Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1907-02-12
Wa in a Suburb
Of Kingston Dur
Ing Earthquake.
NEWS REP0RTEO CARRIES FIRST
WORD TO HIS WIFE.
The Letter Was Written The Day
After the Earthquake, Almost
a Month Ago, But Trans
mission Was Slow
Interesting Narrative.

/ A letter was received by the EVE
MING NEWS this morning from
! William T. Major, who Is in jamaica,
! assuring his friends of his safety.
| A NEWS reporter had the pleasure
of notifying Mrs. Major of her hus-
bands safety, and the relief, she felt
was dramatically shown.
The letter was written at Lawrence
Tavern, Jamaica, suburb of King
ston, January Is, the day after the
earthquake. 1t shows that Mr.. Major
had not the slightest idea that local
/ friends and his family would fear for
T! his safety.
The letter also plainly shows that
Mr.. Major and other people on the
outskirts of Kingston had no idea of
what damage the earthquake did in
Kingston.
Mr.. Major was at Lawrence Tavern
the day before the earthquake, and
the day of the earthquake, and is
probably still there. Lawrence Tav-
ern is small town lying about three
or four miles from Kingston.
Mrs. Major and her children have
been In a state of acute anxiety for
Mr.. Majors safety, and seldom does
it fall to a persons lot to be the bear
er of such good news as NEWS rep
resentatiye carried to the Major
home this morning. There had been
one hope alive in Mrs. Majors breast
because of the fact that her husband
was in the suburb of Kingston when
he last wrote, day or so prior to the
disaster.
MIR. Majors Letter.
The letter is as follows
Lawrence Tavern,
Jamaica, B. w. l.,
January 15, 1907.
Editor EVENING NEWS:
Dear Sir:
mo doubt you know more about
the earthuuate that occurred yester-
day that | do, but know enough to
satisfy my curiosity as to disturb
ances of that kind.
"There was no oindication of any
thing unusual. The sky was bright
and a cool breeze was blowing from
the mountains. l had an attack of
grip since | came and it left me
rather weak and listless, but when
my chair tipped over and threw me
on the floor, and the plaster fell on
my head, / struck the road in one
jump. There are three shops near
me. They sell a general line of groc-
cries, dry goods and hardware. They
have long shelves across the rooms,
on which are iron pots, galvanized
pans, tubs, crockery ware, etc. The
back shelves are filled with bottles
of rum and beer, cans of milk, etc.
when the shock came, there was
fa n ~, 1nte, hnf
ties. The earth rocked and the
five minutes. There was another
shock in about ten minutes. No one
went to bed last night There is a
Baptist church near me and / could
hear the people praying and singing
all night. There were several slight
shocks during the night, and two this
morning. Business is suspended.
There is no mail from Kingston this
morning, and the people are going in
carts. on horseback and on foot to
Kingston.
1--WE have no means of knowing
what damage was done there. The
result of this shock will be disastrous
to Jamaica. 1t will stop a lot of tour
lists from coming, and 1t will be a
long time before confidence will be
restored. 1t will take at least a
month before normal conditions will
return The weather is fine today.
The climate is delightful in the hills.
The chances are that many of those
who came for long stay. will return
to the United States. / do not blame
them. One experience of the kind is
enough"
Yours truly.
w. T. MAJOR.
Mrs. Major received a letter later
today, written the same day as that
to this Office and giving the same de-
| tails