The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1907-01-17
Disaster Caused by Earth
quake Not Nearly so Great
as First Reported.
FLAMES UNDER CONTROL
Err, STRETCH FOR MANY MILES
OUTSIDE OF LIMITS OF THE
STRICKEN TOWN.
IPublishers' Press.l

New York. Jan. 16-Messages from
Holland Bay, cable station on island
of Jamaica, 40 miles from Kings
/ ton, say that the disaster caused by
earthquake and fire was not SO great
as at first reported. Only a part of
the town was ruined by the earth
quake shocks, and the loss Of life is
placed at 30, while 800 persons are
reported injured The fire which
started after the tremor is under con-
troll
In Kingston the panic was shortlived
as the work of rescuing and caring for
the injured is under way. Many per-
sons fed from the city and took
refuge in the surrounding country
fearing a recurrence of shocks.
While the total number of killed and
injured is not definitely known, il can
not be large. The greatest number OF
casualties occurred in the camp hos
pital, where 80 colored soldiers were
killed. There were no officers in the
number.
The Myrtle Bank hotel was Destroy
ed, and also the cable Office. Mem
bers of the Sir Alfred Jones expedi-
ton are believed to be uninjured and
are at Port Langston.
Officers of the Direct West India
Cable company were wrecked, but no
fatalities occurred among the mem
bers Of the staff. One of the clerks
was severely injured.
The Colonial bank Of Kingston was
burned down The vaults, books and
cash are safe, and members of the
staff escaped uninjured.
Cable communication has been re-
stored to within eight miles of Kings
ton. connection having been made
with the cable at a place called Bull
Bay. Ruin and desolation are said to
stretch for miles outside the city OF
Kingston. The shocks were felt from
so to so mile. away, and one dispatch
from the temporary cable station at
Bull Bay says that not single house
between there and Kingston is safe.
The island of Jamaica has expert
enced numerous earth shocks in the
past Nov IS, 1906, a sharp trem-
bier was felt In 1892 a great earth
quake destroyed Port Royal, of whose
900 houses only 200 were left stand
ing 1t was this catastrophe which
led to the founding of Kingston. In
August, 1908. Jamaica was swept by
hurricane which almost totally de-
stroyed Port Antonio and inflicted
damages in various parts of the island
amounting TO about 100000 900. Thou
sands of houses in Kingston were
damaged, the wharves were battered
and several coasting vessels were
sunk In 1852 a confegration visited
Kingston, and in 1880 a cyclone de-
stroyed the citys wharves and ship
ping The whole island was deluged
sons were drowned.
Dispatch From Kingston.
Kingston. Jamaica, Jan. 16.-All the
houses within a radius of 10 miles
were damaged by the earthquake, and
almost every house in the city was
destroyed Fire broke out after the
earthquake and completed the work
of destruction The business section
of Kingston is heap of smoldering
ashes The killed number about 400
and thousands were injured The
churches, public Offices and hotels are
all gone, but there were no fatalities
at the Constant Spring hotel. Among
the killed were Sir James Ferguson
and prominent merchants and profess
sional men. (This may be a dispatch
filed early and delayed in trans
r,tSSiop