The Bennington Evening Banner

BECOME USED TO EARTHQUAKES
Dwellers in the Tropics Pay Little
Heed to the Shocks.
To the average resident of the temperate
zones an earthquake is a rare
and terrible event, creating more consternation
than any other visitation of
nature. In the tropics, however, particularly
in Central America, it is
wonderful how easy the residents become
accustomed to these shocks,
which do not come, however, wholly
without warning.
You are sitting on a piazza, of a hot
afternoon, chatting with your friends,
when suddenly the sky seems to grow
hazy, the crows stop cawing and the
buzzards quit fighting in the street.
There is a general rush, and, though
you may not know what is the matter
you cannot help feeling uneasy.
The old natives say: "We are going
to have a little shake," and then
the house begins to rock, the tumblers
fall off the table, you feel deadly sick
at the stomach, and the thing is all
over.
The sky clears, the crows begin
their noisy screams, and the buzzards
resume their quarrel over the street
offal.
There is something inexpressibly
terrifying, however, about the trembling
of the earth. The slightest oscillation
will awaken the population
of the whole town, but unless some
considerable damage is done, everybody
goes to sleep again as a matter
of course.