The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-05-11 00:00:00

THE EARTHQUAKE AT CONSTANTI-

NOPLE.

An officer of one of the British ironclads serving in the
Sea of Marmora writes as follows with reference to the
earthquake that took place thkre on the evening of Good
Friday
"I was seated in my cabin, when suddenly, without
a moment's notice, there was a strange sound and the
ship began to shake, as if she were steaming at a very
high rate or running on to a bank. At once there
was a rush from all parts of the ship to the upper deck,
and some of the men were completely carried off their
legs whilst running up the ladders. The vibra-
tion lasted some seconds, and there was a
sound as of water bubbling up under the ship's
bottom, but the surface of the sea was calm all
around. We took soundings as quickly as possible,
but the lead showed that no alteration whatever had
taken place in our anchorage ground. In Ismid itself
seme houses were thrown down, and also the top of
a minaret, At one of the villages near, Ismid much
damage was done, and it is stated that twenty-
five lives were lost. The full extent of the
damage is not yet ascertained. The telegraph
communication is all interrupted. The shock
travelled as far as Constantinople. It is said that
Ismid is a great place for earthquakes. You can see
traces of them round the town, and report says that
a large part of the town is submerged, and that there
are remains of houses not far from where the fleet
was anchored. On inquiry it was found that the,
crews of the other ships of the fleet had come to the
conclusion that the Russians had got a torpedo under
them. A second shock was felt at 10.15 the same
evening, and a third at midnight, but they were not
severe."

Remarking upon the above earthquake, the Pall
.111411 Gazette says :—" It seems to have been one of
the most severe that have visited that city for some
years past. The shocks were, it is stated, almost con-
tinuous, being first vertical and afterwards oscillating
from west to east, and lasting altogether about ten
seconds or a quarter of a minute. The sounds were " as
of shaking from very heavy footsteps in adjacent
rooms." There was the usual rattling of glasses, and
hanging lamps rocked to and fro violently. Consider-
able alarm was created, which is not surprising ;-
for earthquakes are at all times formidable visitors,
and at the present moment any terrestrial or
celestial disturbance has no doulit a peculiarly
ominous significance in the eyes of the Turks.
No destruction, however, is reported in the Capital
itself, although much damage is said to have been
caused by the earthquake at Sabandja and Ismid and
all along the telegraph line to Broussa. Constanti-
nople itself has had some disagreeable experience in
former days of earthquakes. In the year 567 many of
its buildings were destroyed and thousands of persons
perished. On the 14th September, 1609, a like visita-
tion again brought death to thousands in the city. In
1800 the Royal palace and many buildings were de-
stroyed- and two years later, on tie 26th of October,
1802, Constantinople was severely shaken by an earth-
, quake that was said to have come from Crou-stacit."

SLAVES IN IRELAND A CENTURY AGO.—The Dtthta
Merdury of August 16, 1708, contains the following
matter-of-fret advertisement :—" A neat beautiful
black Negro girl, just brcught from Carolina, aged
eleven or twelve years, who understands and speaks
English, very fit to wait on a lady, to be disposed of.
Application to be made to James Carolan, Carrick-
maorccs, or to Mr. Gavan in Bridge Street, Dublin."