The Great Earthquake,

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 246, 19 September 1883, Page 2

The Great Earthquake,

A TERRIBLE CALAMITY.

GHASTLY DETAILS.

(Ptr Mail'Steahier.y ' : ' The town of Casamiceilo% m the Island of Ischia, wao destroyed by an earthquake on the nigkt of 28$ July Ib is estimated that/5000 persona per ishecV The shocks began , at half-past 9, o clock. .The majority of the upper c asses were at the H t^tre, - and sic scene there was, one ot horror/ The curtain had just risen when a treniend. ous. shock was felt, followed by a foam ful roar, and the ground, rocked like a ship, in a storm. A great' cry of terror arose from the audience, who were thrown m a heap, and a great number were .buried beneath the timberabfthe building, .which fell on them, Tiiose who could esdaped from the theatre, some., clambering into, trees for safety, but, ,tbe. larger number fleeing toihesea shore, when alarm fires Were kindled, la the meantime every building m the town had collapsed. The hotrill?iccol» Sentinella sank into the earth and was buried with many , of i^ihe inmates. Many Romans, haying i at Eodiras are known to. haye been lost. ' CbVpsea were plainly discernibla through the ruins, but could not be extracted. Iv every case they were horribly mangled. The Minister of Public Works arrived at Casamicciola on tne 29 h July to ar« range measures of relief. Hunlwe'ds of victiirs were buried m the usual way immediately on their beiag recovered, m order , to, prevent miasma, but as it was impossible, to. recover anl t ha y all the bodies,, it was ordere^'ih' Consequence of the horrible exhalations from the decomposing remains, that thf uncovered corpses should, be left where they lay, and one thousand five hundred tons of chloride , of. Un^a' were .poured over the ruins, tHus converting fOagamicciola into a -vast : cemetery. The neighboring towns of F]arh and Lucco were greatly damaged,. and "the loss of life reached 2000, divided 'between both places. The centte of the area of the, shock was the same as that two years ago, but the radiqs was larger, It was felt at sea, and apcQrding to some accounts even at Naples, The hospitals m the city were crowded with the wounded and dying brought there by steamers . from ; the island," The calamity infinitely exceeded the Ohioa earthquake m 1881.. Among tHe mis-t sing is an EnglisKgentlenian name ( Mr Sommers, who resided at the Hotel Manoi, and also many English and .American visitors, lachia being a great resort for travellers m purstfitof health or pleasure. Of a Swiss farrily named Pascal, numbering 1 eight, only oae daughter survived. Many English and Americans amved'ori the 3 1st m search of friends and relations. On the night of the disaster the scene was weirdly terrible, when hundreds of half-naked men and women, wild with horror and grief, ran to and fro, among the ruins with torches, searching for missing friends. For days the stench- of decay* ma: flesh, notwithstanding the deodorising materials used, was almost unbearable. Additional shocks, attended with damage, occurred on 'the 4th of August. King Humbert Tieited the hospitals on the ?Brd, and condoled With the sufferers, and also repaired to scene of the earthquake, where he distributed money and provisions to thosa m need. :