The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-07-14
SWALLOWED VP PORT ROYAL.

SWALLOWED UP PORT ROYAL.
Romunos Of a sunksn CITY over whols
Spires ships FlOat
New York Herald: There Is little Of
poetry in war The gentle muses. wing
their fight before the deafenipa Tpar Of
cannon and the rattle of musketryt The
newspaper correspondents iih southern
waters are too busy wlthtthe stern re-
ilties which confront them to pay
much heed to beauties which under oth-
er circumstances might Inspire them TO
dainty bits Of descriptive wrItlng.
To illustrate my point / shall quote
from dispatch dated from Kingston.
Jamaica, which reached New, York last
week. "For two days." writes the cor
respondent, "our dispatch boat has been
lying here in the beautiful harbor OF
Kingston. Under the clear blue water
a few fathoms beneath her keel, sleeps
the sunken city Of Port Royal Not a
stones throw from our boat red buoy
swings and rocks in the moonlight. II
marks the spot where the old city's ca
thedral sank and where the spire stu
reaches up nearly to the surface.
That was all. That was the only ret-
erence TO a subject rich IN historical
lore and the possibilities Of unwritten
romance. How little is known Of the
| mysterious city beneath the waves OF
Kingston harbor, city which at once
suggests the hidden wonders Of tabled
| Atlantis, which Jules Verne has de-
scrIbed with such wealth OF imagery
| in his Twenty Thousand Leagues I'm
| der the Sea" But Atlantis was prob
ably q myth, while Port Royal IS not.
The traveller who visits the capital OF
i Jamaica should pray for clear weather,
| without wind. When the, water Of the
harbor Is RULED by breezes the hidden
| city Is obscured from view. But on O
cloudless, stIll day, when the surface OF
| the sea is perfectly smooth, the ruins OF
the phantom cItE may be plainly seen
] In the depths OF the transparent water.
The spIre OF the old cathedral Is the
most prominent object. In the clear wa
| ter you can see the fishes, lazily SWIM
| ming IN and out among the ruined tur-
rets, more suggestive OF owls and bats
than Of the finny inhabitants OF the
sea, Occasionally glImpses can be had
| Of the ruins OF other bulldinGs-build.
lngs which for more than two centur-
les have kept their CHASTITY secrets and
will keep them until the end OF time.
Down there, in that peaceful depth,
lie the bones Of 5000 men, women and
children, carried down Into the sea with
their homes on that awful June day in
1892. An earthquake, suddenly and
| without warning, smOte the prohiBnte
! - NNfhiNh nltn fnk0 the
sea. The waters opened and swallowed
It up, and there, beneath the silent
waves, was hidden the wiekedhess and
debauchery OF a community described
by historians as being without parallel.
The survivors said It was the ven-
geance Of God, and llkened 1t to the de-
structIon OF Sodom and Gomorrah. And
in very truth the history OF the city
seems to show the unIeasing wrath OF
divine power. From the richest city Of
It's time It has dwlndled Into insignii-
canoe, until now It Is a most wretched
place, used only as q naval station.
Disaster after disaster has overtaken It.
After the earthquake the town was
rebuilt. only 10 be completely destroyed
bV FIRE in 1908. On August @, 1872, It was
\ swept into the sea by a hurricane. It
was once more reconstructed, but again
IN 1915. Il wnB reduced to ashes, and as
recently as 1880 It was visited by an'
other hurricane. Every disaster was ate
tended by great loss Of life.
The city OF Port Royal was originally
built upon narrow strip OF land eX.
tending out into the sea, which ac-
counts for IFS strange hlsappear9hce at
the time Of the earthquake. Like the
house of the foolish man OF Biblical
lore, which was builded upon the SAND
II literally slid into the water when the
earthquake shock came
Previous TO that fateful seventh day
Of June, 1862, Port Royal had been
known az "the finest town In the West
| Indies, md the richest spot IN the
world" Il was, as It now Is, a British
colony. but there was little either IN itS
government or It's customs OF British
morality. We are told that II was a
place OF luxurious debauchery; thnt In
thelr excuses the colonlHts rivaled the
prodiRntes OF ancient Rome.
Buccaneering and piracy were recog-
Dlzed industries. The treasure ships OF
SpaIn we're Legitimate prey. The riches
az Mexico and Peru were levied upon,
and the people Of Jamaica were literal
IL rolling IN wealth and splendor. Vice
and debnucherH held sway. Bncchanal-
ian reyels which might put to shame
the .dweliers In the orient were OF
nightly occurrence. There was no VIZ
tue. AZ.
And like the crack Of doom came tho
earthquake, The thunder OF the ele-
ments sounded In the ears OF the heed
less jewelers. The earth opened IN
great assures. and closed again IKE the
Jaws OF n mighty trap. Ana IN elosinH
middle. leaving their hands above
groind Then came the awful sliding,
Grinding noise as the city, built upon a
foundation Of sand. sank Into the ca
resslng embrace Of the SEQ, which for