The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-04-22
GRAPHIC PICTURE OF THE EARTHQUAKE
IN NCHIOS

The London Times correspondent at
Chios, under date of the 9TH inst. telegraphs
as follows y: | have just arrived here from
Constantinoplc and find the picture of dcs-
olation such as is rarely witness d. The
town looks as if it had been terribly bonn.
bardcd. Hundreds of houses are trars-
Tsrmeo INTO shnpolnss nnassos of rnins nnIla
which lie buried an unknown number OF VIC
tins. A majority of the remaing houses
arc already era ,ked and rooAess and may fall
at any moment. Nearly every building in
town has suffered more or less. The inhab-
ltants wander about anxious to search for
missing relatives or lost property, but afraid
to risk their lives in the 3erilous work of
clearing away the rubbish, and many who
are willing to expose themselves to danger
arc prevented by friends or the police
Fear, grief and despair arc depicted on
every face. All have some sad or tragic tale
to tell. The first shock was felt on Sunday
afternoon at aboue halfpast o'clock. I'm.
mediately houses began to fall, wild shrieks
were heard on every side and then followed
an awful silence of some minutes.
The terrified survivors gradually ventured
into the narrow lanes and reached the omen
spaces. Shortly afterward another terrible
shock completed the demolition, then it re.
mained quiet until sunset when it again
began to shake the island throughout as
severely as before All night shocks sue
cecded each other at SHIRT intervals and
each one was preceded by dali sounds like
subterranean explosions. Since that fre-
quent shocks have been felt. A few min.
utes ago while writing the present dispatch
l distinctly heard an explosion-likc sound
and felt the earth trnmble, but as | am un-
der canvass have nothing to fear An old
Genoese fortress containing about four hun
dred houses Inhabited by MussulmaEs and
Jews suffered more than the st of the town.
The ground there sunk about 4 half metre,
and nearly all the houses were Immediately
destroyed and several hundred persons must
have perished. About thirty Mussulman
women were assembled 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 Bit.
tern arrived here this morning and the cap
tain at once came ashore, and, after consul
ting with the Governor of the islnnd. or.
ganized relief parties for tending the woun.
ded and extricatiDg the dead from the ruins.
iio ehVh "Cbt otcT W CHeSIne ana made
careful inquiries regarding the state of that
town and the inhabitants Tomorrow he
intends visiting the southern part of the
island, whore less has been done for the suf
fcrers. l visited Chesmc this afternoon.
Only about ten inhabitants were killed, but
many houses are in ruins and very many
more are dilapidated. The mayor assured
me that three>quarters of the houses are in
q dangerous condition. The Inhabitants are
afraid to live even in those which are unin-
jnred, for every nightsinco Sunday frequent
shocks have been felt. Nearly all prefer to
camp out, and. as the weather is 6ne, the
hardship in this respect is now gseat. 1t is
said that throughout the district not less
than 80 600 people are without shelter.
In kastro the work OF extricatinp the
bodies and attending to the wounded is pro.
crossing satisfactorily, but the sitting odor
in the vicinity of many of the ruins shows
that the former operation is far from oom.
plete. On the other hand some wonderful
escapes have occurred. One woman was
buried under the ruins for ffty.two hours,
and at last was rescued, having given birth
in the meanwhile to child The child is
dead, but the woman is doing well.