Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1883 — CASAMICCIOLA. [ARTICLE]

CASAMICCIOLA.

First Satisfactory Account of One of the Principal Disasters of Modem Times. The Surface of the Earth Boiled Like a Pot of Thick Mush. Enormous Practical Difficulties Attend* lag the Disposal of 4,000 Corpses. [Naples Letter to New York Herald. 1 When the first news arrived that the towns r in Ischia, a. well-known island twenty miles from Naples, had been overwhelmed by an earthquake Saturday evening, it was naturally believed that the aeoounls would prove exaggerated. Unhappily the fuller details which have come from eye-witnesses and from other souroes prove that the earliest tiding! 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 with visitors, was converted Into a heap of ruins, and, though the number of lives lost has still to be ascertained with accuracy, over 4,000 persons are now believed to be buried in the debris. Only five houses are left standing, and at Lacco Ameno, out of a population of 1,000, five people alone escaped. All the adjacent villages are in a like plight Forio, the jnost populous plaoe 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 THE EARTH BOILING. / Tfie first indication of the coming disturbance, according to the evidence of several survivors, wasDv a low, threatening, rumbling noise, which presently burst forth into one fearful roar, as though heavy artillery was being continuously hred in the immediate vlcmity. In the next Becond 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 buried 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-ialiing tenements or the tremendous quantities of debris flying about The violence of the shook 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 rain. - 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, fir the'firßt moment there was no shrieking, although consternation was depicted cm every face, but as the opening shook was succeeded by others still more violent a wild cry of despair broke frdin most of. those present The lights were extinguished, debris and rafters fed upon and all around ns, and the cries of horror in many places gave place to groans of agony as one after another of 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 bJlnding. Several times I fell over masses of masonry and wreckage, and again I beard cries for help from under the ruina 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 cape with the difficulties surrounding us. Then the sappers, aided by willing hands from among the people, worked energetically among the ruins, oarefnlly 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,, andftat the feme time our hearts were almost siokened by the piteous anneals 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 eases found they had succumbed to their injuries, while in a few instances reason had given way under the fearful Btrain. The clouds of thick dust suffocated many who were not killed outright at the first shock. SCENES AT NAPLES—THE DEAD. The scene here to-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 tie dead-houses in a frenzied state. Numbers disappointed here have gone on to Casamieciola, 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 hodpit&bpnd 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 burled in the old cemetery, and a new one ha 3 been consecrated for the occasion by the Monte Calvarlo. It was soon found impossible to bury the bodies separately, and towards the last a large pit was dag, forty ieet 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, Genala, and 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 for- - ward, with outstretched arms, crying; “Maest.a! Maesta!” 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 putrefying corpses are too deeply buried to be dug out This measure, however, has 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 .Signor Genala assured the Duke that where there seemed say chance of rescuing live victims the excavations would be continued. AS he proceeded up bill, each turn of the road dlsoloslng fresh spectacles of woe, the

King broke forth Into exclamations of astonishment and grief. Signor.-Genaia urged him to turn back, on account of the drtU* culty of the ascent, but his feeing reply was: “If others go so can I Disaster makes all men equal. ” Most harrowing incidents oomrred en route The few survivors encamped among the vineyaids met the King witn piercng cries for aid, accompanied by the moss frantic gestures. The King asked Signor Genala whether the rescued property ol the wretched Islanders was respected The Minister replied that unhappily in many tn- ( stances this had not been the case Yesterday eight rascals caught plundering among the ruins had been arrested and sent. to Napiea Strict measures had been taken to prevent any one coming from that city without a permit from the authorities From Forio the King proceeded to Laooo Ameno, the upper pare of which township la almost entirely destroyed. Here a thrilling incident occurred. A fair-haired strapping Englishman, lb. Louis Nesblt, was enthusiastically pointed out to the King by the population as their savior, he having by his exertions rescued a number of lives The King shook Mr Nesbit’s hand, and expressed in glowing terms his appreciation of British pluck and kifedheartedness All the Ministers then shook hands with Mr. Nesbft, whilst the venerable Premier, Signor Depretis, actually kissed bis forehead. The people around meanwhile cheered lustily for “Bor Luigi * ENGLISHMEN. After the closest and most oomplete inquiries I am able to state, on the highest official authority, that there were only twelve English in Casamieciola at the time of the disaster Six of these are among the killed —Mrs Burde and her son, Mrs. and Miss Robertson, Mr Green, (a retired Indian Judge), and Charles Barit, aged 13, 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, Mrs Green, Mrfli Barff, with her daughter and another son. The Itev. Mr. Barff had returned to Naples for bis Sunday’s Bervioa. Many ladies are still lying unburied among the ruins, and although the copious application of lime has somewhat Improved matters, the odor is terrible. HOUSES ON TOP OF EACH OTHER. It Is impossible to describe the difficulties met with In carrying out the work of excavation. The site of the town is hilly, and the houses have been thrown on one another, and fibre and there are yawning cracks in the ground. The catastophe is absolutely complete, and it seems Impossible to restore Casamieciola . There is not a single house standing there exoept a little church, which has been unroofed, near the harbor, and three cottages in which it is 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 CAsamiociolo. Not a single building can be traced oat of the mass of timber and* stones which now marks where the prosperous village onoe stood. The Inhabitants living In thie v spot were 1,593, but of all this number only five are known to have escaped destruction. The wreck is complete Borne of the houses have 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 lees suffered. The first and most fatal shock was accompanied by a noise resembling loud thunder. The succeeding shocks were less 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 previous weather had been splendid, but a' violent storm set in the day fallowing the disasters, and this, accompanied by almost total darkness, added greatly to the horror of the scene, and rendered transit from the island to the main land very difficult. It is pointed out as significant that Vesuvius had been unusually active just before the shock. THE FUTURE. The so-called earthquake of 1881, ih which over 30b people perished and most of the smaller Duiiaings in Casamieciola were destroyed, was in reality a sudden collapse of the soil The present catastrophe is also ascribed to an earth tremor, but Prof. Palmierif 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 1831, to a depression of the fragile crust, undermined by Jhe springs. If this statement should be confirmed, the 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.