Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-01
SWEPT AWAY.
The Destruction Of PaIazzOlo by an
Earthquake.

London Times
There has been no instance of such a
calamity within the memory Of a living
man. No earthquake ever caused so
much destruction. There are houses
ruined, houses fallen to the very ground,
the walls cleft from end to end, walls
hanging outward as if to rest on the
adjoining houses. There are roofs Who'll
ly swept away; sunken vaults and bal
comics torn from their place; windows
and shutters either entirely carried off
or hanging loose from the walls; lamp
posts forced from their sockets, and up
rooted trees, and this is all one sees
along the northern side of the town
Not single house remains on which
the whole roof and windows do not re-
luire thorough repairs. The streets are
mass of fragments and rubbish. The
incidents Of the disaster are 50 strange
as to be almost incredible. There was a
store with twenty-five hectolitres of
wheat, of which not trace is anywhere
to be seen. The books Of excise and of
the land registry offices have vanished,
and only their torn leaves have been
faund here and there at great distances.
In one house all the copper kitchen uten-
sils were blown through the roof. In
another the benches and heavy chests
flew through the windows. The iron
bars of one balcony are to be seen curled
up one way, and those of another twist
ed up another way. There is pillar of a
palace which has been moved forward
one foot without breaking, and stands
up isolated, all in one piece. There is a
wall of another palace which has fallen
back more than three feet without a
l. = ~.E l..
which has thrust itself into another
house. There is a half beadstead, the
other half of which lies no one knows
where. All the tiles of one building are
huddled together IN one spot on the roof
crushed and broken up as small as if
they had been pounded. The rafters Of
another building are all bare. The tiles
have flown no one can see where. In a
stable on the bare ground, men are lay
ing the bodies, one by one, as they are
being dug out Most of them are in
their night dresses, having been crushed
as they Were quietly sleeping Their
features and forms are so distigured that
one cannot look at them without shud-
dering. Their nostrils, ears and mouths
are stopped up with earth, and the white
dust has everywhere pierced through the
skin. Here is the body of a man hold
ing close to his heart a child, probably
his own child, and the skulls Of both are
shattered. Two young men are in each
others arms, probably brothers, and
the chests and backs of both are crush
ed. Near them is another youth COW
cred with blood, who was a clerk in
government office. He mas his eye
glass still stuck to his right eye, and
was probably reading or writing when
he was struck. There are some made |
past recognition. Others that seem un- |
burnt, ana look as if they were sleeping.
Without exaggeration one-third of the |
town is dismantled, and more than one F!
thousand families are literally without a |
home. About one thousand more have
only one little corner of what was once
their house to shelter them. The dead |
number thirty-two, and the seriously |
hurt about half a score of bodies.