Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 69.djvu/302

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298
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

field. Through this region (Marin County) the shock was very violent, and numerous cracks parallel with the main crack in the bay extended along the shores. In the town of Tomales, much and varied mischief was done. The parallel cracks toyed with miles of the North Shore Railroad between Tomales and Point Reyes. At Marshall the hotel was thrown bodily—and upright—into the bay, the boarders unharmed; and at aristocratic Inverness, on Tomales Bay, three summer cottages suffered the same fate. A fisherman in the bay reports that the waters receded, leaving-his boat in the mud. Afterwards they came back in a 'great wave, which looked a hundred feet high, but which was probably not more than ten.'

At Point Reyes Station at the head of Tomales Bay the 5:15 train for San Francisco was just ready. The conductor had just swung on when the train gave a great lurch to the east, followed by another to the west, which threw the whole train on its side. The astonished conductor dropped off as it went over, and at sight of the falling chimneys and breaking windows of the station, he understood that it was the Temblor. The fireman turned to jump from the engine to the west when the return shock came. He then leaped to the east and borrowing a kodak he took the picture of the train here presented.

Paper Mill Creek runs past the same village, a considerable stream, noteworthy lately from the successful stocking with king salmon. The two banks of the stream were forced toward each other so that the length of the bridge was shortened by about six feet and the bridge was correspondingly humped at its north end, an arch about six feet high being forced up.

From Point Reyes Station (at the base of the peninsula also called Point Reyes) the earthquake rift passed along the Inverness Road to Olema, where all the houses not standing on rock foundation were thrown from three to six feet to the westward, toward the crack itself.

Skinner's Ranch is a large dairy near Olema. The house stands near the road, a dairy house some thirty feet to the south of it, and a large barn with cowyard just behind that. A row of large cypress trees stood just before the house on the roadside, between them and the house a little rose garden, to the south of these, opposite and partly behind the dairy, a group or row of large eucalyptus trees.

The earthquake rift passed directly in front of the house, between the buildings and the road. All that stood to the westward of the crack was violently jerked to the north a distance of sixteen feet seven inches, or it may he that the east side moved an equal distance to the smith. If Mr. Skinner had chanced to look at the right instant he would have seen the whole row of cypress trees file past his window to take their station in front of the dairy, taking the rose garden with them. A few raspberry bushes came from farther north to take,