The San Francisco call., 1907-01-18
CONFLICTING TALES
REACH NEW YORK
Windstorm Warned Inhab-
itants. of Kingston of
the Impending Temblor
RUSHED FROM HOMES

RUSHED FROM HOMES
NEW YORK, Jan. 17.-Reports OF the
damage done in Kingston, Jamaica, by
the earthquake and fire and as to the
loss of life and the number OF injured
were still Of a conflicting character to-
day. This is probably due to the con-
fusion in the stricken city, such as al
ways ensues after great disaster.
Newspaper men and others who ar
rived at the telegraph station connect
ing with Holland Bay all have dinerent
versions OF the catastrophe and the loss
of life. The statements as to the lat
ter must, of necessity, be largely con-
jectural until a search of the ruins
has been made, and this must take
some days.
Estimates of the number of dead
vary from 100 to 1000, while the num-
Der of injured may run into several
thousand. The report from st. Thomas
that 10000 were homeless is on its face
an exaggeration. as the population of
Kingston did not greatly exceed $4,000.
According to the latest advices, the
city was not destroyed, but nearly
every building in the place sustained
some damage. Practically the entire
business section, however, was ruined
Dy the QuakSS OF Dy DIc-
When the first great shock came
Monday afternoon many buildings all
over the town collapsed. burying hun
dreds of persons in the debris. OF
these, many were killed, but the great
er part were injured. and most of them
were rescued. The shock was followed
by lighter tremors, and then fire started
in the ruins along the water front. The
flames spread rapidly, as the water
r7fnQG hod M q
nothing with which to fight the flames.
strong wind was blowing, and this
helped TO spread the flames.
CHANGING WIND CHECKS FIRE
The fire ragged until an early hour
Tuesday morning, when, luckily, the
wind changed and the fire, having moth
ing further to feed on, burned itself
out. All the buildings along Duke,
Port Royal, King and East streets
were wiped out by the flames. The ad-
vices received here indicate that order
WAS soon restored in the city, so that
the work of rescue could be begun. The
two regiments of soldiers stationed in
the city were called on to do police
duty, and they seem to have performed
il well. The banks and other places
where valuables are stored were quick
ly guarded There have been some re-
ports of looting. but late advices say
thieving, and even this was speedily
suppressed.
The rescue. work was undertaken
under the direction of the soldiery and
the municipal authorities. The gem
eral hospital, which was not seriously
damaged, was soon filled with hundreds
OF the injured. as were several tempo
rary hospitals. When these places were
filled others of the injured were taken
I boats barbOr
camp for refugees was located on
the race track and there several thou
sand negroes are sheltered. Thousands
of others are homeless and are camping
in the surrounding country Hotels,
banks, churches and office buildings
are, without exception, leveled in
wreckage and ruin.
The treasury was damaged, but is
still standing The city prison was
destroyed, but none of the prisoners
were injured, and none escaped. The
Port Royal battery was wrecked and
two artillerymen there were killed.
WARNED BY WINDsTORM
The people had a premonition of the
coming disaster in the shape of a vio-
lent windstorm. Their fears were
reused and many rushed from their
/ homes. This undoubtedly saved many
/ lives, as the people were still in the
]
/ This is especially true of the whites,
and accounts for the small loss of life
among them. The loss of life was
/ largest in the poorer sections of the
city, so that most of the victims are
negroes.
The work of burying the dead was
| begun Immediately, a necessary pro-
ceeding in a tropical climate.
Many bodies have been buried with
out Identification. Scores are still in
the ruins. and from a sanitary point
Of view this causes alarm. Efforts to
recover the bodies are going on all the
! time.
While there is necessarily great con-
fusion, the panic itself is over. The city
/ is practically under martial law.
MANY BODIES BURIED
late dispatch receives here today
states that 80 bodies have already
been buried. 1t also reports the de-
struction of the insane asylum and
says hundreds of lunatics escaped and
are roaming at large.
Thousands of homeless people, the
dispatch says. are sleeping in the
streets and parks. their principal food
being bananas.
The damage outside of Kingston is
reported as not great The trains are
not running to Litchfield. Port Antonio
is reported little damaged, and Span
ishtown the same.
From the meager advices that have
come through it is indicated that there
is no immediate fear OF food famine,
as fruit is plentiful and other Jamaican
towns can send aid. Doctors and medi-
cal supplies are, however, urgently
needed.
The Western Union Telegraph Com
pany accepted messages for all parts
OF Jamaica yesterday, subject TO the
senders' risk AS to the messages from
the island the company is experiencing
much the same difficulty that confront
ed il during the early hours of the San
! Francisco disaster. The city of Kings
ton is so greatly disorganized that it is
next to impossible to find the persons
TO whom messages are addressed while
the messenger service into the city
from the company's substation, about
FIVE miles from Kingston, is necessarily