The Washington herald., 1907-01-17
HUNDREDS DIE.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.

10 the water ltouls ana cUNeFS q triangle
bounded by King and Queen streets and
the water front The greatest damage
from the earthquake itself is along the
chief business streets.
Houses out on the hills suffered severely
but few persons were killed In them, al
though parts Of them were shaken down.
The reason why the death rate is not
greater among the whites is because there
I WAS practically a warning Of imminent
danger. A tremendous windstorm arose,
and partial darkness obscured the city
and suburbs This aroused the fears OF
| thousands. and all were on the alert when
the first shake began. The tremors seem
10 have been slight at first, but they were
| sufficient 10 arouse the inhabitants 10 a
! sense Of great danger. The people ran
out Of their homes, and when the severe
quakes came. which lasted four or five
/ minutes and were of sustained intensity,
the whites were chiefly out in the open.
Negroes Took to Cover.
| The negroes, on the contrary, took 10
cover to a great extent. That poorer part
of the city is where the greatest loss of
| life occurred. and the victims We're al
most exclusively negroes. Along the
water front and the chief business
/ streets several whites were probably
1 killed in the collapse of buildings. Ii is
also probable that several guests Of the
Myrtle Bank Hotel, the leading hostelry
in the city, were also killed I'm the ruins
Of that establishment
The most conspicuous Of the whites lost
was Sir James Ferguson. who was at
Kingston with other distinguished Eng
lishmen. attending the agricultural con-
ference and also the conference Of cot
ton spnneTs and planters. None of the
rest OF the party. aggregating about i50.
/ Is known to have been injured. Most OF
these visitors. it is reported here. have
gone on board the ship Port Kingston. on
which they arrived from England. The
party included the Earl and Countess of
Dudley, Lord Mountmorris. Sir Ralph
Moore and wife. Sir Alfred Jones. John
Henniker Heaton. and three other mem
bers of parliament; A. A. Pearson. Of the
colonial office; Sir Thomas Hughes. Of
Liverpool; Sir Thomas Shann, of Man
chester, and a score Of other well-known
persons
Well-hnOwn Men Lose Lives.
TWO other well-known men lost their
lives. They were Captains Constantine
and Young Of the Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company's service. They were
probably in the Office Of the company
near the water front. when the earth
quake came, and were lost in the debris
Of the building. Capt. Constantine had
been resident manager Of the line for ten
years or more. and had been In the en-
ploy Of the company from boyhood. Capt
Young commanded a small freight boat
which collected goods from other ports
and took them TO Kingston for shipment
abroad
The severest death loss outside Of the
negroes in the city itself occurred in the
British garrison at the barracks al Tn
Park camp. The camp and military hos
pltal there was ruined, and thirty sol
diers, inmates Of the hospital chiefly.
were killed. G0vernor-in-chief Sir James
a. Swettenham's dispatch 20 the foreign
office, which was sent from here yes
terday and which said that thirty lives
We're lost. referred 10 the death list at the
military hospital 1t was the first def
mite news received here, and at first IL
was thought that ii meant that thirty
lives had been lost in all in the city
Hence the dispatch from here yesterday
put that sum as the city's death loss
Order Quickly Restored.
From messages received here 1t could be
judged that order was restored quickly in
the city There are two regiments Of ne
gro zOuaves. oflicered by white men They
are regulars and highly trained. All those
who We're not killed or injured were i'm
mediately at the service Of the governor.
and report has it that tLey were thrown
at once into the city and did fine work in
helping TO restore order. some Of them
were put at fighting the fire and others
were set TO guard the banks and other
places where valuable property was in
danger. There are the usual stories Of at
tempted looting, but the couriers who
have reached here say that If any was
done. it was largely in the line Of petty
thievery. No reports OF any one being
shot down for stealing have reached this
place.
Exodus to the Hills.
All the messengers say that q great
exodus TO the hills surrounding the city
took place. and that thousands are camp
ing out and afraid 10 venture into the
city again, No system Of settlement has
been established. and it is difficult to find
where any particular Individual is. Many
Of those rendered homeless have gone
back into the city 20 gather Up clothing
and materials for shelter. but where their |
homes have been shaken down. it, part.
the inhabitants refuse to stay in them i
There were slight shocks following the
heavy one and il is because Of fear OF /
great tremor that the people have
fled to the suburbs for safety.
The ravgrrg say fHara Sc .-,.,---..-
food, chiefly because the usual supplies /
have not been distributed There is an /
abundance of fruit on the island and many
of the surrounding towns have begun to /
forward food. SO far as can be ascer-
tanned, there viii be no serious food /
famine, but there is probably "A great
scarcity of medical supplies. These are /
also being FASTENED to the city from near
by places. and it is thought that some /
viii soon reach there from Cuba and other /
islands.
shipping suffers Little.
Aside from the loss of the wharves and |
along the harbor front. it is |
reported that there was no serious dam
age to the shipping iterests. No reports
of vessels being driven ashore have been
received here and the fact that the
steamship Port Kingston has been able
10 receive practically all Of the English
tourists who arrived on her last week. it
S thought that no serious tidal wave re-
suited from the earthquake. 1t is feared.
however. that the channel in the harbor
nay have been disturbed, and for that
'eason word has been cabled from here to
owners Of large vessels approaching King
'ton to be extremely careful entering the
larbor. Soundings win have to be taken
o make sure il there has been any change
u the channel or in the numerous reefs
which beset t.