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Show EARTHQUAKE LAYS IN RUINS TOWN IN ASIATIC RUSSIA Disaster Wipes Out Andizhan, Flourishing Metropolis of Turkestan Succession of Shocks Ccmp'.ctcs the Work of Destruction Was a Picturesque City. (opeclal Correspondence.) The recent news from tho Nourishing Nourish-ing city of Andizhan, province of Ferghana, Turkestan, Asiatic Russia, telling of an earthquake there, causing serious loss of llfo, Is now shown to havo completely underestimated tho character of tho catastropho which It attempted to describe. Instead of tho city being merely damaged by the earthquake, Andlznan was converted by it into "a heap of ruins," and Is now completely wiped off tho mnp of Turkestan. Instead of a few dozen houso Is visible. As for tho Inhabitants, tltoy wore mostly leaving tho odlclal and trading trad-ing .Russian population out of account of tho stock of Persian-Uzbek Sarts, speaking tho Turkish language and worshipping In a mosque. Tho groat earthquako nt Andizhan, which suggests St. Pierre, and promises prom-ises to far oxceod tho devastation devasta-tion wrought last year at Shemakha, also in Central Asia, broko upon tho Inhabitants late in the evening of t V T Ajl IT jf V... . AMJtota. yJat'lbk' yuu " Vtt- - il At fr Ji tt i HBBhBHhJIH. Church of St. Serglus Radonezhsky. people having been killed, tho known fatalities now reach G.000, Including some 800 who perished In tho native quarter of tho city. Tho significance of such a disaster as that which has thus overtaken a city known for Its bIzo and commercial commer-cial significance as "the Lombardy of Central Asia," ennnot bo appreciated, savo In the light of facts showing something of what Andizhan meant, not only for Turkestan, but also for Central Asia, and therefore for thu Russian empire. Tho provinco is 28,222 square miles In area, four-fifths of It being mountainous moun-tainous territory. Its Inhabitants number C7C.O0O, 538,800 of whom aro settled agriculturists, -.while the remainder re-mainder follow tho llfo ot pastoral nomads, no-mads, and Include such strange and dlverso races as Aryan Tazhiks, Sarts, Turkish Uzbcgs Kipchnks and Kara-Kirghiz, Kara-Kirghiz, tho latter being nomadic In their habits. Architecturally, Andizhan could not bo called beautiful. As In many other towns and cities of Centrnl Asia, lt3 public trado was represented in Andizhan Andi-zhan by a single street, on which most of tho bazaars and stores, the hotels and apothecary shops, wero to bo found. This was known as the Nik-olaovsky Nik-olaovsky Prospokt. It was a rather wldo thoroughfare, planted on both sides with elms, whoso blossoming gavo tho "prospokt" a flno appearance in summer. Tho houses of Andizhan consisted mainly of small, ono-story buildings. These, with spaces between, be-tween, lined tho prospekt on each side. At ono end of tho Nlkolaovsky thero was a railway dopot, oroctcd in 189G; at. the other stood a church, dedicated to and bcnrlng tho nnrao of St. Serglus Ser-glus Radonezhsky. This was tho only orthodox place of worship In Andizhan, Andi-zhan, and formed with Its surrounding surround-ing gnrdons ono of tho prettiest architectural archi-tectural features of tho city. Boyond tho church there wero narrow, nar-row, crooked streets, which reveal tho building methods of tho natlvo Sarts. Tho fortross of Andizhan stood on rising ground, and a mile or two further furth-er on, along tho postroad to Osha, Dec. 13 last. Tho first shock was felt at 8:45 o'clock, local time. This does not seem to have been severe, and though it terrified tho Inhabitants, all of them returned to their houses, supposing sup-posing the disturbances to bo at an end. Tho really fatal and destructlvo shock camo half an hour later, and then It was too lato for tho Imprisoned householders to escape. Such was tho vlolenro of tho earth's movement that tho buildings in every part of the city began to collapsb like houses of cards, tho destruction overwhelming the ono-story ono-story buildings as completely as It did tho public structures, hotels, factories and stores. Down camo government buildings, hotels, factories, stores, dwelling houses and nlmost beforo tho shrieks of tho dying could announco tho catastrophe, catas-trophe, Andizhan was a heap of ruins. Tho second shock destroyed it; yet in a few minutes othor disturbances followed, and then, succeeding each othor "with mciclloss regularity," came shock after shock, completing tho devastation already wrought, adding add-ing to the confusion, tho terror and tho loss of llfo and making escape from tho smoking and dust-obscured debris, oven by thoso who still lived, an impossibility. But no imagination can adequately realize tho scenes of that fearful half-hour half-hour which followed tho second shock, during which from 4,000 to 10,000 human hu-man beings found their graves beneath tho debris of falling walls and collapsing collaps-ing roofs cut off from every hope of rescuo, and whoro not killed Immediately, Im-mediately, doomed to await death in its most terrible, form. All night long tho shocks continued, nor had tho solsmlc wavo that beat upon Andizhan exhausted itself oven on tho following day. Thus far It has not been possible to cstimnto tho'cost of tho earthquake In destruction of property. All tho government gov-ernment buildings wero converted Into a mass of dobris. With tho exception of tho Poznansky factory, all tho man. ufacturlng establishments woro ruined, Tho aspect of tho stores nnd dwolllng houses, which were razed with the A Peasant Family. thero is a Russian cemetery surrounded surround-ed by a high wall, within which, among other buildings, n largo prayer ground, reminds ono of tho appearance of a city aftor it has beon stibjocted to loag-continucd bombardment. |