to all the stations
asking for information in regard to tbe shock
in various localities in the city. Tbe answers
soon began to pour in, and the operators were
kept busy for two hours writing out the re
ports from tbe different captains. It appears
that tbe shock was felt with about the same
intensity all over tbe city, although It produced
more alarm in tbe thiokly settled tenement
districts on the east side.
nrPDLKD TOGETHER LfgE RHEEP.
A telegram from the Yonkers polios station
???aid that the ehock bad been felt there. About
tbe greatest extent prevailed in tbe Jewish
and Bohemian quarters on the east side.
The bouses, which are mostly high and lightly
constructed tenements, were violently shaken,
and tbe terrified inmates rushed out into tho
streets. In Ludlow street, between Hester
and Canal, the panic wad also great. The
streets were 'swarming with people. Men,
wemtn and children huddled together like
sheep in a pen, evidently thinking their last
hour bad arrived, and expecting every mo
ment to see tbe walls of their dwelling* fall
upon them. Women were shrieking and
children bawling, and men either swearing or
praying. Thi* wn* kept up for nearly half
an hour, when thn commotion finally subsided
ond the police persuaded tho people to return
to their houses. Similar scenes wero witucsscd
in Mulberry. Jersey and Mott streets, where
the Italians have their colonies. The fright,
however, was not so intense, and little noho
but loud shouts ami wild gesticula
tions. A few minutes attor the
shock gray beaded men rushed
into Mndifon srreet police station aud shouted
out that several bouses in Monroe street had
tumbled down. Ambulance* were called out,
and a reserve force seut out by tho sergeant.
On arriving at the place indicated it was
found that the street iu front of a largo tene
ment house was crowded with an excited
crowd of people, but there was no indications
of any accident. The punic was caused by an
excited man who rushed out into the streot
shouting ???Tho house is falling,??? in loud
tones. Other instances of a similar
character were reported in tho
tenement house district, but ns far as cau bo
ascertained no daniago was done. In many
houses door bells were set jingling by tho
???hock. Its cause was a matter of much spec
ulation, especially among tho more ignorant
classes, aud it was a long timo bofore many of
them understood the real naturo of tho ocour-
rcncoi In Central park tho shock was more
severe than in tho surrounding region; thoro
were large crowd* in tho mall who wero at
one* thrown in a state of violont excite
ment by tho shaking aud strange
rumbling iu the ground which was distinctly
heard. Tho animals in tho menagerie were
evidently frightened by tho shook and many
were teen to tremblo as it in fear, while they
remained perfectly still for somo ??? timo after it
occurred. Operator Hoffman, of the arsonal,
was thrown irom his chair, but was not hurt.
The globes of the lamps in his office wero
cracked. The ceilings of tho tenth precinct
???tationhnuse wero badly cracked, and tho
frame house at No. 137 Lewis stroet was crack
ed in several places, and ono of tho women
who lived in the house becamo unconscious
from fright. Tho streot ear in avenue B was
lifted from tho track sovoraljtlines, and several
horses, are reported to havo been thrown down
at Townsend's drug storo on Nincyt-uinth
street, and on Tenth avenue several bottle*
were thrown from the shelves and broken.
The policemen on Brooklyn bridge report that
the shock was distinctly felt there, and tho
great towers at either endoscilnted visibly while
the bridge itself rocked na if struck with a hur
ricane The shock of the earthquake was felt
gt uerally along tho river fronts and piers wore
shaken ns if by heavily loaded truck, passing
over them. At the iron steamboat pier,which is
built of solid nuiHoury, the motion was so
violent that the ticket takers rushed from
their offices to ascertain the cause of the com
motion. The Into afternoon boats brought
bock crowd* from Conoy Island, where it wo*
said the shock was much more violont than in
the city. Tho piazzas and dining rooms at
Manhattan and Brighton beach wars well
filled when a rumbling noise wn* heard, fol
lowed by a rocking of tho ground which made
the windows rattle and shook dishes aud wine
glasses from the tables. There was n general
rush for the open air, and great cxcitemont
???prevailed. Chairs wero rattled about on tho
floor. Thero was a general rush toward tho
main entrance, tho peonlo being undor
tho impression that the structure was
giving way. As the shocks didn???t return their
apprehensions on thi* score wore soon allayed.
