The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-04-10

VI ffiftt ~.
LONDON, April The Times corre-
spondent at Chic. under date OF The 18th,
telegraphs as follows: have Just arrived
mere from Constantinople, and fnd a pic
lure OF des0la,ion such Gs Is rarely wit.
messed. The town looks as II Ii had been
terribly bombarded. Hundreds OF houses
are transformed into q shapeess mass OF
ruins, under which lie buried an unknown
number OF victims. The majority OF remain
ing houses are already cracked and roOGess,
and may fall at any moment. Nearly every
building in the town has suffered more or
less. The inhabitants wander about from
house to house to search for missing rcla
tives or lost property. but are afraid 10 risk
their lives In the perilous work OF clearing
away the rubbish. Many who are willing
to expose themselves 10 danger are pre-.
vented by friend, or The police. Fear. grief,
and despair are depic,ed on every face. All
have some sad or tragic tale TO tell.
The first shock was felt on Sunday after
noon az about haii-past l O'Clock. Imme-
diately houses began to fall. Wild shrieks
were heard on every side. Then followed
an awful silence Of some minutes. The Ter
rlticd survivors gradually ventured iuto
the narrow lanes and reached the open
spaces. Shortly sfterward another terrible
shock completed the devastation. Then il
remained quiet until sunset, when 1t again
began 10 shake the island throughout as Sc
yerely as before. Al night the shocks
succeeded each other at short inter-
walls, and each one was preceded
by dull sounds, like subterranean ex-
plosions. Since that frequent shocks have
been felt. A few minutes ago, while writing
the present dispatch, | distinctly heard an
eXplosi0n-likc sound and felt the earth trem.
bic. but as | am under canvass j have moth
ing TO fear. The old GenOese fortress, con-
tanning about 400 houses, inhabited by Mus
Sulmass and Jews, suffered more than the
rest Of the town. The ground there sunk
about bait meter aud nearly all the houses
were immediately destroyed, and several
hundred persons must have persisted.
About thirty men and women were ASSEM-
bled in one Of the houses, not one OF whom
escaped. The southern part OF the Island
is said TO have suffered more than this town.
The gun-vessel Beorne arrived here this
morning. The captiin at once came ashore.
and, after consulting with the Governor II
the island. organized relief paltieS for tend.
ing Il wounded and eXtricalng the dead
| from the ruins. lie then went over 10
| Chcsme and made careful inquiries regard.
| ng the state OF that town and inhabitants.
To. morrow he intends visiting the
southern part OF the island, where less
has been done for the sufferers. / visited
Cbe>me this afternoon. Only about ten
inhabitants were killed, but many houses
are in runs, and very many more are dllap-
idated. The Mayor assured me that three.
quarters Of the houses are in dangerous
condition. TIE inhabitants are afraid 10
| l;No in NNkia'l mimi urpJ IOI
every night since Sunday frequent shock:
have been felt. Nearly all prefer to camr
! out, as the weather is fine. The hardship
in this respect is not great.
| IL is said that throughout the district moi
les. than $4,000 people are without shelter
In Kosbro The work Of extracting the bodie:
and attending the wounded is prOgI eSsins
satisfactorily, but the Sitting OdOr in thu
vicinity OF many Of the ruins shows that The
former operation is far from complete. Or
the other hand, some wonderful escape:
have occurred. one woman was burieC
under the ruins for tfty-two hours, and Il
last was rescued, having in the mean while
given birth to child. The child is dead
but The woman is doing well.
A dispatch from Cnio 10 the Times says
A medical commission is now sitting 10 con
slider the eXpediency OF covering the rub
Dish in the fortress with earth, as there i
no hope OF saving any lives and the disin
torment OF the dead might produce an cpl
demic. 1t is now believed that Throughout
the whole island, which contains 10000 in
habitants, six or seven thousand were killed
and % per cent. OF the survivors wer
wounded. The French, British, United
States, and Austrian gun vessels in the har
Dor are doing all in their power to assist tn
authorities in the work Of relief. Only tel
OF the inhabitants Of Chesme were killed
but many houses are in ruins and $4,000
people are without shelter.