The Penn's Grove record., 1907-01-18

HOSp1rai-HerOic NOfk ny IscS-
cuers-Many Terrific Shocks
Terror Seizes Population-Mili.
tary Rule Prevails-Big Hotel
and Other Large Buildings Are
Wrecked - Hospitals Crowded
With Hundreds of Wounded and
Governor and Colonial Officials
Work to Bring Order Out OF
Chaos.
st. Thomas, D. W. lone terrific
shock that sent buildings tumbling in
to piles of blazing ruins, crushing men.
women and children to death, COM
ing without an instant's warning, de-
stroyed a part of the city OF King
ston, Jamaica.
From 100 to 1000 persons, accord
ing to varying reports, are dead in
the ruins.
Scores, trapped in the debris, were
roasted to death in the flames that
swept over the ruined city.
-Four more shocks quickly followed
the first, and then came a trembling
of the earth that gradually subsidized,
but the great destruction had been
caused by the first shock.
Panic came on the heels of the
earthquake crash. Mobs, frenzied by
fear, rushed through the shaking
streets for the suburbs, u%nheeding
the cries of anguish and appeals for
help from those crushed and dying in
the blazing ruins.
The Military Hospital was among
the buildings that went down with a
crash. More than thirty soldiers
were buried in the ruins and were
roasted to death in the fire that was
soon spreading through the city.
The greatest destruction occurred
In the business section of the city, the
central part, where business houses
and dwellings alike fell into piles of
ruins.
For a time the terror was so great
that the survivors thought only of
saving themselves and there was no
attempt at Tescutng tie injured Or
effort to check the flames.
AS the greater part of the buildings
of the city were wooden the fire
spread with incredible rapidity. The
fire department was demoralized and
for a time useless.
In a short time bands of robbers
were at work and, with the flames
roaring around them, began pillaging
wrecked buildings and homes from
which the occupants had fed.
The negro population added to the
Wildness of the scene, as they seemed
craZed with fear and rushed to and
fro, screaming frantically and hinder
ing those who first recovered their
wits and sought to aid the injured.
Many had died in the crush of the
eumbling walls, and many others
were killed by being caught in the
tangle of live electric wires.
When the terror and demoraliza-
ton were at their height, Sir Alfred
Jones, who is at the head of a visit
Ing expedition of notable Englishmen,
consulted with the Governor and
urged instant measures of control.
All the troops available were rushed
to the city's principal points, and
succeeded, after severe treatment of
the mobs, in bringing about some
thing like order.
Then began battles between the
troops and the robbers who were loot
ing buildings. The thieves, fired with
the lust for plumber, refused to with
draw when the soldiers drew near
and many were shot down. In a
number of instances they were found
robbing the dead and injured. To
fhQSn tho COIdinrc chNnrnd mo ,oapox-
When the panic had been partly
quelled the work of bringing out the
lead and freeing the wounded from
the ruins was taken up, and many
we're saved who would otherwise have
persisted.
Even with this scmblance of order
it has been found impossible to esti-
mate the number of killed and
wounded. So conflicting are the re-
ports that, while the conservative es-
Inmates place the dead at one hun
dred, other estimates put the list as
high as one thousand. There will
be no possibility of getting any ac-
curate computation of the loss of life
until the city is cleared of it's wreck
age and the burning ruins have
cooled.
Hundreds of injured, many of them
dying, were dug out of the ruins by
the rescuers. Scores also had been
stricken down i'll the streets, the dis
aster occurring near 4 o'clock in the
afternoon, when the streets were
thronged.
This caused an immediate necessity
for hospitals, and every open space
at a safe distance from burning build
lngs was soon converted into an open-
air hospital. Later tents were OBJ
tanned, and uninjured buildings were
used for hospital purposes. These