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. tclcgraphs
as follows | have just arrived here from
Constantinoplc and lind the picture of dcs-
olation such as is rarely witness 3D. The
town looks as if it had been terribly bonn
bardcd. Hundreds of houses are trars-
formed into shnp"lcss masses Of ruins nn.l.r
which lie buried an unknown number or vic
tins. majority OF the rcmaing houses
arc already era .kcd and rooHcSs and may fall
at any moment Nearly every building in
town has suffered more or less The innab-
itants waEdcr about anxious to search for
missing relatives or lost property, but afraid
to risk their lives in the 2crlous work of
clearing away the rubbish, and many who
are willing to expose themselves to danger
are prevented by friends or the police
Fear, grief and despair arc depicted on
every face A have some sad or tragic tale
to tell. The first shock was felt on Sunday
afternoon at about half past O'clock I'm.
medlately houses began to fall wild Shricks
were heard on every side and then followed
an awful silence of some minutes.
The terrified survivors gradually vcnturcd
into the narrow lanes and reached the open
spaces. Shortly aitcrward another terrible
shock completed the demolition, then it re
manned quiet until sunset when it again
began to shake the island throughout as
severely as before. All night shocks sue.
cccdcd each other at short intervals and
each one was proceeded by dali sounds like
subtcrrancan explosions. Since that frc-
qucnt shocks have been felt \ few min,
ntcs ago while writing the present dispatch
l distinctly heard an eXpiosion,ikc sound
and felt the earth tr"mblc, but as | am un-
der canvass have nothing to fear. An old
Gcnocsc fortress containing about four hun.
drcd houses inhabited by Mussulmars 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 persisted 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 BIZ.
tram arrived here this morning and the can.
tam at once came ashore, and, after consul
ting with the Governor Of the islnnl. or.
gained relief parties for tending the woun.
drd and cXtrlcating the dead from the ruins.
lie then went over to Chcsmc and made
careful inquiries regarding the state Of that
town and The inhabitantS To.morrow he
intends visiting the southern part Of the
island, whore IS has been done for the Sur
fcrcrs | visited ChrSmc this afternoon.
Only about ten inhabitants were killed. but
many houses are in ruins and very many
more are dilapidatcd The mayor assured
me that thrcc>pnIrtcrS OF the houses are in
II dangerous condition. The inhabitants are
afraid To 1--we even in those which are unin-
jnrcd for every night since Sunday frequent
shocks have been jrlt. Nearly all prefer ta
camp out, and. Us tho weather is fine. the
hardship III this respect is now esHat 1t is
said that throughout tie di.trir, not less
than 10000 people are without shelter
la kastro the work Of cXtrira;iu. the
bodies and attending to the wounded is pre-.
krcs>n" satisfactorily, bat the stiNiu., G,,or
n the vicinity c! many Of the runs shows
thrt the iormrr operation is far from com.
plctc. On the other hand nomo wonderful
escapes have occurred. One woman was
buried under the ruins Ior GlIy.two hours,
AMI at last was rescued, having given birth
III the meanwhile to child The child is
dead but the woman is doin" vel