Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-04-13
rEaRInLE EAarnauAI1E Ar mYrE.

Correspondence Of the Levant Herald
MYTELESE, March Con Thursday, the
9th, the weather had been close and un-.
wholesOmely hot, but as this is generally
the case with the south wind, which had been
blowing for some time, nothing was thought
Of il, least Of all was there any fear Of what
followed Though volcanic, as is proved
BY the numerous hot springs, the island
has not during the present generations been
visited by earthquake; it was now, however,
to have q terrible experience Of the
phenomenon. About P. NJ a sharp shock,
lasting some fifteen or eighteen seconds,
Vibrated throughout the town, and before
the fact was well realized was followed BY a
second, longer and much more violent
one. happened at the moment to be
down at the pier Of the Austrian Lloyd's
agency, and nearly half minute before
the shock was felt on shore saw the sea
heave and foam out in the port as if a
submarine explosion had taken place. Lit
tie time, however, was left for surprise. In
much less time than take to write il the
double thrill quivered through the town,
and reeiing like drunken men, whole
blocks of solid stone houses collapsed as If
they had been card houses. The offices of
the agency and nearly all the adjoining
buildings including the custom house, the
light house Office and the large oil mill,
thus fell. Up in the town entire streets
similarly crumbled, burying their inhabi-
tants by hundreds in the ruins. The fine
old castle the cathedral, the Governors
konak, the prison, the mosques, and /
believe, all the consular residences, more
or less yielded to the violence of the shock,
and are for the most part mere heaps of
ruins. The very solidity with which the
town was built has aggravated the DISASTROUS
effects of the calamity q hundredfold, as
regards the loss Of and destruction of prop
erty. The most complete ruin has fallen
upon the lower part Of the town, where the
earth literally opened and swallowed a
broad belt Of buildings right up from the
sea to the slope inland. At this point a
permanent subsistence of the ground has
taken place, and the sea has accordingly
encroached far into what on Thursday
afternoon was one Of the busiest parts of
Mytelene. In fact, TO sum up the disaster,
more than half of our beautiful town-the
prettiest and most lively, perhaps, of all the |
LeVant-is a desert of ruins. The worst |
part of the calamity is, of course, the loss |
Of life. As yet we can only guess at the |
extent of this; but it is thought that from
800 to 1000 have persisted, while as many |
more have been manned and wounded in |
every way. Up till to-day 100 bodies have, |
hear, been dug out of the safer ruins; but |
how many more max be buried under |
others which are too dangerous to be |
approached, cannotFbe surmised. Such of |
the houses as are still standing have all |
haav, alov,I1n.1 r,,l h. HI
population is now scattered over the hill- |
sides and among the gardens outside the
town-a few of them under such covering |
as they have been able to improvise and |
the rest bivouacking without shelter of any /
kind. Any attempt to describe the scene
would be useless. Heartrending grief panic
and confusion meet the eye on every side.
Already the want of provisions is aggra-
waiting the distress, and only a speedy
supply from Smyrna or the capital can
avert great additional loss of life. One of
the Austrian Lloyd's steamers and French
gunboat from Smyrna have landed a guam
tity of biscuits and some other stores, but
in all not perhaps more than a days food
for the place. 1t is earnestly to be hoped
that the Porte will at once send down tents,
biscuits and whatever other stores can be
quickest got together. But not the town of
Mytelene alone has suffered from this great
il has scattered ruin and death
throughout the whole nothern part Of the
island. Hardly village has escaped, and
not merely property but life has been
destroyed in nearly the whole. Motive
has been all but entirely demolished, !
and gseveral hundred of its 5000 or 1000
have, it is said, persisted in the
ruins. II is in fact no exaggeration to say
that half the island has been laid waste,
with a sacrifice Of human life that may be
by thousands. No such disaster
has ever befallen Mytelene.