SMYRNA FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 October 1922, Page 3

SMYRNA FIRE.

“VOLCANOES OF FLAME.” ONE OF THE GREATEST CONFLAGRATIONS IN HISTORY. DESPERATE REFUGEES. London, September 17. The fire at SmyiSa is one of the biggest in the world’s history, writes Mr. Ward Price, who was aboard H.M.S. Iron Duke, lying off that port. “Even the Great Fire of London in 1666 could not have been worse. There is an unbroken wall of fire two miles long, in which 20 distinct volcanoes of raging flames are throwing up jagged, writhing tongues to a height of 100 feet. “Against this curtain of fire, which blocks out the sky, are silhouetted the Greek churches, the domes of the mosques, and the flat, square roofs of the houses. All Smyrna’s warehouses, business buildings, and European residences burned like furious torches.

FRANTIC SCREAMING. “From this intensely glowing mass of yellow, orange, and crimson fire pour thick clotted coils of oily-black smoke, that hide the moon. The sea glows a deep copper red, and, worst of all, from the denselypacked mob of many thousands of refugees huddled on the narrow quay between the advancing fiery death behind and the deep water in front, comes continuously such a frantic screaming of terror as can be heard miles away. “Added to this is the frequent roar and crash of exploding ammunition, accompanied by the rattle of burning cartridges, which sounds like an intense infantry action. “Picture the constant projection into a red-hot sky of gigantic incandescent balloons, burning oil spots in the Aegean, the air filled with nauseous smells, while parching clouds of cinders and sparks drift • across* us, and you can have but a glimmering of the §cene of appalling and majestic destruction we have been watching. RUSHING THE BOATS.

.Describing the scene on the quay, he says there have poured on to the waterfront panic-stricken, wailing crowds of Greeks, stumbling along under bundles of household goods. There were white-haired old women bent double, cripples staggering on crutches, blind men, children wail-’ ing for lost mothers, and dishevelled women praying and clutching their lank, black hair. Hundreds tried to rush the British picketboats, to which, under a guard of marines, hundreds of the British colony are being marched down from the Consulate. Bluejackets rushed back to the screaming throng from the boats, and the Turkish Guard prevented the embarkation of any but the British. It was heartrending- to see tiny children, w’th big, frightened eyes, held out in vain by beseeching parents; but the help of humanity was impossible. Thirty armed bluejackets went ashore to rescue the inmates of the British maternity home, returning safely with mothers i and new-born babies crying shrilly under the blankets. The screams from the shore grew ever louder, as many were pushed into the sea ana drowned. When the flames burst out on the waterfront, some, rather than be roasted alive, swam out and clambered aboard the few rowing-boats near shore. In these they came moaning alongside the Iron Duke, and were tenderly helped up the ladder by bluejackets. DRIED FRUIT LOST. The premises destroyed include the headquarters of Kemal Pasha, the British and French Consulates, and the fine buildings composing the foreign quarter. It is estimated in London that nearly 50 million pounds’ worth of British money was sunk in the Smyrna district. The British colony there numbered 2500. A hundred thousand tons of dried fruit ready for exportation was consumed by the flames, and this will incidentally cause a shortage of raisins for Christmas puddings.