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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the; ckme;te;ry at cartago, showing the; vaults burst ope;n by the 



earthquake; 



dust under the terrific blow. Today these 

 former abodes of simple and good people 

 look like shapeless tumuli, hiding in 

 many instances untold victims, and all 

 around ownerless cattle are peacefully 

 browsing unmindful of their desolate 

 surroundings. 



FUTURE RAVAGES CAN BE PREVENTED BY 

 BUILDINGS OF WOOD AND STEEL 



The greater part of modern Cartago 

 was very substantially built of stone and 

 brick with roofs of tile or of corrugated 

 iron, and mostly on the old Spanish plan ; 

 that is to say, with four sides forming 

 a square around one or two inner patios 

 or courts. There were few two-story 

 houses, and an exceptional number of 

 churches, none of which have been 

 spared. As it was explained above, the 

 principal damage was caused by the first 

 commotion, but the falling in of the 

 buildings that had partly resisted con- 

 tinued as a result of the repeated shocks, 



which numbered no less than i8o during 

 the four hours directly following the 

 initial movement. 



Ninety-six squares have been com- 

 pletely leveled, and the few houses left 

 standing in the remaining part of the 

 city are useless ruins, excepting one, 

 which was left as a practical lesson to be 

 applied in the work of reconstruction. 

 This is a wooden cottage, which was 

 indeed slightly moved from its founda- 

 tions and somewhat twisted, but stood 

 the shocks well enough not to endanger 

 the life of its inmates. 



In view of the fact that Cartago, as 

 also the whole central plateau of Costa 

 Rica, is constantly exposed to a repeti- 

 tion of the same seismic troubles, it is to 

 be hoped that the use of wooden-frame 

 houses will become general, and that the 

 architectonic art will develop along the 

 cottage and bungalow lines rather than 

 in heavy stone or adobe construction. 



In the United States, under very vari- 