In Brooklyn tho carthquako was felt very gen
erally throughout the city. Along tho river
frontdn tho eastern district tho shook appoars
to havo been heavier and of longer duratiou.
Every whero people ran from their houses in
terror. Tho people iu Green Point started on
a run for tho immense oil works which nro lo
cated on Newtuu creek, thinking that an exo
plosion had occurred thero, while nt the fir-
companies they harnessed their horses in read
iness to respond to nn alarm of firo which they
thought would soon follow. The sensation ox-
periepced on the receiving ship Vermont, lying
tn,thet$rookiyn navy ynrd, was .similar to thak
felt when o broadside is discharged from a ship
at some distance. According to tho story of
ono of tho sailors, thero was a dis
tinctly- perceptiIdo jar felt, and it was
noticed,by all on board. Persons traveling
in street cars felt tho vibration and in many
instances tho wheels of tho enrsoorned to leavo
tho trs4k, producing the same effect as when
they pass over a looso switch. Tho boll of the
Presbyterian church in Groenpoint swayed
back arid forth and rang sevoral times loud
cnough'to be heard by all people living near
by. Other evidences of the violonce of ths
agitation in Brooklyn mfcy lie mentioned???
iho stopping of clocks, tho throwing down of a
large pile of bricks, swinging of lamps and
pictures and the like. Many of tho Sunday-
schools were in session, and the tcachors hod
in some cases great difficulty in allaying tho
terror of the children and preventing a panic.
From report which have been recoivod frbin
Long Island, it appears that tho earthqunko
visited : that region with groator
he Atlantic const on Long Island the
shock was very violent, and the vibration
seemed to increase in power |ns they travelod
eastward. In Jamaica tbclvibration* lasted
for ten seconds, and the chimneys on several
houses were toppled over. No serious damage,
however, has been reported from any place.
In Long Island city, Flushing, Wnitnstono
and.Coilege Point, tho rumbling of the ground
was distinctly felt, and the shaking of houses
was perceptible. Two hundred and fifty guests
at Long Beach hotel ran from the dining room
to the beach, and refused te return te tho
building for somo time, fearing a reourronco of
the shock.
Philadelphia's Grant Fear.
THE CITY KTHIKED Uf BV TUB LIVELY DISTURBANCE.
PniLADELruu, I'a., August 10.~For the
first tirus since January 8th, 1817, a very per-
ceptipl* shock of earthquake was felt in this
si 9 minute* after 2 o???cloek Sunday after
noon. It was of about ten seconds duratiorr
and ths undulation apparently extended from
the northeast to the *outhwe??t increasing in
inteasity with each succeeding second and
subsiding gradually. The strongest buildings
in the city were shaken, rickety chimneys
toppled over on roofs aud brinks tumbled down
upon the pavements in all parts of the city.
Plaster feu from the ceilings oChousss, china-
ware rattled in closets, door bolls began ring
ing and glasses clinked a lively tuno upon the
sideboards, and clocks wtro set
to running down. In some in
stances people were prostrated upon tbe
floors of their dwellings. The nervouL people
were frightened to aueh an extent that many
thought the destruction of the world wa* at
hand. Every wero tho pcoplo became exeited,
every bouso in tho city was isolated more or
less, their oceupanta^gunning breathlessly Into
the streets thinking that a terrible explosion
had taken place. A few moments later throe-
fourths of tho entire population wero in the
streets. Everywhere men. women and chil
dren congregated upon tho sidowalks ???and
street corners and eagerly discussod the affair.
This was more notlcooble in the thickly set
tled districts of Kensington and Houtaward.
