The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-04-27

. " 'SN oAA hS"SAss Z ohu
uprooted. ashes. lava, melted ore and dead
; bodies of man and beast in wild confusion.
When 1 say that is but a vast
! cemetery. I am putting it mildly. A ceme-
terry is an orderly place-this is chaos. The
population of a cemetery lodges under
ground. out of sight, that Schemacha-dead
or alive-is in a thousand and one place.,
buried and unburied. minus head or limbs,
, suffering or crazed-but always silent.
All. this awful silence. this resignation Of
death. IF they would but speak, would
but cry out in agony or wrath" I said to
myself over and over again. Their mute
distress was horrible to contemplate.
Not a stone left upon stone, not a house.
hut or hovei standing. In their stead piles
of brick and mortar, Of sandstone, granite
and beams. red with blood, intermixed with
human and animal corpses and parts OF
corpses.
Most Scnemacha houses were built Of very
large hewn stone. the roofs. too, were of
stone, weighted by more stones. The
earthquake literally tore these structures
asunder, tumbling all they contained Into
the cellar and roof and sidewalks on TOP.
The rInce-Commissioner told me to-day
that over 1000 men. women and children are
still buried in the ruins, buried without re-
ligious rites. "and SO forever excluded from
Paradise" think the poor. foolish sur
vivors.
helped to put up the first lazaretto. a
miserable barrack OF thin boards and 80
small" / thought. Yet 1t proved large
enough; there was. in fact. room to spare.
for most of those carried by under cover OF
sayly decorated carpets were beyond help.
They had happily escaped the surgeons
knife-happily. 1 say, for I watched the
three sawbones and their assistants at
work. They did their best. Of course, but
their "best' was awful.
:. Outside. eagerly seeking for stray sun
tesms. a few men and three or four yelled
women waiting to have their wounds
cleansod. They must needs wait so long
that their wounds ceased to bleed. Ger
tainly. the cold will kill them.
The lazaretto occupies a small clearing In
TIE market place. the bazaar" as 1t Is
called. where the survivors receive their ra-
lions. the men wildly picturesque in turban
or lambskin cap. the women in torn. ORR
entail robes, the lower part of their face
hidden behind dirty cheese cloth. Now a
hundred or more are walking up and down.
but you could hear a pin drop. No one
speaks. no one cries, no one begs-fatalism
struck them dumb. wiped out their sense OF
self-preservatior.
They MUNICH their stale bread and the
handful of flour given them. moisteniug It
with their tears and then return to the only
occupation they take an interest in-the re-
covery of the bodies of loved ones. Our
children and friends are dead: let's save
their souls" is the only sentiment that ami
mates these people. They have no tools. no
strength and many are suffering from cruel
wounds. but all strive with what little
power is left in them to get at the dead
strive and work with bleeding hands an
expression OF fierce energy on their brown,
bIanched faces
After trying in vain for ten days or more
L obtained this much OF a statement from a
native: 1t was at noon: I stood in front OF
my house with 4 friend. talking. Sudden.
ly. it grew black before my eyes; the earth
shivered under me: one rapid ackwar
movement. one forward: I fell. Soon an
was over and my house and my family. nv
wealth and my native town were no more.
As stated. the number of the killed Ni,l
never be known. all records being DESTROYED
and burials and removals proceeding indis-
criminately. The Prince Commissioner
spoke of 5000 this afternoon: another
guessed 1900. 1 alone counted some 2 co
dead bodies.
The earthquake occurred while school.
and lighthouses were in full swing. Their
religion obliges Tartar women 10 90 to the
public bathhouse daily. IL they have nons
at home The bathing places. as wei, a.
the schools. were in Easements and cellars.
Thus it happened that over a thuusand
women ard childretn were killed while per-
forming their religious or other duties.
Help came too late. but 1t was not mans
fault. The officials made all possible haste.
but. with the means at their disposal. they
couldn't annihilate distance.
Passing by an old Tartar who was sitting
on the ruins Of a great stone edi1ce, 1
heard him murmur: "Twenty-one. twenty
two" I stopped and inquired, but he only
shook his head and repeated the word
TWENTY-FIVE From a Russian of1ciaI-I
learned that. but a few days ago. this man
was the Croesus of the town. His haren.
the ruins of which lay before US, contained
the finest women in all Tartardom. twenty
five OF them. each worth from 800 to f.1no
roubles. The earthquake slew all but three.
the irony of fate-only the
least handsome and the oldest of the lot
escaped. No wonder the old Tartar strew<5
his hair with ashes.
Besides bread and medicine. the Prince
Commissioner brought large quantities of
white muslin or linen. He knows his Tar
tars and that they would endure starvation
rather than lack Of proper burial cloths.
Tartar coflns are handmade. with needle
and Irvine. Any white woven fabric win do.
On the banks of the river, between the
awful carcasses. besides vultures. dogs and
greedy crowds. yelled women. hundreds OF
them, kneel and squat, sewing cofinsacks.
or preparing the bodies Of their loved ones
for burial by a batch in the putrid water.
As soon as a body Ii sewed up. men carry
It to the mountain top, where tits set up-
right, face to the east. all without a word
No cry of agony, only silent sorrow.
I thought I was going mad IN this ever
lasting Stiffness. In this desert of mute de-
spair. Suddenly. toward evening, roar and
clangcur Of another su~bterranean battle
noises calculated to frighten all creation
I was pitched to the ground that shivered
and trembled under me-. When I awoke our
horses and the camels Of the bread-cAra-
van were tearing about madly. believing
with fright.
DOCTOR THEODORE BRANDT.