Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1857-12-25

THE ISLAND OF RHODES.
TWO TERRIBLE vIsITATIoNs.

in the poets immortal verse, though the
city of this name did not then exist. OF
the three others which received his prais-
es, Lindus, now represented by the viii
lage Lindo, was the most popuIous and
aflluent, being adorned by the famous
temple of Minerva, and honered by Civ
ing birth to CleobulGs, one of the seven
wise men of Greece. Ii was also OF
great antiquity, having been founded l.
400 years before the Christian era. Cam
isus is now the miserable hamlet Camy.
50; while the third, Jalysus, the Oldest OF
the three has utterly persisted. Alter
having been in the hands of the knights
of St. John of Jerusalem for about 400
years, during which period they several
times bravely repelled strong armies Of
besiegers, it finally submitted, AID. 1922,
to the Turks under Sultan Soliman ii.
Such has been the history OF the island
and city, whose melancholy fate / am
about to describe, as it occurred a year |
ago. On Sunday morning, Oct. l2:h
about 3 o'clock, the sleeping inhabitants
of both the city and the villages were
startled from their slumber by Il shock OF
an earthquake which lasted for Is sec
ouds, which no one had ever known 10 be |
equalled either in duration or Violence
SO long was it, that many people awak |
ing from their sleep at the commencement, !
had time to 90 in and out Of their houses /
several times during its continuance
! Several lighter shocks precedehit, and
others followed for week at least, but
without damage. In the city, the walls
of the castle, the towers, the churches
and the mosques, all suffered more or less,
while of 1000 houses there were not two
which escaped either being utterly over
thrown or rendered nearly'or quite unin-
habitable, while many of the unfortunate
occupants were buried under the ruins
1t was estimated that the damages amoun-
ted to at least 81 100000. OF the A
villages on the island, all were sufferers,
some to a greater and others to a less ex-
tent, the whole island seeming to rock to
and fro, as though a plaything in the
hand of a giant, and the giant in a rage.
Ten were utterly destroyed, some hun
dreds of the inhabitants being killed out
right, and many more still dangerously
wounded. In the village Of Klanda, con
tanning 5000 houses, situated on a plain
and surrounded by vineyards and olive
orchards, 250 houses were thrown down.
and more than 1000 rendered unhabita-
BILE, while the rest would fall without i'm
mediate repairs. -Four persons were kill
ed, and the preservation of the rest was
owing to the circumstance, that few days
only before all the laborers had left the
village for employment in the city. A
great part of the inhabitants of the island
were deprived of shelter, and others of
both shelter and their goods and effects.
1t is a remarkable circumstance, that
the shock was felt far at sea. Several
captains Of merchant vessels, coming 10
Rhodes from different quarters thought at
the moment of the shock that their yes
sells had struck a rock The captain of
an Austrian steamer coming from Alex
) andria, when he was seventy miles dis
taDt from Rhodes, felt the shock so vio-
: lently, that, believing the steamer had
run against a rock, he ordered the engine
to be Immediately stopped, while the great
est CONSERVATION reigned for a moment on
board. Another steamer from Smyrna,
) entering the port at the moment of the
, first shock, felt its effects, and would have
been severely damaged by the rocks fall
ing from the " Tower of the Angels" had
not the captain instantly ordered the en-
: CINE to be reversed.
Nor was the earthquake the end Of
calamity, however severe. Hardly had
: the afiriehtened and houseless inhabitants
: of the city begun to breath freely, when
: another and more terrible succeeded
; Four weeks had not elapsed, when. on
2 Nov. 9Th, thunderbolt fell upon the city
= powder magazine, 100000 pounds Of
J powder In the morning the clouds be-
? gan to collect, promising only little wei
/ come rain; about noon tie air became
e charged with electricity, and the Lightning
: struck in several places in the city. At
e O'Clock precisely frightful detonation
/; was heard, which violently shook all the
: houses and many thinking Of the night Of
: Oct. 18th, thought they teltanoiher shock
d of earthquake; and began to flee from
t their houses and rush to the fields. But
k they were mistaken; the thunderbolt had
- fallen upon the magazine, as was soou
d indicated by thick smoke which envel
e oped all the houses, by the strong smei
:, of sulphur, and shower of stones Of al
- sizes, which fell mile distant. The Ole
d church Of ST. John, dating from the yea
ST 1909, the archieves Of the knights, salt
le to be walled up in a corner OF the church
n the grand and famous lower built by th'
n. Knights, were all overturned by the ex
y plosion and reduced 10 a heap OF ruins.
i Three hundred Of the oldest house
" surrounding the magazine were razed {
t. their foundations the celebrated stree
!: Of the knights was in a great part Dc
] stroyed: and another, which led IRON lh
church to the bazaars, the widest an
finest in the city, was 50 much filed D
with ruins, that not trace Of it remair
'e ed. The greater part of the famous Pa
"a ace of the Grand Masters was iopple
y down, while part Of the towers and val
'h ofthe Notifications which bad resisted Ii