Gradually the impression that an earthquake
bad occurred grew upon the citizens and each
inquired of his neighbor if ho had felt the
???heck. Manv timid people wars so alarmed
that they hesitated to re-enter their houses, and
did not do so until they were aisured
by stronger-minded neighbors that a repeti
tion of the remarkable orent was unlikalr. In a
short time after tbe occurrence, neople flocked
from all parts of the city to Chestnut street
and there gathered around the different news
paper and telegraph office* to ascertain nsws
from other parte of the city and surrounding
places. Shipping was likewise affected by
the shock. Large ships loaded with petrole
um In Schuylkill river snapped their hawsers
and were only prevented from going ashore
by the united efforts of their crews. Several
large steamers were thrown strongly against
the wharves in the lower section of the city
and tho crews thrown out of thalr bunks.
Hug* waves backed op by ths rising tide
overflowed many of the wharves and consid
erable property was flooded, thereby. In sever
al instances, where persons were watching the
river from docks, they found themselves sud
denly overtaken by the burn wavea
and were thoroughly soaked with water.
Deeply laden steamers lying in Delawrra
trembled without apparent injury daring ex
istence of shock.
PMLAOELrHii, August 11.???A special to the
Press from Macungil says that a sbxk of earth- |
quake was felt thoro Sunday evening. 1
Ccrmou Belormcd ohuroh building, m win
st rvices wore going ou, was shaken und rocked.
A panic ensued and tho oongrogatiou Mod pro
miscuously from tho building. After tho shook
services wero ro??urtiod, although the congrega
tion was much frightened.
two SHOCKS I.v ALLKNTOWXc
Ailrktowx, l???a., August 11.???Two distinct
???hooks of earthquake were felt horo shortly
after 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. There was a
geucrul rocking of houses aud in some in
stances tho motion was so violont as to throw
?? rr*ntig sleeping on lounges upon the floor.
I any of tho residents were greatly startled,
???and the shocks are tho general topic of con
versation this evening. A party of gents who
wero ploying poker in a club room rushed in
to the streot fmtlcss ond coatloss undor tho
impression that an attempt hnd boon made to
Wreck the building. A brick chimney also fell
to tho ground under the influence of I he shocks.
CnreTKR, I*a.,August 11???This city wa* badly
shaken about 2:15 o???clock Sunday overling
by what is'generaliy believed to havo been an
earthquake. Several chimneys woro thrown
down, plaster was torn from tho wall* aud
earthenware broken.
Lancaster, Pa., August 11.???A distinct
shock of carthquako was felt lu this eitv shortly
after 2 o???clock Sunday afternoon, fluildings
were slightly shaken, hut thero was no pecu
liar alarm. In Columbia two distinct snooks
wero felt.
Easton, Pa., August 11.???A shock resemb
ling that of au carthquako, was felt through
out Lehigh valley Sunday afternoon. In this
city houses wero shaken, and throe chimneys
wero overturned. Many pcoplo were fright-
eifed, aud ran screaming into tho street.
Heading, Pa., August 11.???At 2:12 p.m.yes
terday two distinct shocks of earthquake wore
felt throughout the city ond county, shaking
houses, moving furniture ami dropping blind*.
Considerable excitement prevailed among tho
in oplo, tunny running into tho street. Reports
from immediate poiuta between Allentown,
Lebanon, Pottsvillo, Phnmixville ond Potts-
town say the shock was felt there.
The New* in Washington.
(TUBNETS TUMBLK, HOUSE* HIIAKK AND PEOPLB
WEEP.
Washington, August 10.???The signal office
reports that yesterday???s earthquake disturb
ance was not felt here or ot Baltimore.
Further investigation has developed tho
feet the carthquako wa* noticed by n tew per
sons in Washington. The most definite and
cknr-hcnded of these wn* Commander Samp
son, assistant superintendent of the naval nb-
???ervutory, who whs in the second story of his
residence at the time. The vibrations lasted
about sixteen seconds, and occurred about two
o???clock. No disturbance was noticed in tho
lower floors of the building.
11 AKUiaavRo, Pa., August 11.???A slight shook
from an cnrthvuoko wus felt in this city yes
terday, preceded by n low rumbling noise*
No damage of any kind has been reported, but
houses wero shaken and small article* rolled
from shelves.
W a*hington, August 11.???Long Island and
Connecticut wero shaken completely out of
their Sunday imps by yesterday???s earthquake.
