Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-06-13
THE MOUNTAINS WALKED
Greatest Earthquake Calamity OF
Which There Is Record.
TEN GREAT CITIES IN The SHAKf:UP
seIated Report of Remarkable catas-
trophe-PhysicaI Geography Of "a
Large Area Completely Changed
Great LOIS Of Life and Property.

| OlC VI lIlC ipDeAihhb
phes in history and, perhaps, the most
poorly advertised calamity that has
occurred in modern times" is the way
the National Geographic Magazine de-
scribcs the earthquake in Kansu, Chi
ma, where the Mountains Walked"
Though the tremendous shaking-up
occurred in December, 1920, the story
is only now beginning to spread be-
yond the narrow defiles which guard
the entrance to Kansu province, says
the article.
Mountains that moved in the night;
Ilandslides that eddied like waterfalls.
crayasses that swallowed houses and
camel trains, and villages that were
swept away under rising sea OF loose
Garth, were few Of the subsidiary oc-
currences.
Ten Large Cities Shaken.
Mr. Josef w. Hall upton Close),
who visited the earthquake area un-
der the auspices ofAthe International
Relief committee, has brought back
one of the first accounts Of the devas-
tated country and the strange things
that happen when the earth turns it
self into a contortionist. The area or
destruction, 100 by 300 miles in extent,
contains ten large cities, besides nu-
merous villages.
One of tho most dramatic episodes OF
the disaster was the burial OF Ma the
Benevolent, famous Moslem fanatic,
and 800 of his followers, just as they
had met in conclave to proclaim holy
war. The cave in which they had gath
cred was sealed by terrific avaian-
che, while the group knelt on their
prayer mats. ,.io ,,fa
Watchman Alono Escaped.
"By some miracle, the watchman at
the entrance to the cave escaped with
his life, but the others were buried so
deeply that, despite months Of digging
over an area of a mile, the Moslems
have failed to recover the bodies OF
their leaders.
I'm another district Mr.. Hall and
his party found that a whole. noun
tain topped by a temple had slid into
a valley "A little beyond they found
that road bordered by poplar trees
had ridden the crest Of a slide for
three quarters OF mile, without ap-
parent damage to the trees or even to
the birds nests in their branches one
astonished peasant looked out OF mis-
window in the morning to'find that q
high hill had moved onto the nome
stead, stopping it's line of march with
in a few feet of hiashnt.
Caught In Jam Of Slides.
The most appalling sight Of all was
the Valley of the Dead, where seven
great slides crashed into a gap in the
hills three miles long, killing every liv-
ing thing in the area except three men
and two dogs. p.7t.'
In a small town on the highway two
strangers had put up at the inn on the
evening of the. disaster. In the terror
and confusion that followed the earth
quake, the landlord completely forgot
eral days later that he remembered
them, and, when, after considerapie
1 digging, their room was brought TO
light, both men were found alive! Stu
pefied by the shock they knew nothing
of what happened and imagined that
they had slept through an ordinary
night. The landlord, however, in spite
of remonstrances, did not neglect to
collect room rent for the full period or
their stay. 80 Il
Dragon WaggIeo His Tail,
The subterranean dragon of Chinese
cosmology, who according to the north
west China tradition, waggles his tail
=, every three hundred years, this time
played havoc such as was never before
recorded with the face Of the earth
and the habitations of men. Likely
no other earthquake in scientific an
, nails ever changed the physical geog-
rapny of the affected region to the ex-
, tent of the Kansu cataclysm.
The remoteness of the district In
, which the earthquake occurred cannot
but intrigue interest. Although the
concurrent quakes in Chile and Saliva
dor the tidal wave of zap and the
ERUPTION of Mt. Asama, Japan, are all
history the Kansu disaster Is still
I news. What actually happened in this
: frontier province of China is only now
, through the reports of the relief In
+ vcstigation expedition of which Mr..
, Hall was a member being made known
=, in any comprehensive way, even IN
China's capital and port cities
. Had the quake disaster struck sew
G eral hundred miles to the north. west
or south, the loss of life would have
been negligible. AS it happened, 1t Sc
lected for destruction, in the agricultu-
rally rich, tcrraced loess country OF the
southern half Of the affected area, the
most populous portion of the province;
: and to the north, although this part is
principally uninhabitcd grazing land.
- several of the largest Mohammedan
= Chinese cities, which were leveled.
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