Calcutta, 14th June.
On Saturday evening, shortly after five o'clock, the worst earthquake ever known in Calcutta occurred, lasting five minutes. Fow houses entirely escaped from damage. The papers are full of incidents, and of miraculous escapes, of which time only shows more, while collapses are still taking place from the shock. _Numberless houses were demolished, and still larger numbers are being condemned, as the hard-worked engineers are not sufficiently numerous, and consequently cannot be obtained to "survey the cracked houses. About a dozen natives were killed, and many injured; but no Luropeans have lost their lives.
Fifteen feet of the Cathedral spire has fallen, and other church spires have been shaken badly. The Town Hall, the High Court, and other public buildings were badly damaged; and if another oscillation hud taken place Calcutta must have been utterly demolished. The earthquake occurring just before the evening drive, crowds of people rushed from their houses, some very scantily attired, and a large! number of ladies fainted. "At any other time the loss of life would have been most disastrous.
'The incidents of wreckage and escape are too numerous to report individually, and it is improbable that the full extent' of the damage will ever be fully realised. The Indian Daily News building was wrecked but the proprietors, with commendable enterprise, are issuing a leaflet from 2 local press. The Statesman offices were demolished, but the new building to accommodate five new steam presses escaped, so that the paper is issuing as usual. The Englishman edifice was slightly cracked. The Saint Mark's House Charity was demolished, and the rescue of the children and bed-ridden from the heaving building constituted an incident, of heroism; fifteen seconds later the whole wing utterly collapsed. By the severity of the shock a man was thrown from his bicycle and sustained a broken j "ity reports from the Mofussil (ap-country) show that the earthquake was very widespread, and very severe. Along the Hooghly a large number of inhabitants have i been rendered homeless. The shock at Darjeeling was terrific; many houses were destroyed, and all were more or less si ously damaged. 'The Railway communi tion has been partially interrupted. On the Assam-Beogal line a train was overturned, and another deraied. At some places there was a terrific rumbling; and fron Manipur to Bombay, Simla, and jeding, to far down the' Central Provinees, the shock was felt toa greater or lesser degree; but the worst was at Calcutta, Darjeeling, "and Tipperah.—Times of Ceylon.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.