Reports irom thoso sections aro generally of
the rninc tenor ns thoso from Now York and
Philadelphia, but in Connecticut and L mg
Island several instances ere reported of per
sons being injured by'falling bricks, picture*
from wulis and nrtlcic* from shelves, though
no loss of lifo is yet reported.
THR EXTENT or THE SHOOK.
Washington, August 11.???Thu earthquake
seems to havo been felt with tho greatest se
verity on Long Island and iu Connecticut.
Probably Hartford, Conn., was tho most
riioken of any )>oint so far heard from. At
twenty-one minutes to three In tho aftern'jon
long ami convulsive shocks woro felt through
out thu city and vicinity, and particularly lolt
in homes occupying nigh ground. Many
people were thrown down, and in some eases
Lndly bruised. At tho second shook boll*
wtro lung, .houses rocked iiko cradlei,
nt.d crockery and glassware fell with
n ??? mounding crash. For soino
timo tho greatest confusion reigned in tho
lower wards of tho city. An old man win
thrown from his wagon, when tho second shook
was felt, his horses ruuning away madly aud
barely niissiug tramping him undor foot in
their fright. At tho county jail, which is
crowded with prisoners, tho greatest terror
prevailed, and fur aouio tirno it was feared
that the panic stricken men would try
to burst the doors to effect their escape. After
tho first convulsion Ihoir dismal bowlings
ami screams to bo let out, wore hoard within
three blocks of. tho building. A diltlpated
mau by the name of Doyle, who has boon in
carcerated there tempori " |at ???
became perfectly crazy
came, and raved liko n maniac. Whon ho
found ho could not escapo he retired to
a corner of the coll, and shivering with'
terror, hid himself henoath tho coverings
of his bed. After a whilo his moans Qoasod,
and when they found him he was dead from
fright. At the state prison at Wethersfield,
tho same confusion prevailed, and tRo avails-
able force of prison officials wore mustered to
prevent un outbreak. It was sometime before
order could bo restored.
Along the Whole Line.
Tin: PRISON ESS SIIKIEKINO FOR LIBERTY???TttS TOWN*
VISITED
Boston, August II.???Nothan six dis
tinct fhocks of earthquake**??? felt in this
section Burnlay evening. Professor Pickering,
of Harvard observatory, lays he first noticed a
tremulous movement of tho earth followed by
the swi
timber. _
2:97-15 seconds p. in., continuing about ten
socouds. Ho has tio record of previous shocks,
their duration being so short as to make it im
possible to compute accurately their estont or
duration. Tho shocks Wore plainly felt
throughout tbe city, tho jar being vory clearly
defined in outlying districts, and the occu
pant* of second story tenements felt the shock
more plsiuly than thoso on the ground floor.
At West End considerable excitement was oc
casioned among the colored people, who aro
naturally superstitious, and as tho windows
and bolls
TRADE AND LABOR.
DECREASE IN THE FAILURES
FOR THE PAST WEEK*.
Trade Ups*l on the Pacific Coaat-The BalldaraWia
the Btrlkaln New York-Tne Manohaater aud
.Liverpool Bcporta-Tho Coal Mine
Operstora - Other Buafneaa Notes.
Nkw Yobe,. August 15.???The butine s
failures occurring throughont the country
during tho Inst seven days, reported to It. G.
Dun A Co., number for tho United States
203, and for Canada 17, or a total of 220, m
against 232 last week, showing a decroaso pt
12 failures. Tho casualties are still heavy in
tho Pacific states. In other sections of tho
country about up to tho average aud light in
Canada.
Iltislness In Montgomery.
Montgomery, Ain., August 15 [Special.]???
No rain fell tho past week. .Tho crop pros
pect is improving daily.
Montgomery???* receipts areexpectcd to ranch
over 130,000 bales tli? coming ncason.
Tho warehouses are extending their build- .
The boom of last year keeps up woll.
wholesale blocks and many private rosidenoea
???re in course of construction.
Tho Exchange hotel is undergoing a thorough
remodelling with additions and tho latest im
provements.
Tho govern
November.
Not a single failure has occured here during
the recent financial crisis. Tho business out
look Is very promising.
Quite a number of Germau emigrant* passed
through to-night for Texas and California.
llusines* In Clmttnnoogn.
