The preparation for the earthquake seems to have begun about three months before. During June, and even earlier, slight but undoubted tremors are said to have been felt in Charleston, but no record of them was kept until about 8 A.M. on August 27th, when a decided earthquake occurred at Summerville, a village twenty-two miles to the north-west. The shock and sound were simultaneous, the shock a single jolt or heavy jar, the sound loud and sudden; they were such as might have been caused by the firing of a heavy cannon or the explosion of a boiler or blast of gunpowder. At 4.45 A.M. on August 28th, the shock and sound were repeated, only more strongly, the former being distinctly felt as far as Charleston. During that day and the next, there were several other shocks at Summerville, and then rest and quiet succeeded until the evening of August 31st. NATURE OF THE SHOCK. At 9.51 P.M. (to take one of the best descriptions), the attention of an observer in Charleston was "vaguely attracted by a sound that seemed to come from the office below, and was supposed for a moment to be caused by the rapid rolling of a heavy body, as an iron safe or a heavily-laden truck, over the floor. Accompanying the sound there was a perceptible tremor of the building, not more marked, however, than would be caused by the passage of a car or dray along the street. For perhaps two or three seconds the occurrence excited no surprise or comment. Then by swift degrees, or all at once--it is difficult to say which--the sound deepened in volume, the tremor became more decided, the ear caught the rattle of window-sashes, gas-fixtures, and other movable objects; the men in the office ... glanced hurriedly at each other and sprang to their feet.... And then all was bewilderment and confusion. "The long roll deepened and spread into an awful roar, that seemed to pervade at once the troubled earth and the still air above and around. The tremor was now a rude, rapid quiver, that agitated the whole lofty, strong-walled building as though it were being shaken--shaken by the hand of an immeasurable power, with intent to tear its joints asunder and scatter its stones and bricks abroad.... "There was no intermission in the vibration.... From the first to the last it was a continuous jar, adding force with every moment, and, as it approached and reached the climax of its manifestation, it seemed for a few terrible seconds that no work of human hands could possibly survive the shocks. The floors were heaving under-foot, the surrounding walls and partitions visibly swayed to and fro, the crash of falling masses of stone and brick and mortar was heard overhead and without....