The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-04-20
TIE. DEVASTATION AT CLIO.

Byron's "Scio {, rocky isle, one ofthe
alleged birthplaces of Homer, and
certainly the birthplace of Ion, the
tragic poet. The modern Greek
pronunciation ofthe word is Heeo.
1t belongs to Turkey, and lies only
four miles west of Cape BIatco, in
Asia Minor. Theisland contains only
sos square miles, but, in spite OF
rugged surface, is one Of the richest
and most beautiful islands in the
Levant, at one time sustaining a
population of 10000 souls. The
Gillian wine, celebrated by the
earliest poets, is still as rich and
fruity as of old. Beside this the
island produces fruits, silk, wool and
gums, and it used to have fourishing
manufactures of silk and velvet.
The houses in Chic are usually built
of hewn stone, very solid, with ter
raced roofs. 1t would need a
severe shock to throw down such
walls, but once down, it will be still
harder to set them up agin.
A correspondent at Chic tele-
graphs, under date of April z, as
follows Il have just arrived here
from Constantinople, and find a pic
ture of desolation such as is rarely
witnessed. The town looks as if it
had been terribly bombarded
Hundreds of houses are transformed
into a shapeless mass ofruins, under
which lie buried an unknown num-
Der of victims. A majority of the
remaining houses are already crack
ed and roofess, and may fall at any
moment. Neariey every building
in the town has suffered more or
less. The inhabitants wander about
anxious to search for missing rela-
tives or lost property, but are afraid
to risk their lives in the perilous
work of clearing away the rubbish.
Many who are willing to expose
themselves to the danger are pre-
vented by friends or the police.
Fear, grief and despair are depicted
on nearly every face. All have some
sad tragic tale to tell.
1sThe first shock was felt on Sun
day afternoon at about 100 o'clock.
Immediately houses began to fall.
Wild shrieks were heard on every
side. Then followed an awful silence
of some minutes. The terrified sur
vivors gradually ventured into the
narrow lanes and reached the open
spaces. Shortly afterward another
terrific shock completed the devasta-
ton. Then it remained quiet until
sunset, when it again began to shake
the island throughout as severely as
before. All night the shocks sue
coded each other at short intervals,
and each one was preceded by dull
sounds like subterranean explosions.
Since that frequent shocks have been
felt A few minutes ago, while writ
ing the present dispatch, distinctly
heard an explosion-Hke sound and
felt the earth tremble, but as [ am
under canvas [ have nothing to fear.
The old Genoese fortress, containing
about four hundred houses, inhabited
by Mussulmans and Jews, suffered
more than the rest of the town.
The ground there sank about half
metre, and nearly all the houses
were Immediately destroyed and
several hundred persons must have
persisted 1t is known that about
thirty Mussulman women were as
sembled in one Of the houses, not one
of whom escaped. A medical COM
is now sitting to consider
the eXpediency Of covering the, rub
Dish in the fortress with earth, as
there is no hope Of saving any lives,
and the disinterment Of the dead
might produce an epidemic. 1t is
now believed that throughout the
whole island, which contained 10000
inhabitants, 5000 or 1000 were
killed and % per cent. of the sur
vivors were wounded. The French,
British, United States and Austrian
gun-vessels in the harbor are doing
all in their power to assist the
in the work of relief
Only ten of the inhabitants Of
Chesme were killed, but many
houses are in ruins, and 10000 PEG
pie are without shelter The south
ern part of the island is said to have
suffered more than this town. Her
Maiesty's gun vessel Bittern arrived
here this evening. The captain at
once came ashore, and after consult
ing with the Governor of the island,
relief parties for tending
the wounded and extricating the
dead from the ruins. He then went
over to Chesme and made careful
regarding the state Of the
town and the inhabitants. To-mor-
row he intends visiting the southern
part of the island, where less has
been done for the relief of the sui
ferers.
Il visited Chesme this afternoon.
Only about ten inhabitants were
killed, but many houses are in ruins
and very many more are dilapidat-
ed. The Mayor assured me that
three-fourths Of the houses are in
dangerous condition. The inhabi-
tants are afraid to live even in those
which are uninjured, for every night
since Sunday frequent shocks have
been felt Nearly all prefer to camp
1ut. AS the weather is fine the hard
ship in this respect is not great. 1t
S said that throughout the district
not less than 10000 people are with
,ut shelter. In Kasro the work of
bodies and attending
he wounded is progressing satisfac-
orily, but the sitting odor in the
-icinity of many of the ruins proves
hat the former operation is far from
omplete. On the other hand, some
wonderful escapes have occurred.
)ne woman was buried under the
uins for 81 hours, and at last was
escued, having given birth in the
leantime to a child. The child is !
cad, but the mother is doing well,