Chattanooga, Tenn., August 15.???[Special.]
Considerable excitement was caused in tho
city this morning by tho announesment that
F. D. Reed, of Dayton, Tenn., lmd sold hia
stock of general merchandise to his fatbor-in-
Inw. Tho transaction is looked unou with
suspicion, ns he was involved. His liabilities
???re estimated at $7>000 to $9,000, almoit ono-
third of which is duo merchant* of this city.
It is not known nt present what steps will bo
token by the creditors, but it is said If satisfac
tory steps aro not taken to secure them, tho
matter will bo tested in tho courts.
A reduction of thirty cents per ton on pig
iron lin* been made by tho roods lending from
this cily, nml went into effect to-day. The
reduction includes all points to which pig iron
is shipped.
Tno Erls Presidency.
Nrw York, August 15.???It i* said that th-
prcsidcncy of tho Erie railroad has boon tens
dered to John King, of tho Baltimore and
Ohio company, who will accept it undor cer
tain conditions. King wo* formerly rcaoiver
of tho Ohio and Mississippi railroad company.
It is reported that the Krfo is to bo reorganised
and six now directors nro to bo elected, am mg
them D. O. Mills. David Daws and John King.
The English holders, it is said, havo agrood to
advsnee tho needed money to carry out tho
ri organization. President Jewett has declined
election.
began to rnttte they ran into tho
streets and for a long time could not bo per
suaded to return indoors. At the
Parker house chandeliers wore rat
tled, beds wero moved and tho
inmates of hotels woro thoroughly
frightened. Many guosts rushed down stairs
half clothed. No damage was done hero. A
chimney on School streot rocked to and fro and
tho mortar rattled from between the brioks,
hut tbe chimney did not fall. In 100 places in
the city pictures were swung against the walla,
gas fixtures shaken aud small articles thrown
from shelves, but in vio instance Is serious dam
age known to be done. In Charlestown dis-
lrirt a ???rosll boy is reported to bare been
thrown down stairs by the violence of tho
???hock. At Newton, Watertown and Waltham
three shocks were noticed, the first of which
rattled dishes. This was followed by a heavier
???hock thirty seconds later, and this by a third
one lighter than cither of tho others. Ths
whole movement of tbe earthquake lasted one
minute in the Immediate vicinity.
Tire direction of the shook seems to be east and
west. Persons who have had some exp??rtence
with earthquakes in southern countries, assert
that these shocks were among the severest
they ever experienced.
Atlantic uitt, August lO.??? 1 Three distinct
shocks of an earthqnako were felt bare yester
day, commencing exactly at 2:09
in. No noise accompanied them
the effect Jwas very marked, without
bring damaging???. Water pitchers were over
turned iu hotels and in several instancai fur
niture wot thrown down and globe# shaken
from ebandeliera, dishes were rattled on ta
bles and much consternation was occasioned
in a few hotel* where the guests were assem
bled at meals. Borne people were so much
alarmed that they left their bouses and ran
into the streets.
BfCRMoso, Va., August U.???Borne few peo
ple residing in tbe western portion of this city
claim to have felt a slight shook yesterday
about tbe time of the earthquake.
The Tobacco Crop.
Lancaster, Pa., August 15.???Ths Examiner
will print to-morrow tobacco crop reports from
???ixt.i points, covering the entire country. Tho
acreage is ncnrly as largo ns last year, show
ing an equality of Havana and seed leaf iu
but ono or two towns', whilo in others tho for
mer is more than two-third*. Thoro wa* no ???
Havana heretofore to any account. Part of tho
crop is harvested, and will be one of tho finMt
tobacco crons ever grown in .tho oountry, tho
season having bcon exceptionally favorable.
In tho Mining Pools.
PiTTitnufio, August 15.???The situation (11 (ho
fourth pool to-day is m6ro favornbio to tho *
fitil.inK iniiM'M. Tin* men working at tin*
Neel mines cainc out yesterday and tin
strikers now claim that within tho next forty-
uight hours the strike will bo gonoral. No d
says lie lias two mon for every vacancy. Ha
lias notified his men 1 who uro out, however,
that he will bring suit lor $50 por day dam
ages ns long as thoy remain out, and thot lin
ing property holder* ho can recover from
them,
Tho Manchester Mur hot.
