Year: 1867




Herald.l Jr.l 8ff ft


On Thursday, the 9th, the weather had
| been close and unwholesomely hot; but,
as this is generally the case with the
south wind, which had been blowing for
some time, nothing was thought of it,
least of all was there any fear OF what
followed. Though volcanic, as is proved
by the numerous hot springs, the island
had not during the present generation
| been visited by earthquake; it was now,
however, to have terrible experience of
| the phenomenon. About six pm. a
sharp shock, lasting some fifteen or
eighteen seconds, vibrated throughout
the town, and before the fact was well
realized was followed by second, longer
and much more violent one. | hap.
| pened at the moment to be down at the
pier of the Austrian Lloyd's agency, and
nearly half minute before the shock
was felt on shore saw the sea heave and
foam out in the port as if submarine
explosion had taken place. Little time,
however, was left for surprise In much
less time than | take to write it the
double thrill quivered through the town,
and, resling like drunken men, whole
blocks of solid stone houses collapsed
as if they had been card.houses. The
offices Of the agency and nearly all the
adjoining buildings, including the Gus
tom house, the lighthouse Office, and the
large oil mill, then fell. Up in the. town
entire streets similarly crumbled, bury
ing their inhabitants by hundreds in the
ruins. The fine old castle, the cathedral,
the Governor konak, the prison, the
mosques, and, / believe, all the consular
residences, more or less yielded to the
violence of the shock, and are for the
most part mere heaps of ruins. The
very solidity with which the town was
built has aggravated the disastrous effects
of the calamity hundredfold, both as
regards the loss of and destruction of
property. The most complete ruin has
fallen upon the lower part of the town,
where the earth literally opened and
swallowed broad belt of buildings up
from the sea to the slope inland At
this point permanent subsistence OF
the ground has taken place and the sea
has accordingly encroached tar into
what on Thursday afternoon was one OF
the busiest parts of Mytelenc. In fact
to sum up the disaster, more than halt
of our beautiful town-the prettiest and
liveliest, perhaps Of all the Levant-is a
desert of ruins. The worst part of the
calamity is, of course, the loss of life.
AS yet we can only guess at the extent
of this; but it is thought that from 800
to 1000 have perished while as many
more have been MANNED and wounded in
every way. Up to to-day one hundred
and twenty bodies have been dug out of
the safer ruins; but how many may be
buried under others which are too dan
gerous to be approached, can only be
surmised. Such of the houses as are
still standing have all been abandoned,
and the whCle surviving population IS
now scattered over the hillsides and
among the gardens outside the town--a
few of them under such covers 40 they
have been able to improvise, and the
rest bivouacing without shelter Of any
kind. Any attempt to describe the
scene would be useless. Heartrending
grief, panic and confusion meet the eye
on all sides. Already the want Of pro-
visions is aggravating the distress, and
only a speedy supply from Smyrna or
the capital can avert great additional
loss of life. One of the Austrian Lloyd's
steamers, and French gunboat from
Smyrna, have landed quantity Of bis
cult and some other stores, but in not
all perhaps more than a days food for
the place, 1t is earnestly to be hoped
that the Porte win at once send down
tents, biscuits, and whatever other stores
can be quickest got together. But not
only the town Of Mytelene has suffered
from this great calamity, it has scattered
ruin and death throughout the whole
northern part Of the island. Hardly a
village has escaped, and not merely
property but life has been destroyed in
nearly the whole Molivo has been all
but demolished, and several hundreds Of
its 5000 or fO00 inhabitants have, It is
said, perished in the ruins. 1t is, in
fact, no exaggeration that half the
island has been laid waste, with a saeri-
fee of humon life that may be reckoned
by thousands No such disaster has