Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-05-03

of that place are so used to earthquakes that it takes one of such severity as to cause houses to tumble down or the walls to crack to interest them. They regard the ordinary tremblings as a hui. sance which they must put up with.
 ''I have felt not less than thousand earthquake shocks during the few years that l have lived in that mountain town." MT. Calton said. ''On the day of the earthquake last week not less than fifty distinct shocks were felt at Chilpancingo.
 "The trcmblings began early in the morning. They were light at first and the people of the town paid no attention to them. They would meet each other on the street and perhaps remark:
 Looks as if we might have n bad earthquake shock today, spoken with as much lack of excitement as the re- mark, 'It looks as if it might rain.
 "With this observation the men would try to regain their feet while they transacted business.
 " T wish had got the walls of that building finished before this confounded earthquake came along I heard one contractor say to another as the after noon wore away and the shocks began to increase in intensity.
 "It was about 4:30 p. m. when the shock came that caused the walls of the unfinished building to fall. The con tractor accepted his loss good-naturcdly. That is one thing the earthquake has taught the people of that place-to ac. cept calamities as they come, without complaint.
 ''I saw splendid business buildings converted into ruins by the shocks of year ago. The owners carried no insur- ance. but they doggedly went to work and erected new structures. Some of these weathered the recent disturbances, but others were badly damaged.
 "The chances of heavy loss of life by earthquake in the Chilpancingo re- zion are small. The buildings are erect cd with the idea of the best possible security. There are usually minor trembl.ngs to give warning of the se- we're shocks that may follow.
 Everybody in that region sleeps with his plans all arranged for making a quick exit from the building the mo- ment hc feels the tremblings. saw the theater at Chilpaneingo empticd of a crowd of several hundred people in less than two minutes after the first shock was felt.
 "This thing of being routed out of bed several times in night is not very enjoyable, but the people are used to it. They will run into the street, and if the shock is not repeated in the course of an hour or so they will go back to bed.
 It has long been believed in Mexico that parrots can forctell earthquakes. Many of the natives keep pet parrots about their homes moh the special pur. pose of keeping them informed in ad- vance of when earthquakes are to occur. Monyeks are also said to be good earth quake forecasters.
 "The recent shocks rocked things up considerably down at Iguala," said Louis Bohevars, an American conner cial traveller who has arrived here from that place. "I was fully warned of what was coming, however, by the par rots and monkeys which were ih0the patio of the place where I was stopping.
 "The old Mexican portero of the place called my attention to the signs of the coming quake. I had heard an unearthly chattcring of the parrots and the cries of the monkeys for an hour or two, but was paying no attention to the noise when the old Mexican remarked casually that we were going to have a big terremento.
 Parrots Give Warning
 "I asked him how he knew. He pointed in the direction of the patio and explained the import of the noise which came therefrom. I then recalled tha. the parrots of the town where I was stopping last April on the night of the kept up an unearthly squawking for several hours preceding that disturbance.
 ''I did not heed the first warning and 1 had to shin down from the second story. At Iguala I determined to act upon the judgment of the monkeys and parrots and spent the time in the open The first shock, which occurred in .he afternoon, was pretty severe and caused