The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-07-16
IZARNE GARLZNGS 1NzEIAR HZYCSZON o

morning after the terrible rumbl1ngs of the earth
announced to the residents of Kingston that they
were experiencing one OF the worst earthquakes
which ever befell the western hemisphere
The streets Of Kingston are still strewn with
broken brick stone and mortar. Only where abso
lutte necessity demanded has the debris of year
and half ago been cleared away and to-day
may walk the streets of this historic city and be
compelled to take the middle of the road in order
to avoid the great piles of shattered buildings
which blockade the sidewalks and most of the
thoroughfares.
This condition to the minds of Americans is per-
haps enjoyable contrast to that which took place
in San Francisco shortly after the Golden Gate city
was desoated by the quake of a few years ago.
The Pacific coast metropolis awoke the morning
following the earthquake and literally went to work
then and there to place new city on the site OF
the one destroyed Workmen were paid wages
which drew laborers, mechanics, engineers from
every section of the world to take advantage of the
high price put upon services. To-day the tourist
would scarcely know there had been a disturbance
of seismic conditions.
But in Kingston some of the residents made
homeless by the earthquake are still inhabting
tents others have departed, while still others have
moved away from the stricken city. Little has been
done. And what is the reason? tourists ask. Is it
the traditional tired feeling" attributed to south
peoples is it lack of activity the part of the
government or lack of facilities? Those are the
questions which experts in building and organizing
are trying to solve to-day, many months after this
condition brought about.
One reason is that the English insurance
companies have evaded payment of losses
in the fire which followed the earth
quake. The cases are in the courts for
adjustment, but the progress is slow. In many
cases where the property was destroyed the owners
are unable to rebuild without assistance and that
is hard to obtain while the insurance cases are
pending. Others disheartened and would rath-
co1I4 hair 1opdt thou To ohni11 md iOopro
The scene is almost as desolate as it was the week
following the earthquake In some sections, not
ably on Harbor and Orange streets, the rubbish
has been cleared away and small one-story frame
buildings have been erected in which stores and
business places were quickly opened; at another
point the government is clearing an entire city
square for the erection Of new federal buildings.
Aside from these minor matters the city has made
little progress toward rebuilding and business is
generally carried in temporary structures or in
old buildings which were unaffected by the earth
quake and which likewise escaped the flames.
And yet Kingston still shows much evidence of
its former beauty. The stately palm trees to
be along many highways and in private
grounds; the cocoanut palm fourishes in almost
every door yard; the rank growth of tropical foil
age is quickly covering much of the unsightly ruins
and giving an air of life in which the hand Of man
does not cooperate.
Before the earthquake the city had many magnif-
cent churches, representing most of the prominent
denominations Every one of them either de-
stroyed or put out of commission. and services
have not been held in single church of the city
since the earthquake All public worship is either
conducted in small buildings the parent
churches or in the streets The street meetings
predominate and many of these are fervid almost
to the point of fanatcism. The horrors of the
earthquake, which resulted in several hundred
deaths, made such impression upon the minds
of the native Jamaicans as to leave many of them
Historically religious.
A sight that impresses one in the Kingston
streets is the prevalence of women laborers Much
O. the heavy work is dome by the native black wom-