Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1883 — CASAMICCIOLA. [ARTICLE]

CASAMICCIOLA.

First Satisfactory Account of One of the Principal Disasters of Modem Tunes. — <• Th® Sui&ce of th* Earth Boiled Like a Pot of Thick Mush. Enormous Practical Difficulties Attend* ing the Disposal of 4,000 Corpses. [Naples Letter to New York Herald.) When the first news arrivecbthat the towns in Ischia, a well-known island twenty miles from Naples, had been overwhelmed by an earthquake Saturday evening, itwaa naturally believed that the accounts would prove exaggerated. Unhappily the fuller details which have come from eye-witnesses and from other sources prove that the earliest tidings wholly underestimated the extent of the calamity. In fifteen or twenty seconds Casamicciola, a town containing a resident population of over 4,000, but at this season crowded wiih visitors, was converted into a heap of ruins, and, though the number of Uvea lost has still to be ascertained with accuiacy, over 4,ooopersons are now believed to be buried in the debris. Only five houses are left standing, and at Lacco Ameno, out of a population of 1,600, five people alone escaped. All the adjacent villages are in a like plight Forio, the most populous place in the island west of Ischia, is completely destroyed The first shock of the earthquake was felt at some time between half-past 9 and 10 o'clock Saturday night p- WHE EARTH BOILING. ; The first indication of the coming dlsturb-abce,-aocordtng to the evidence of several sujtrivora, was by a low, threatening, rumJdfng noise,- which presently burst forth into one fearful roar, as though heavy artillery Was being continuously fired in the immediate vicinity. In the next second the houses were rocked about like boats on a boisterous sea, and then were shaken into fragments. A few, but only a few, inmates reached the open air before the crash came The vast majority lay burled in the ruins. For fifteen seconds the earth was tossed about with wild upheavals in all directions, many of the terror-stricken inhabitants flying shrieking to the shore, where they were overwhelmed in their flight and buried by the falling tenements or the tremendous quantities of debris flying about The violence of the shock once subsided, nothing could be heard but the shrieks of the wounded and terrified people. Every light had been extinguished. A dense cloud of dust, blinding and suffocating to the survivors, hung over the scene. To add to the horrors of the situation, houses half-shaken continued to fall upon the miserable people seeking for shelter from the general ruin. AT THE THEATER—IN THE MORNING. A survivor who was present at the theater says: “Although we heard the rumbling as though of thunder, it was not until the earliest shake of the building that the audience exhibited any alarm. In the first moment there was no shrieking, although consternation was depicted on every face, but as the opening shock was succeeded by others still more violent a wild cry of despair broke from most of those present The lights were extinguished, debris and rafters fell upon and all around us, and the cries of horror in many places gave place to groans of agony as one after another pf the wounded fell It was a terrible time. When the shocks ceased, I crept with o.hers out from the wrecked building and made my way to the shore. The dust was blinding. Several times I fell over masses of masonry and wreckage, and again I heard cries for help from under the ruins. At the seashore I found others as terrified as myself seeking to escape, and awaiting with terror any further development of the earthquake Seeing that matters remained quiet we went back to help extricate and relieve the injured, but It was not until morning, when the officials arrived from neighboring towns and the troops came from Naples, that any adequate measures were taken to cope with the difficulties surrounding ua Then the sappers, aided by willing hands from among the people, worked energetically among the ruins, earefnlly laving out and carrying away the dead, and placing those still living under the doctor’s care. It was, however, so necessary to proceed cautiously for fear of injuring those beneath the wreckage that only small progress could be made, and at the same time our hearts were almost sickened by the piteous aopeals for help. Some were so jammed in that it took hours to rescue them, and when at length the obstacles were removed It was In many cases found they had succumbed to their injuries, while in a few instances reason had given way under the fearful strain. The clouds of thick dust suit ocated many who weie not killed outright at the first shock. SCENES AT NAPLES—THE DEAD. The scene here tb-day has been of a most distressing character, Hundreds of persons have arrived in the city in search of missing relatives and friends, and make the mornful round of the dead-houses in a frenzied state. Numbers disappointed here have gone on to Casamicciola, but all the dead bodies of visitors recovered are brought to this place for identification. Boats have been arriving hourly throughout the morning packed with the dead and dying. In one instance the cargo consisted of twenty-four little children, some of the infants all laid out in their white shrouds. These were taken to a hospital and placed in rows. , Tuesday afternoon, July 31, two steamers ‘arrived with fresh troops to relieve those exhausted by prolonged fatigue and by 'the terrible nature of their work here. Eight hundred bodies dug out of the ruins have been buried in the old cemetery, and a new one has been consecrated for the occasion by the Monte Calvaiio. It was soon found impossible to bury the bodies separately, and towards the last a large pit was dug, forty feet wide, and the bodies cast into it as they were recovered THE KING’S PRESENCE The King arrived yesterday and made an inspection of the ruins, attended by Signors Depretis Mancini, several other officials and Deputies The .crowd which followed them was comparatively quiet and self-contained, and, in general, the only sound heard was the half-suppressed sobbing of women, who, at the time, pressed forward, with outstretched arms, crying:' “Maesta! Moesta!” as if they expected the mere presence of the King to bring immediate relief. The exhalations were less offensive than yesterday, thanks to lime and water that have been abundantly poured over the ruins where putrefy.ng corpses are too deeply buried to be dug out This measure, however, ha< created great indignation among the bereaved, who still hope to find their loved ones alive. The Duke of San Donato made urgent representations on the subject to the King. Signor Genala assured the Duke that where there seemed any chance of rescuing live victims the excavations would be continued. As he proceeded up hill, each turn of the road disclosing fresh spectacles of woe, the King broke forth into exclamations of astonishment and grief. Signor Genala urged him to turn back, on account of the difficulty of the ascent, but hie- feeling reply was: “If others go so can L Disaster makes all men equal" Most harrowing incidents occurred en route. The few survivors encamped among the vineyards met the King with piercing cries for aid, accompanied by the most frantic gestures. The King ask,ed Signor Genala whether the rescued property of the wretched islanders was respected. The Minister replied that unhappily in many instances this had not been the case. Yesterday eight rascals caught plundering among the ruins had been arrested and sent to Naples. Strict measures had been taken to

