The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-06-14
SHOCK KILLS
Many Killed aud Injured by Severe
Earthquake in E,xieo City.
TWELVE WOMEN KILLED


Many of the Dead Were Soldiers
Who Were Crushed While
Asleep in Their Barracks, Which
Were Demolished by Shocks Be-
fore they Could Make Their Es.
cape.
Sixty-three killed and seventy
| FIVE wounded and fifty thousand dol
lars worth of property destroyed is
the net result Of an earthquake,
which visited Mexico City, the capt.
tai Of Mexico, Wednesday morning.
and jected a not Of tragedy into
what was expected to be a day Of
pure rejoicing.
When the work Of searching the
ruins is completed it is possible that
the list of the dead will be somewhat
higher and there are doubtless many
wounded, who, with traditional fear
Of the authorities and government
hospitals are anxious to evade dis
covery. The property loss is but an
estimate and is based upon estimates
made by owners and contractors.
Little Of the loss is covered by in
surance.
It was 6:23 O'Clock when the first
shock was felt. According to the
meteorological observatory the great
est intensity was reached at the end
of the minute, but the instruments
continued to record the shocks for
fourteen minutes more. It wes Of a
vacillatory, twisting character, but
almost free from trepidatory motion.
More than half Of the dead ac-
counted for were soldiers. They
we're caught beneath the falling
walls Of the artillery barracks in
San Cosme, locality neap the Mex
lean Central station. Another place
where the earthquake took its toll
of death in considerable numbers
was at the city power plant OF the
street car company. Here six were
killed and six wounded. Two others
were found in the debris consisting
partly of steel rails, which had been
stacked in the iron and wood de-
partments and which collapsed. The
victims were inhabitants Of little
shacks built along the side Of the
structure.
With these two exceptions the
death list was made up of single
cases or in some instances Of two or
three caught beneath falling wall
in the poorer buildings of the district
most seriously affected. Although
the shock was plainly felt in all parts
of the city few realized the magnI-
tude Of the castrophe until late III
the forenoon, due to the fact that
the casualties were confined to.
comparatively Sud4i a co.
No personal property Of Americans
was damaged and with the exception
Of one Chinaman, no foreigner was
killed. In the barracks where the
soldiers were killed, II women lost
their lives. They were the wives Of
the artillermen. The women have
the privilege Of spending the night
within the walls of the barracks. The
barracks was an old structure built
a generation ago. Seyenty-two sol
diers were sleeping in the house.
Approximately half were quarter
ed on the first floor, the remainder
on the second The outer wall fell
away and then the roof crashed down
on the sleeping men and hurled them
down through the floor onto their
comrades below. The bodies of
thirty soldiers have been recovered.
Three are missing and sixteen are
wounded, a few dangerously. In
stantly those who. escaped began the
work Of rescue.
Three blocks from the barracks
the wards of the Mexican Central,
where Madero had been scheduled to
enter, presented another spectacle
of the shock. A long wall separated
these yards from those of the Mex
lean railway was thrown down. A
Mexican locomotive engineer who
was lying by its side was crushed to
death. A warehouse of the Mexican
Central is almost wreck, one wall
and a portion Of the building having
collapsed. About one-third Of the
round house was torn down. No
casualties were reported here
In none of the advices received
at police headquarters is there men
ton OF the death Of any person OF
prominence. The fury Of the shock
was shown in the northwestern and
western part of the city. The most
damage done was. in that quarter OF
the city known as the Santa Maria,
although cracks in the pavement and
walls toppled over serve to mark its
cousre as far to thesouth as Co
lonia RoRma, distacneH ffi I'll
lonia Roma, a district inhabited
largely by Americans. In this district
however, little real damage was done
and no deaths have been reported.
Cracks show here and there IN the
pavement throughout the district at
fected. Walls, made usually OF
soft stone or even OF ADOBE orleks'
have fallen in scores Of places, glVlns
to some localities a greatly damaged
aspect. The water mains OF the clty
were practically uninjured and the
light and power company sunereo
little inconvenience in operations.
Some slight damage was done TO
the street car track but not enough
to interfere with traffic.