(4 of 4)
Natives trembled at the persistent rumors that bandit armies were gathering to loot the stricken city. Marine officers paid no attention, knowing that the bandits knew perfectly well how thoroughly Managua was protected. A graceful gesture came from none other than Augusto Sandino, the insurrectionist who for years has been waging warfare against U. S. troops. By grapevine to Mexico it was announced that "all divisions" of the Sandino army would maintain an armistice until the emergency was passed.
End of a City, As the hot days wore on, people everywhere realized one great difference between this earthquake and most others of recent date. San Francisco. Tokyo, Naples have been wrecked by earthquake. All have risen again. But Managua, Nicaragua's capital, seems doomed. There is no money to rebuild the city. Last week the brewery and the power house were the only habitable buildings still standing. Hour by hour it became increasingly apparent that the city must be, like the ancient Mayan cities of Mexico, abandoned to the vulture, the lizard, the tapir, the rank jungle. Managua was a pretty city; in its 76 years as the capital it had flourished. Among the adobe shacks were handsome villas, gardened palaces, pretentious public buildings. Managua was chosen as the capital in 1855 to end the interminable bloody rivalry of Nicaragua's chief cities: Granada, stronghold of the Conservatives, and Leon of the Liberals. For years these two, like Florence and Siena, battled bloodily to be the capital. Last week Granada and Leon were ready to resume this fight.
Before flying north to report to his editor, one U. S. correspondent took a last look at the city. The wreck of a saloon, split open to the sun, stood on the outskirts. From the one remaining wall still swung the sign SANGRE Y ARENA— Blood and Sand.