(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
An official survey of conditions prevailing in the area affected by the earthquake has been undertaken by the Palestine government under the personal direction of Col. George S. Symes, Civil Secretary of the Government, and acting High Commissioner in the absence of Lord Plumer. Col. Symes visited all the places affected by the earthquake.
A message received from Lord Plumer, the High Commissioner, stated that he is curtailing his vacation in England and will return to Palestine on July 29.
Besides grants-in-aid given by the Palestine government to Nablus, Ludd, and Ramleh, the cities most seriously affected, strict measures have been taken to prevent the cornering of supplies for the purpose of profiteering. Government ordinances based on the provisions of the Ottoman law were issued to this effect.
An examination of the Government House on the Mount of Olives, disclosed the extent of the damage which will take two years to repair at a cost of $150,000. The courtyard is entirely covered by the debris. The interior of the house is thick with shattered plaster. The upper floors were declared wholly unsafe. When the High Commissioner returns he will be compelled to take up his residence elsewhere.
It was estimated today that the reconstruction work of all the houses damaged will absorb all workers who have been unemployed for a number of months. These unemployed workers number nearly 8,000.
The Tomb of Rachel, a picture of which appears on the new Palestinian stamps, and which attracts many Jewish, Christian, and Moslem pilgrims, was damaged. It was closed for an expert examination.
In a statement issued today by Philip Guy, superintendent of the Department of Antiquities of the Palestine government and acting director of the department, and acting director of the depart-has occurred in the Palestine Museum and that generally the antiquities are not seriously affected.
The Evelina Rothschild school in Jerusalem was badly damaged.
A report received today from Amman, the capital of Transjordania, describes the devastation wrought by the earthquake there. The city is completely deserted, over five thousand houses having been damaged. Amman is the gate to the Arabian desert and the gathering place for many wandering Bedouin tribes. The majority of the population fled from the wrath of Allah, escaping to the desert.
An act of heroism on the part of a Palestine Jewish scientist was learned today. When the tremor affected the building of the Hebrew University where the Bio-chemical Institute is house, Dr. S. Adler, an expert in parasitology, risked his life to enter the building to save the typhus and dysentery microbes in culture there.
The municipality of Tel Aviv has offered to send sixty volunteers to Nablus to help clear the rums.
Messages of sympathy were received from Sir Herbert Samuel, former High Commissioner of Palestine, and Sir Ronald Storrs, former governor of Jerusalem.
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