The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-06-06
GIANT QUAKE MOVES
HIGHWAYS AND TREES
.,,nN B1RDS NESTS UNHARM-
[, w WHILE 100000 PERISH.
SCORES BURIED ALIVE. 70
WAS APPALLING SIGHT

oor,nbv of an Area of 800 Miles
0T ues Changed by One OF Worlds
c [ Disasters. Many Dramatic
Episodes.
~, cuTNGTON, D. ca road
WED Iarod bv tall poplar trees rode the
bora'i ~ ~ landslide for three-quarters
creS' ,,7;Ie without damage to the trees
Oh , -l,r TO the birds nests IN their
OF S S., while an entire mountain,
Dra nLod nv temple, was literally trans
oJaprpted intact in the valley oeioW py
tbe most disastrous earthquake inc
"9 gTba monstrous upheayal, which
iEsd ont the lives of 100000 unsus-
suu lt;og villagers, occurred not long
PeC'n ,sar Kinsu, China, and was only
ss so, 'tf', reported by Josef w. HallS OF
Ig1''i International Famine relief COM
mittee, %. 4Lo a4ec+e of tbe
:aant;r quake that the geography OF
go area 100 by 800 miles has changed
@@oompletely. Ten large cities and nu-
rerous villages were swallowed up IN
tb ,s' eatth. and the resultant landslide
odd;ed like waterfalls, burylng camel
rams towns and fertile fields in their
Pa One of the most dramatic episodes
- he disaster was the burial OF Ma
tbe Benevolent, a famous Moslem Ia
,,at;r and 500 of his followers, just as
+bev had met III conclave to proclaim
4 a 5olv war The cave in which they
had gathered was sealed by a teerr1llc
ayalanche. while the group knelt on
Ntheir prayer-mats.
Dig Months for Bodies.
Bv some miracle the watchman> at
tbs entrance to the cave escaped with
Mi, life, but the others were buried SO
AdeepIv that despite months OF digging
#over an area Of a mile the Moslems
#bave failed to recover the bodies OF
their leaders.
One astonished peasant looked out
q hi his window in the morning to ind
That high hill had moved onto the
Shomestead, stopping its line OF march
8within Jew feet OF his hut.
The most appalling sight OF all was
8the Valley of the Dead, where seven
great slides crashed into gap in the
Mills three miles long, killing every Nv
&irg thing in the area except three men
and two dogs.
In small town on the highway
two strangers had put up at the mn
Aon the evening of the disaster. In the
terror and confusion that followed the
tartbouake the landlord completely
Forgot his two guests. 1t was not until
several days later that he remembered
sthem, and when after considerable
digging. their room was brought to
slight both men were found alive. Stu
Eehed by the shock, they knew moth,
&ing OF what happened and imagined
that they had slept through an ordl-
srlarv night. The landlord did not neg
4lect to collect room rent tor the tull
period OF their stay.
Had the quake disaster struck sew
8eral hundred miles to the north, west
spr south the loss of life would have
been negligible As it happened, 1t Sc
Elected for destruction the agriculturaliy
Srch terraced country OF the south
ern half OF the affected area, the most
spopuous portion of the province; and
8to the north, although this part IS
principally uninhabited grazing land,
several of the largest Mohammedan
8ChineSe cities, which were leveled.
Following the Sianfu Lanchowtu-
#Iurkestan highway, Mr.. Halls party
assembled a small valley of steep grade
8directly west of Tsingning. Suddenly
8the highroad for a length OF a quar-
Ter Of a mile dropped out of sight. 1t
bad been cut as if chopped off with
an ak, leaving the 50-year-old pop
Jars and cottonwoods with which 1t is
Fined partly uprooted, like sentinels
Stricken at their post, upon the edge
8ot the siXty-foot gully which occupied
the position OF the road.
1t was in his Valley of the Dead that
+ the most arresting freak of the cata-
scysm occurred, Two sections OF the
sanclent, well-packed highway, accom-
PANIED by the tall trees which border
ed it. were cut from the line of road
Following the side hill, swept hundreds
. on yards over the stream bed, and
set, intact, upon an angle on top OF
'he heap OF lose loess.