Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-31
"THE EARTHQUAKE YEAR"
Frightfu1 Loss of Life Through Ma
lures Commissions.

A<iHeteeH SIX, the earthquake year, III
which it Is estimated that more than $4,000
were lost through natures commissions. be-
gan to win the name before the end Of
January. when fourteen were killed at
Gonzano. Italy. from quake. Twenty
five hundred more were killed on the CO.
lombian coast by tidal wave, no doubt
caused by submarine earthquakes before
the month was over. There was a quake
In Formosa in March which killed 900,
and another in April killing 100. But none
Of those came home to the western mind
They were too remote
But when, on April 5. Vesuvius began in
earnest. after long preliminary warnings,
the civilized world began to sit up and
take notice. The eruptive period that fol-
lowed lasted until we'll into June, killing
in the neighborhood of 1000 and destroy
ing hundreds of villages. Prof Matteucci
superintendent of the observatory and the
King of Italy both showed their nerve and
devotion, the one to science. the other to
on. On July 1 the Duke and Duchess Of
Aosti laid the cornerstone of the first new
village on the mountain side.
San Francisco and other California
towns were laid waste by earthquake April
49, Fire added its terrors and there were
many deaths by falling walls and the
flames; the official estimate of 44S is be-
lieved to be too small by many. although
the early estimates were too large Con-
gress voted millions for relief and mil
lions in money. food clothing and supplies
were sent from every part Of the country.
Before the fire was out, on the Goth, the
greater part of the cityS popula ton was
homeless and the military was called out.
The bank vaults were cool enough to open
May 3.
The South American earthquake came
almost precisely four months later. when.
August 16 and II, Valparaiso. Santiago
and other CHILEAN cities were laid low al
exactly Francisco been
The loss of life was heavier than at San
Francisco-almost 2,000-but the property
loss. though enormous. was less. In each
case the estimate runs into the hundreds
of millions.
On March 10 there was a gas explosion
in the coilieries at Couriere, near Bethune.
France. by which more than 1,200 miners
lost their lives. The people became so
riotous that the military had to be ordered
out The rescue work was singularly in
efficient March 80, twenty long days aft
erward. thirteen living miners were
brought to the surface in a horrible state
of cancellation: On the 9th a gas explo-
sion in coal mine at Century, w. Va,
buried $50 men alive.
The railroad accident that attracted
most attention came on July 1. at Sails
bury. England. OF the twenty-seven
killed twenty-three were Americans Eng
land had bad railroad accident in August,
but the death roll was less than dozen.
All the other great railroad disasters
this year have occurred in North America.
Twenty were killed in collision at Adobe,
Col. March 16. Eight were killed at Louis
vile. May % Twelve were killed on the
IL. More than sixty were killed at Atlantic
City October % when an electric train ran
off a drawbridge. Forty immigrants were
killed at .,oodville. Ind. November IL.
rear-end co.lision on his own road-the
Southern-in West Virginia, November %.
Gen. Philip Schuyler and several others
were also victims of this accident.
lin SoI>,
hurricane in the Society Islands. Twelve
thousand were lost by floods in Ho-nan,
China. in August. typhoon destroyed
millions in property and COO lives in Hong
killed $50 in the Caucasus. and September
81 both Agiers and our own gulf coact suf-
fered from storm: 40 lost their lives at
New Orleans, Mobile and other points.
Cuba Central America and Florida had
hurricane October 49, nearly 1000 dead.
Ten days later the crews of 266 j" anese
coral fishing craft, over 500 souls. were
drowned off Boto Island Floods in oregon
vember IS. Heavy loss of life from Great
Lake storms were reported late in. the
month
The steamer Vancouver was wrecked on
the southern shore Of Vancouver island
January q, and all save twenty-nine of the
1874 persons on board were lost The Brit
ish King foundered off the Massachusetts
coast March A. twenty seven were lost.
wrecked on the Gillian coast, TWENTY-FIVE
lives lost. June 16 a Japanese transport
struck an old mine and went down. fifty
missing: ITO traders were drowned in a
capsized boat on the River Indus, Septem-
Der "a; the steamer Dix was sunk by COL
lision with the Jeanny in Puget Sound, No
vember To- forty-three drowned; November
81 the North German Lloyd steamer Kaiser
Wilhelm der Crosse and the Royal 4
steamer Orinoco collided and n-ne were
killed.