Morning journal and courier., 1881-04-11
The Earthquake I.,e at Chios.

Thousands Lying Buried Beneath Shnpe- less Masses Of Ruins-Fears of an Epf- demtc if the Bodies are Removce-Gns of the Greatest Disasters in History. The London IVnes' correspondent at Chios 1 telegraphs under date of the 7th inst as fol- lows :-I have just arrived here from Con- stantinople, and find picture of desolatiop l such as is rarely witnessed The town looks as if it had been terribly bombarded. Hun dreds of houses are transformed into a shapeless mass of ruins, under which lie bur jed an unknown number of victims. ma jority of the remaining houses are already cracked and roohess, and may fall at any moment. Nearly every building in the town has suffered more or less. The inhabitants wander about anxious to search for missing relatives or lost property, but are afraid to risk their lives in the perilous work of clear ing away the rubbish. Many who are willing
 to expose themselves to this danger are pre- vented by fri nds or by the police Fear grief and despair are depicted on nearly every face. All have some sad or tragic tale to tell The first shock was felt on Sunday afternoon at about half-past one o'clock. Immediately
 houses began to fall Wild shrieks were
 heard on every side. Then followed an aw- full silence of some minutes. The terrified survivors gradually ventured into the narrow lanes and reached the open spaces, Shortly afterward another terrible shock completed the devastation. Then it remained quiet until sunset, when it again began to shake the
 island throughout as severely as before All night the shocks succeeded each other at short intervals and each one was
 preceded by dull sounds like subterranean ex-
 plos1ons. Since that frequent shocks have
 been felt. few minutes ago, while writing
 the present dispatch, distinctly heard an ex.
 ploslon-hke sound and felt the earth tremble,
 but as I am under canvas I have nothing to
 fear. The old Genoese Fortress, containing
 about hundred hal bx-N
 sulmans 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 hum dred persons must have perished It is known that about thirty MussuIman women were assembled in one of the houses, not one of whom escaped.
 SHALL FIFE DEAD BE LEFT?
 A medical commission is now sitting to con- sider the expediency of covering the rubbish in the fortress with earth as there is no hope of saving any lives and the disinterment of the dead might produce an epidemic It is now believed that throughout the whole island which contained 70,O00 inhabitants six or seven thousand were killed and twenty-five per cent. of the survivors were wounded The French, British, United States and Aus trian gun vessels in the harbor are doing all in their power to assist the authorities in the work of relief. Only ten of the inhabitants of Chesme were killed, but many houses are in ruins and 3O GOO people are without shell ter. The southern part of the island is said to have suffered more than this town. Her Majesty's gun vessel Bittern arrived here this morning. The captain at once came ashore, and. after consulting with the Governor of the island, organized relief parties for tending the wounded and e1tricating the dead from the ruins. He then went over to Chesme and made careful inquiries regarding the state of the town and the inhabitants To- morrow he intends visiting the southern part of the island, where less has been done for the relief of the sufferers. I visited Chesme this afternoon. Many houses are in ruins. and very many more are dilapidated. The Mayor assured me that three -fourths of the houses are in dangerous condition. The inhabitants 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 out. As the weather is fine, the hardship in this line is not great. It is said that throughout the district not less than thirty thousand people are without shelter. In Kastro the work of extricating bodies and attending the wound ed is progressing satisfactorily, but the stiff ling odor in the vicinity of many of the ruins proves that the former operation Is far from complete. On the other hand some wonderful escapes have occurred One wo- man was bssried zndeF sl4e ruins foz ffty-twe hours and at last was rescued, having given birth in the meantime to a child. The child is dead, but the mother is doing well.