Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-01-17
Death List in Jamaica Earth
quake Grows as Extent of
Disaster is Revealed
s1o BODIES ALREADY RECOVERED
City Not Entirely Destroyed But the
Business Section in Ruins and Nearly
Every House in Kingston is Damaged
Hospitals and Harbor Ships Fill
Cd With lnjursd- Camps for Refu-
uses EseabIished-seenes Similar
/; - rho,s, at San Franeiseo.

20 UO0O, ~ S0u
New York, Jan. 17.-Deflnite advices
as to the extent of the catastrophe al
Kingston are still lacking early today
The conflicting reports received fndl-
Gated the death list might be anywhere
from 100 to 1000. One dispatch re-
ported 80 bodies had already been re-
covered and buried.
From the. meagre advices that have
come thru it is indicated there is nc
immediate fear Of food famine. as fruit
is plentiful and other Jamaican towns
can send aid Doctors and medica
supplies, however, are urgently needed
Dispatch. IS from London today say
that up TIL noon no further official
adyices had been received at the col
onial office. and that this is causing
grave anxiety there. Early today the
West Indian and Panama Gable Com
pany received a dispatch from its sup
erintendent at ST.. Thomas announcing
that the situation at Kingston was
terrible and that famine was immin-
ent, The company's steamer Henry
Holmes has left St. Thomas for King
ston with provisions and doctors.
The report from st. Thomas that 9o,-
600 inhabitants Of Kingston were
homeless Is on It's face an
exaggeration, as the population
Of Kingston did not greatly ex-
ceed $4,000. According to latest adj
vices. the city was not destroyed, but
nearly every building in the place sus-
tanned SOM. damage. Practically the
entire business section, however, was
ruined by quakes or fire.
Business Section Ruined.
when the first great shock came
Monday afternoon many buildings all
over town collapsed, burying hundreds
Of persons In thd debris. OF these,
some were killed, but the greater num-
ber were injured. These were later
rescued. The first shock was followed
by lighter tremors, then fire started in
the ruins along the water front. The
flames spread rapidly, as the water
pipes had been broken and there was
nothing with which to fight the flames.
A strong wind YVES blowing and this
helped to spread the flames. The fire
ragged until early Tuesday morning,
when. luckily, the wind changed The
fire having nothing further to feed on.
burned Htself out. All the buildings
along Duke, Port Royal. King and
East streets were wiped out
Order Restored.
order was soon restored in the city,
so the work Of rescue could begin.
There have been some reports of loot
ing. but late advices say this is con-
fined chiefly to petty thievery. Rescue
work was undertaken under the direc-
ton Of the soldiery and municipal au-
thorities. The general hospital, which
was not seriously damaged by the
earthquake, was soon filled with hun
dreds Of injured, as were several tenn
porary hospitals. When these places
were filled, others of the injured were
taken out t. the boats in the harbor
A camp for refugees has been located
~.
thousand negroes row sheltered there,
and thousands others Of the homeless
are camping, in the surrounding coun-
try The hotels, banks and churches
and office buildings are, without ex-
ception, leveled in wreckage and ruin.
The treasury was damaged, but Is still
standing. The city prison was de-
stroyed, but no prisoners were injured
and none escaped. The Port Royal
battery was wrecked and two artil-
lerymen were killed.
Majority of Victims Negroes.
The people had a premonition of the
coming disaster in the shape Of a vio-
lent windstorm. Their fears We're
reused and many rushed from their
homes. This undoubtedly saved many
lives as the people were still in the
streets when the earthquake came.
This is especially true of the whites,
which accounts for the small loss of
life among them. The loss Of life was
the largest in the poorer sections of
the city, so most of the victims were
negroes. Besides Sir James Fergus
son. the most conspicuous white men
killed were Captains Constantine and
Young. of the Royal Mail steamship
service; Major Hardiman. DR.. Gibbs
varley, Dr. Menier, DR.. Robertson, and
Nits. Miss Lockett. B. varley, J. w.