Manohehtkii, August 15.???The Guardian???s
commercial article soys that the market U
firmer, but there has. been no odvanco In
prices* There is rather more inquiry for
goods and yarns, and sellers are not so easy.
Thsro is no iucrcssn of business,-although buy
ers are active wlieu they nro abio to buy at
very low rates.
The Striker* Win.
Nrw York, August 15.???Tho brick-layora
claim this morning that they havo virtually
won the fight for tho nino hour rule. Tho
contractors Peter A Bchseffer, who conceded
the union???s demands yesterday employed 109
men, and another large contractor is expected
to surrender to-day, and take 100 mors. As
this will leave only a small amount of men
out of work, tho strikers are jubilant ovor
their victory.
Wilbksrarsr, Penn., August 15.???Informa
tion was received hero this evening that tho
striking minds, in the employ of G. B. Mar-
kle A Co., at Jcddo and Highland, will return
to work Monday next. Ths operator* havo
unconditionally surrendered to their demands
owing to tho liberal assistance that haa been
accorded the strikers from various parte ot
the country.
Htnrtlng Up the Mills.
Philadrlpnu, Aifgnst 15.???A special to tho
Press from Allonton, Pa., says arrangements
have been made to start up the home woolen
mill of Bhimer, Piet* A Co., next Monday.
One hundred and fifty hands will find em
ployment for several weeks in working up tho
slock on hand, and in the meanwhile ciforts
will bo mado to keep tho concern going, by ar
ranging the financial dlfllciiltlee which lately
culminated in the sheriff cloeing the establish
ment.
A Democratic Convention Called.
Mills Shutting Down.
Dover, N?? II., August 15.???Tbe Great Falls
cottop mills will follow the example of tho
Balmon Falls mills and shut down to-morrow
until September 1st.
Working on BhortTlme.
Oldham, England, August 15.???Owing to tho
dullness prevailing in the cotton trade tlio foo
leries here aro working only four days in tha
week.
THE BANKS AT WORK
In the KfTort to Suppress a Confidence Ope
rator.
New York, August 16.???Louis P. Ilavcn and J.
B. CullInsn, editors and proprietors of Thomp
son???s Bank Kota and Commercial KcgUtcr, pute
Ilshcd In tbla city, accompanied by their oooaaii,
went to-day to the district attorney's office and
surrendered themselves, In'answer to a warrant
for their arrest, on the charge of black mailing the
Nassau bank, of tbla city. The complaint chargee
them with endeavoring, for some time, to Injnro
the reputation of the bank by publishing falvs
stories concerning It. The accused state that
they hail sent circular* to the Nauiu,
at to other banka, asking fop a statement of their
rendition, and bod been refused. What they said
in thelrpnbllcatlon was the outgrowth of tbU.ro-
fUsel. The prisoners were rrieaked ou bail, ill v
A number of bank presidents having written
Postma??t*r-ficn??rsl Gresham to exciu.lo ;>t ???#
Thcmiron Bunk Note ami Commercial Bogt??ter
firm the mailt, charging that It 1s a block man fog
concern, the ateistent attorner-zeneral tor. toe
rostoflte* department ha* derided that UeaWot
1 ??? . 1. .t..:. -1 If "I., ti .<??? uni: - all 'I I i H Va*i
Intended victims should have recourse t ) tno
court*. ... ,
Bark From tlio Cholera District.
Wauialla.H. t\. August 12.???[SpcdaLJ???Mr. G.
T. UtlDZCf, who farmv near this place, his jurt
returned from a tour abroad. He spent s-u.ro
??0h*.as in Germany and France. While In Ton-
Yon he had a slight attack ot the Asiatic cholera.
Mr. MrJoze* state* that a Bostonian, name l My
ers, wbo waa hia companion de voyage, died of
cholera in Toulon about five wrek* ago. He giv??
a slowing description of the plague stricken dis
tricts of ?? ranee.
I INDISTINCT PAINT F