The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1857-03-04

THE LATE EARTHauAKE-rs EXTENT, DAMAGE,
ETC.
Beira, Nov. II, 1856.
Editor of the Traveller: When I informed
you o. the earthquake which shook Lebanon,
October i2lh, ! intimated The probability that
more would be heard Of lis desola,ing powet.
That expectation has been fulfilled, andl
will now proceed 10 complete the record Of
that unseen bat almost omnipoisnt energy,
which underlying earth and ocean, heavss
up both as in spori and II CRUEL derlsion Of
the puny beings who sail over the one and
build their palaces aud sIrongholds ON The
other. These terrible phenomena have a
peculiar excitation TO Americans happening
to be in the East, who have never heard any
thing o: the kind beyond the rumbl;ng Of the
farmet's peaceful. and, ,benaiexuaear whcris,
though the "oldesi inhabirsftsn hae say there
is no such thing as becoming accsslomed to
them: every one turns and irembbs, for the
next moment he may sink irto he gaping
ear:h or be crushed 10 death by ,hs falling of
bis stone dwelling.
According TO Intelligence sincs received,
the earthquake which described, occurring
about midnight in Noun. Lebanon, where I
was then residing, was fell along the entire
seacoasl Of Syria and Palestine, in some pla-
ces breaking The walls of houses, as in Tri-
poll and Beirut, which have repeatedly been
destroyed by such occurrences, while The city
OF Jaffa, the ancient Jappa, still the port Of
jerusalem, and several times levelled by
earthquakes, was violently shaken but not
essentially injured. It was fell in Egypt, bui
without disaster, and also as far west in Africa
as Algiers. 10 the north /, fsas percepdble
over nearly The whole ai-1ssaa- MiSsS<ee
Brooza, situated near the sea of Marmora,
which was ruined by successive shocks con.
tinuing from Feb. 1855 TO June of The pres
ent year, and again tumbled, and its popula.
tion with it. Westward all the islands of the
Archipelago Tell ii, and Greece and all the
lonian islands on its western coast. The isl.
and of Malta was violently shaken, and Val
eta, its capital, seriously injured in It's church
es, walls, and dwellings, the people being
awoke from their slumbers and flying into
the streets in frantic desperation. II was also
felt with disastrous results in Sicily and Gala.
bria 10 Italy. The field of the earthquake
was, therefore, fully 1000 miles in all direc
lions, and at all points it was felt, as reported
between midnight and O'Clock 10 the morn.
ing.
Vesuvius had, for some dnsgiyea, signs
~ feseseees;as-ts~shi- x-sp<---s-ssse
above the crater, and c6s50n me atmos,
phere ell around. When the shock came in
Naples and along the coast, IL was so violent
that in some houses The bells rang, the clocks
were stopped, and the coors opened and shut
continually; crockery was dashed together
ard broken, or rolled off tho>tables, while the
iron bedsteads ratified and shook as though a
strong man had hold Of them, the terrified
occupants springing 10 their feet on the floor.
A Kissing noise was heard al the same time,
like the sound Of steam escaping from an
engine, while rumbIing noise was heard
like that OF train of railroad cars. The ad-
iacent sea was violently aglla,ed, as though
tossed by storm, and mariner, unable 10
decide whittier he was going backwards or
forwards, concluded he was drunk. In fact,
he was very dizzy from the commotion, and
glad to gain the land and sil down TO recover
himself Aiong ttrs s6ss surss were
rent asunder, and thousands OF thousands of
tons, in huge blocks, lay scattered around
Superstition naturally came in 10 give pic
turesqueness 10 the scene of terror. Madon-
mas, bones and reliques were paraded through
The streets in long professions, as though the
exhibition Of colossal doH with faxen
wig, as in the representation OF 81. Ursula,
was 10 suspend the sctivityrof the mighty
energy blazing out in vesuvius, upheaying
the earth and dashing the waves of the sea.
But my special design was to relate the
catastrophe at Rhodes, an island celebrated
in early history, and equally sein the history
OF the Crusades. There was an undying po-
etry about it +; had seen ii two years since,
and gazed with admiration upon lis tall and
graceful palms, the first had sesn--upon
the harbor, which was once overreached by
the gigantic brazen Coi,ssys6 g, i,on the walls
OF the city and the towers, still bearing the
marks Of the Crusaders--And, mos, of all,
upon the famous church of 81. John, bnilt by
The Knights, and standing upon a graceful
rise In the. city, presentingFss noble pfopor.
tions and tall steeple, conveied into Mos.
lem minaret. as the church into mosque,
fully TO view, both as yea ascend the wide
street on which IT stands and as viewed from
the port. More than any oAer island of sea
or ocean, ! had cherished i'd name from the
day of my boyhood dreaminks; had al last
seen Il, only more to admiP itJ and now
had the purpose andths prospect of spending
a week or fotnigkt in 1t, u study its mon
umsnls and recall its history. But Rhodes is
heap of ruins! The sanis shock under
which Lebanon irembled, demolished It's
walls, toppIed it's renowned church, and
spread desolation over the entire island. I,
is curious coincidence that S,antyyia, in
whose bay is the new isIaHf = zhiesr rfwrots
was raised by an earthquake seue two hun.
dred yards of il may be said 10 be almost in
the very neisbborhood of Rhodes. The state.
mems 1 sh all now give came from residen,
of the island, who saw much Of what he do.
scribes