Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-02-06
THE EARTHQUAKES IN SPAIN.
Distress and Panic of the People o
Nalaga-Ihe Wea thy Leave Theil
Aomea.

A Ian hgCA IN % AIN
Distress and Panic of the People of
MaIaga-Ihe Wea thy Leave Their
On my journey from Granada to
Malaga, writes a correspondent of The
London Standard, | witnessed st all
the stations scenes precisely similar
to those which / described upon the
way from Cordova to Granada.
Crowds of people were assembled up
on the platforms or encamped round
the stations, waiting until the railway
company can take them away. Every
car, truck, and carriage on the sldlngs
or IN the sheds is occupied, and nHm-
bers are bivouacking in the carts and
carrisge in which they drove from
their homes ID the stations. The rail
way authorities tell me that the great
er part of the Weather classes have
already left the country. The emf
grafton vas not very large after the
first shock, but the frequent tremors
which have followed it have frighten
ed all who have means enabling them
70 leave their homes for while into
Fastening away to some other part of
the country. The absolute damage
done by the earthquake south of Ora
NADIA was, so far as I could sec from
the railway carriage, much less serl-
GUS than that suffered by the villages
and town. between that city and Cor
dova.
Here in Malaga an extraordinary
amount of panic exists, the people be-
ing very much more frightened than
In the towns which are mere heaps of
ruins, and where the loss of life has
been most serious. Yet the founda
ton for all this panic is of the slight
est. There has, of course, been sharp
shock, few houses fell, and some of
the others show slight assures and
cracks, but this is all the damage
which is to be seen. The cracks are
specially noticeable in the facades of
the public buildings, which are for
the most part very old, and IN the
hospital, which was, after the shock
at once evacuated by order of the
municipality. The total loss of life
in Malaga was four killed, and seven
teen were wounded. Fright has done
more damage than the earthquake, for
l hear that great many persons are i'll
IrOUl pure LeFTOf.
By daytime the town remains com
paratively quiet, but it is at night that
the population seem most to dread the
shocks. After darkness falls the PEG.
pie forsake their houses, and congre-
gate in the gardens and suburbs. The
scene here is far more lively and an
mated than il was at Granada. The
population there were moody and
silent in their trouble, while here the
excitable southern temperament finds
a vent in exuperance of gesture and
animation of speech. People gather
in groups and exchange their expert
ences of the shock, and each vies with
the other in portray ing by gesture and
facial expression the agony of mind
which he suffered when he felt his
home rock beneath his feet. The
official accounts and the evidence of
ones own eyes by no means reveal
such terrible state of things as every
person here has, according to his own
account, gone through. The hair
breadth escapes are something mar
velous, and the wonder is that instead
of four people having been killed four
thousand at least have not persisted
ia such catastrophe.
The shops are almost entirely closed,
trade is at a standstill, the ships lie
idle and unloaded at the warves. The
alcade has issued a proclamation or
dering all Carriages and other vehicles
to traverse the streets at slow pace,
in case any of the houses may be more
seriously shaken than appears to the
eye. The municipal council has also,
after elaboration, decided to be re-
presented in the the religious process
sions of the bishop and clergy. These
are constantly promenadlng the
streets, and masses are being celebrat-
ed and the host exhlbItt d all day to
stave off the recurrence of the earth
quake.
At half-past 5, and again at quar-
ter past s, yesterday, there were, how
ever, slight shocks, and the people
rushed panie- stricken into the streets
Screams were heard, and there was q
scene of wild confusion. All those
who had not tents, carts, huts, or shell
tiers of some kind or other to betake
themselves to walk about the gardens
and promenades to very late hour of
the night; large numbers never lay
down at all. The railway station was
again invaded by the lower classes,
who insisted upon occupying the cars
and goods trucks every night. As
these, however, were altogether in
sufficient to accommodate the crowd,
fires were lighted, and round them
the male part of the population passed
the night, smoking, drinking wine,
and even raising their spirits by
twaneiug their sultais.
But if the damage in the town of
Malaga has been very trifing, it has
not been so in the province The dis
tricts which have suffered most have
been that situated on the coast line
between this town and Motr1, the
frontier district of Almeira, and the
tract of country extending back to the
mountains which separate the provin
ces of Malaga and Granada. Here
the damage has been almost as great
as at the towns on the other side of
the mountain range which visited
on Saturday. For example, Periana
has 220 dead and 1877 wound; 500 of
it's houses and all its churches have
been destroyed. Velez Malaga has
not suffered quite SO severely, but its
losses have been heavy. The death
roll amounts to 81, its wounded
exceed 100, and 355 of its houses have
been reveled to the ground. The
minor towns and villages have also
suffered very severely. Ii these shocks
continue, the population of this dis
trict will abandon the ruins of their
homes altogether.
The work OF relief goes ON very
slowly, and bat little is done to re
lieve even the urgent necessities in
the most afflicted districts. The whole
population of the provinces affected
appear to think that under the cir
cumstances it is the duty of the
authorities to supply them with food
and shelter The officials themselves
can do but little, and are awaiting
orders and funds from the central
government The most prac iical,
most experienced donor thus far has