The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-06
THE GREATEST EAPLo ION.

! SANDS OF women ana children En-
tom ped in the Ruins-A Scene OF
Awful Deso!ation.
From Chambers Journal.
Some few miles to thu north of Agra, be-
tween the rivers Ganges and Jumna, stood,
in the early part of this century, the town
and fort of Hatrass. The town was the
center of the dominions of an
independent raiah, and was separated
! from the fort by distance of
| less than half a mile The town was one OF
| great strength, and the fort was not less
| strong in ite defcnses. The walls were thick
and high, strengthened by several immense
| bastions, while bitches 80 yars wide AID
% feet deep, with ) feet Of water, sur
rounded both the town and the fort. The
conduct of the Rajah, Dyaram Jacoor,
| had given cause OF apprehension to
the East India government as
| to h designs against some
| of their PossessIoue. AccoI dinghy, in 1917,
! he was summoned by the Marquis of
| Hastings TO dIsmante his Notifications and
diSband his troops. At first he made pre-
tense OF Implying, but afterward refused
! the demand. A considerable force wa E,
| therefore, d spatched against him, under
toe command OF Maj Gen. marshall. The
town was first attacked. The batteries
| poured into it an inces. ant shower Of
bombs, slrapnel shells and Con
greve rockets. Tho courage Of the
defenders was far inferior to the strength of
the Qualifications, or the beSicgers would
nave fouhd their undertaking very Gitiicut,
1t not i possible As it was, in three or
four days before any important breach had
u gu made, the gar. isop evacuated The
| town and took refuge in the fort. On ell
terng the town, which they could do only
by means of C ding ladders, the besiegerS
fodnd the gates ba rc d Il with stones AID
lmme.!se alrs OF cotton.
The tul; force OF the clnnon0de was now
directed upon tie fort, the defender, re-
turning the fire With much energy. They
seemed determined to resist TO the last. he
British general oobly offered to guarantee
the preservation of their property if they
would Sead { elr wives and children to be
gu4i ded cut Of the RaIal'S doinini MS.
They we dea5 to ali his entreatieS
aud were resolved to lace the worst.
Inc worst soon came. A dire and
unexpected calamity aved them the hpr-
rUTs and suffeIing> of pr traC ed 81 'ge. 4
large shell from one OF the Brlu h mOrtarS
penetrated the grelt powder magazine of
tie jrt; a tremendous explo ion was the
re .ult. The stora # powder III the IN = a.
zine was immen5,, the jcr mutation of
lnan} years, amounting 20 at least 1900
maunds II ght} puu lis each, "r
$4,000 pound, avuirllupois. The
nag9z ue consisted largely of stone
vaults, extending ar under ground. his
VIII account Tor some of the phenomena
and for the dis aucc 10 " ich the agitation
of the grOunl ex ended. L. is suppo. ed
that many of the gar ISD.,, with the majo'
port of rhe women Vi caildre", had sought
refuge i'll tlie-e vaults from the British
shells, which were very destructive, and
that many Of these were elLomb4d beneath
the ruins of the build NJ.
The Eng !ish ms SUI t-Ely ceased firing,
few hno wing WY, il til III. adiui ex-
pl JsiOn a'mrst parai,ze,! every ohserv T.
From the narrative Of an OfGcN, we G. tc a
few interesting pariicIa s.: L wa on a
working party wifh 100 nsl, a d hid just
arrived IN the 10 | var |, Il cut 800 yard ,
from tle / f of in tre cnea, wnen
| wa' tnu'4n htG Oh my ,ace
by some V Oh nj shock Of the
earth. Before the g.nerat shock, the earth
seemed III violent cInVui ions. the walls
surrounding he 20 ll-yavt wre pr1peil ri
forward from the fort and tel to the
ground. Stones, bricks, piece, of wood
| and, nearer thu 10 t, no lies aud limbs wore
| to lie 50 n soaring IN the air in all d!rec-
| tons. For the NOM Mt CONSERVATION and
| dismay were dep.c d in every face
| When | ar 50 / felt much alarmed;
| tue earth seemed still to move
under me; and at st | thought something
| had happen I'd to Inc alone; but, on lo0ling
| rouGd, found my ntn, 81 g il tn atol-
| tude of pray + d others ,yiuE down, hid
! ing their faces with fear. Hayip. recov-
cred my SC ,seS, | looked iowa d the fort,
| and aW it envelCpad IN one dense cloud of
smoke or dust, anu now a.;d then streakS OF
| fire issuing from its battelnents. In
| the midst OF this monetary alarm,
| there was an indistinct buZZing
that the grand ma gazne of the enemy had
| been blown up. FMS reGort having reached
my ears, ran, or rather rolled, along tho
! trenches, and was informed that their grand
magazine had really beeA blown up by one
| of our Shells Again looking toward the
| tomb of destruction, what sigh met the
| eye! The smoke which aroe from the rum
seemed to be a solid and substantial
| structure gradually and male tlcal.y as
cended to tie skies, tearing On LIS top varie-
| gated volumes OF vapor, that sosmed to rid
upon it. From this ascending mountain
were ever and anon voInited forth sheets of
| vivid fire, and glittering sand fell in Show
ers upon tho spot. Tnrough this dense
but really unSub'tantial mas was to
| be seen the setting sun, Spreading
his luminous beams through the
gigantic phenomenon, and the beauty of
the sight was beyond human fancy to i'm
| agine The tremendous volume of smoke
|
ing off a lGtlo with the wlGd wh!c
scarce, y b. athei. when It had asconded,
SO that the sun was visible under IL,
the mass above cAanGei calor and you
might trace on it the most brilliant
rays Of the rainbow. This continued a.
cending in various forms, until at lat II
was lost in the distance; after which very
| eye was directed to the destruction helpw
and the sight was frightful int, ed. Heads,
bodies, legs, arms, hands, spears, gu -,
muskets, plankN and coors lay indscrlmi-
nately among the piles of ruins"
The shock was so terrible that it was
distinctly felt at Meelut, a distance of $50
miles.
The interior of the fort, some 400 or 800
! persons, horses and cattle of all de ,csiptio s
were DESTROYED; but the defenseS of the
fort were very little iniured, 50 that the
firing on the part of the besiegeI was soon re-
newed and kept upt the remainder of the day
with even greater spirit This was n rus.,
however, to cover the intended evacuation
of the fort, which took place the same
night Many of the fugitives were cut
down by the British, but many made good
their escape, among whom was the Raiah
himself. The fort and the town were after
ward completely dismantled.
TOM CORWIN.