prmti aay coming firom that cdsy without a permit from the authorities. From Forio the King proceeded to Lacco Ameno, the upper part of whioh township ia almost entirely destroyed Here a thrilling incident occurred A fair-haired strapping Engtt hman, Mr. Louis Nesbit, was enthuataiticaUy pointed out to the King by the population as their savior, he having by his exertions rescued a number of Uvea The King shook Mr. Nesbit’s band, and expressed in glowing terms his appreciation of British pluck ana kindheart ednev* All the Mmeters then shook hands with Mr. No-bit, whilst the venerable Premier, Signor Depretis, actually kined his forehead The people around meanwhile cheered lustily for “Bor Luigi.ENGLISHMEN. After the closest and most complete inquiries I am able to state, on the highest offic al authority, that there were only twelve English in Casamicciola at the time of the disaster. Six of these are among the killed —Mrs. Durde and her son. Mrs. and Miss Robertson, Mr. Green, (a retired Indian Judge), and Charles Barff, aged 18, son _of the English clergyman at Naples. Mr. Green's body was only recovered yesterday. He had evidently been overwhelmed and suffocated by the debris, as the body showed very few "marks of bruises, and had sustained no serious injury. The others who were in the town ana who escaped were: Col Mackenzie; who has received some bad bruises; Dr. Stoddard, Mra Green, Mm Barff, with her daughter and another son. The Rev. Mr. Barff had returned to Naples for his Bunday's servics. Many ladles are still lying unburied among tb» ruins, and although the copious application of lime has somewhat improved matters, the odor is terrible. HOUSES ON TOP or EACH OTHER. It is impossible to describe the difficulties met within carrying out the work of excavation. The site of the town is hilly, and the houses have been thrown on one another,-and here and there are yawning cracks in the ground. The catastophe is absolutely complete, and it seems impossible to restore Casamicciola. There is not n. single house standing there except a little church, which has been unroofed, near the harbor, and three cottages in which it ia impossible to obtain shelter. The whole presents an indescribable spectacle, the details of which are heartrending. At Lacco Ameno the state of affairs seems to be, if anything, worse than at Casamicciola Not a single building can be traced out of the mass of timber and stones which now marks where the prosperous village once stood. The inhabitants living in thia spot were 1,598, but of all this number only five are known to have escaped destruction. The wreck is complete Some of the houseshave disappeared bodily, falling presumably into the fissures when the earth opened. At Fario the damage is not so extensive, but it is still very great. DESCRIPTION OF THE MOVEMENT OF THE EARTH. The earthquake appears to have run across* the island from west to east, and, beside the towns I have enumerated, all the adjacent villages and hamlets have more or les®suffered. The first and most fatal shock was accompanied by a noise resembling loud thunder. The succeeding shocks wereless clearly marked, but they served to extend the devastation and complete the fearful panic that set in throughout the greater part of the island. The previousweather had been splendid, but a violent storm set in the day following the disasters, and this, accompanied by almost total darkness, added greatly to the horror of thescene, and rendered transit from the island to the main land very difficult It is pointed out as significant that Vesuvius had beenunusually active just before the shock. THE FUTURE* The so-called earthquake of 1881, in whichever 800 people perished and most of the smaller buildings in Casamicciola were destroyed. was in reality a sudden collapse of the soil The present catastrophe is also* ascribed to an earth tremqr, but Prof. Palmieri, the Director of the Vesuvian Observatory, denies that this has been the case, and attributes the calamity, as he did the exactly similar one of 1881, to a depression of the fragile crust, undermined by the springs. If this statement should be confirmed, th<r future of Ischia is hopeless No one will dare to build, and visitors will keep dear of a spot where at any moment the firm land may sink beneath their feet. This is a dismal fate.