"I wasn't over there very long, only a few minutes, when I heard the big rush and the water all rushed in."

Luckily, the water did not come up to where Louise was standing. "The telegraph office was up higher. There were the wharves and then you came up a little bit to what they called the beach. They had beaches down there where they used to make fish. Then there was an upgrade to the telegraph office.

"Everybody went up on higher ground. And we were scared stiff. The funny thing was, we didn't know what a tidal wave was. We were quite ignorant of what was happening. We thought the place was sinking or something.

"There was a lighthouse keeper up there, from somewhere in England. Sidney Hussey was his name. He told us what was happening. 'You know, when there's an earthquake, there is usually a tidal wave if it is out in the ocean.'"

Seeing the damage on the beach, the visitors from Shalloway became nervous. They had good reason to be uneasy. "The Shalloway people lived right down on beaches," says Mrs. Hollett.

"They thought their houses would be gone. They got the ferry boat that was there and tried to go over to see how their families were and see what was gone. Do you know, they couldn't steer the thing at all, with so much tide. They finally got there and there was hardly a thing damaged."

At the telegraph office, Louise was worried. "I was out by the door, looking and listening. Everybody was looking. I didn't know what to do. My mother was home and we lived down near the water. I went home by way of the high road and called out to her. She and this other woman came up over the hill."