The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer

The Earthquake at Casamicciola—The Death Roll Computed at Four Thousand with a Large Number Wounded—The Search Among the Ruins—Informer Carey Shot by an Irish Avenger.

Naples, July 30.—Prof. Palmieri, Director of the Meteorological Observatory on Mount Vesuvius, states that the disaster on the island of Ischia, Saturday night, was not due to an earthquake, but to a subsidence of the ground. The scenes here occasioned by the accident were heart rending. The hospitals are crowded with wounded survivors, and the dead houses filled with the dead bodies of the victims. The bodies of several Neapolitan ladies have been recovered from the ruins. Ten houses remain standing at Casamicciola. Cries for help can be heard coming from the ruins. Sappers are hard at work endeavoring to rescue persons still alive. Boats from the island filled with dead bodies are arriving here constantly. Many women and children were among the victims of the earthquake at Ischia. Fifty wooden huts will be built immediately for the accommodation of the survivors. The municipal authorities of Naples are sending relief to the island and doing all in their power to alleviate the distress of the people. Most of the corpses recovered were so discolored by dirt that even after they had been washed their features were unrecognizable. All members of the police force at Casamicciola were killed. A boat has arrived at Naples containing the bodies of twenty-four infants. A few persons were taken from the ruins alive, last evening. Eight hundred more troops went to the scene of the disaster last night. The survivors say that thirty-seven persons were entombed in the rooms in the hotel of Piccola Sentinella. Count Sargardi after three hours exhaustive labor rescued 11 persons, but failed to accomplish the principal object of his efforts, the saving of his sister. The play at the theatre Saturday night was a burlesque which opened with a scene, representing an earthquake.

London, July 30—3:30 P. M.—A dispatch from Naples just received says: It is now stated that the number of persons killed by the earthquake on the Island of Ischia, on Saturday night, was 2,000, and the number wounded 1,000.

Four Thousand Persons Killed.

London, July 30.—It is stated as certain that four thousand persons perished on the island of Ischia Saturday night. The stench from the dead bodies of human beings and animals is almost unbearable. Several men and women were rescued from the ruins Monday morning. Many more might have been saved if a larger force of rescuers had been available earlier. Many persons who were heard groaning during the night were dead before they could be reached and carried to places of safety.

Terrible Situation.

London, July 30.—Of the foreigners staying at Casamicciola only those were saved who were at the theatre Saturday night. The survivors state that they were obliged to pass Saturday night in absolute darkness without daring to move, even to assist those calling for help beneath the ruins. There is now little hope that the latter are still alive. According to the latest estimate 3,000 persons perished on the island. Three soldiers searching for victims were fatally injured to-day. Subscriptions have been opened throughout Italy for the relief of the sufferers.

Mourning in Italy.

Rome, July 30.—The Roman newspapers appeared to-day with mourning borders. Many of the people injured in Ischia will be crippled for life. The dead at Foria number three hundred, at Lacco Amena, five hundred, at Fontana Lerara, two hundred. Twenty-four children perished in the Misericordia asylum. The King and Queen of Italy subscribed one hundred thousand lire, and the Pope twenty-five thousand lire for the relief of the sufferers.

Naples, July 30.—Midnight—Five thousand soldiers digging in the ruins saved one thousand lives up to midday Sunday, and exhumed twenty-four persons alive Monday.

Casamicciola.

The town where occurred the terrible earthquake of Saturday evening, is situated on the island of Ischia, at the north end of the entrance of the bay of Naples. Ischia contains an area of twenty-six square miles, and has a population of about 25,000. A great part of the coast is steep and rocky, and near the center of the island is the volcano of Epomeo, 2,500 feet above the sea. Beside this volcano there are twelve smaller volcanoes, all of which have been in a quiescent state since 1301. The entire island is of volcanic origin, and possesses valleys of extraordinary fertility, that produce in large quantities the fruits and grain so largely grown in Italy and the regions bordering on the Mediterranean. The principal towns are Ischia, with 6,300 inhabitants; Casamicciola, 3,500, and Lacco, with about 2,000 inhabitants. Casamicciola is situated at the base of the volcanic mountain of Epomeo, and has long been noted for its thermal springs and baths, as is also the town of Lacco. The situation of the island and the salubrious climate attract large numbers of pleasure and health-seekers at all seasons of the year, and particularly at this season many persons from the city of Naples, and from Pozzuoli, seven miles distant from Naples and twelve miles from Casamicciola, visit the baths.