Litchfield enquirer., 1858-08-05
THE REGENT EARTHQUAKE IN
 MEXICO.


 The following interesting account of the recent earthquake in Me xico is contained in the dispatch rom our Minister to that country, Mr. Forsyth:
 "On the 18th ut. the severest earthquake of the present century was experienced Tn this city, and, as far as heard from in all parts of Mexico I was walking in the street at the that was seized with sudden vertigo, and for support, found him making the same mo. tion. The falling of the people upon their knees, their audible prayers, the violent slam ming of the doors and windows of the neigh boring houses, soon admonished us that it was a trembLGr of unusual violence. We were ar rested immediately under the tall spire of the Convent of the Profesa. Looking up, and fnding it swaying to and fro like the inverted pendulum of clock, we moved away from its dangerous proximity, and paused in the middle of the street. The motion was so great that it was not easy to keep one's feet, although brac Ing them apart, and planting cane to aid them The motion produced upon the houses has the effect of sea-swell, the spongy soil upon which the city is built yielding to the ter rife phenomenon in series of long undulating waves It lasted minute and half, though
  if it had, not one of the massive walls of which this city is built would have been LOW stand- ing. As it was, there is hardly a house or a church that has not been more or less dam aged some have fallen, killing persons and animals while hundreds are only kept up by the props which have been applied to them. My own house has a crack in one of the inner walls from the roof to the ground, while a scam is opened the whole length of the Azotea. For several days all carriages were prohibited in the streets, lest some house should be shaken down. Several churchss have been abandoned as unsafe. The palace is very much damaged. It appears to have been more severe on the Pacific than on the Atlantic slope, as we hear of several villages totally destroyed in that re- zion. If Mexico had been built in the fragile style of an American city, it would now be mass of ruins. With all its massive walls, it has had narrow escape. The earthquake was unaccompanied. by any noise except tie cracking of beams and stone walls, and the fu- rious banging of open doors and windows. The heavy masonry of the Chapultepec acqueduct was broken and wasting the water in more thsn hundred places within the space of mile and half No living person remembers a movement of equal violence and duration. Houses which have stood unscathed a hundred years have opened their seams to the ii = of this one and, indeed, after experiencing It's effects, one is amazed to look around and see any structure of human hands standing"
 From the Extraordinary, Mexican newspaper we take the following:
 The two acqueducts which carry water into this city have been badly damaged especially the ssre which passes into the city by the Gari- tasde Deen. This is broken completely off in hany places, and throughout the entire line to @Chaimltepec the arches are broken horizontal ly, showing that they were subjected to se- were oscillating motion. The water was pre- cipitated from the acqueducts throughout the entire line The damage done to these public works will require large sum to repair, and in the meantime the supply of water in the city will be small The water in all the dtches throughout the city was thrown for some dis tance into the streets. The Tacubaya road was con pletely drenched by the water dis charged upon it from either side.
 In many parts of the city wide cracks were made in the earth. In some places it has as- sumed on irreguarity of several inches on the sides of these tracks by sinking or elevating. We learn that in one private honse one-half of the floor of a room has sunk down several inches below the other haf making complete step. The streets in several places have been broken open for long distance, and some fs- sures which we have seen are wide enough to admit persons finger. The waterpipes throughout the city have been broken in many places, and small springs have suddenly made their appearance.
 The convcnts of San Fernando, San Fran cisco, Profesa, San Geronimo, San Juan and the Sagrario, have been seriously damaged.
 San Fernando is considered to be ruin, al- though it still retains it's upright position. It is broken and cracked throughout, and is de- clared to be unsafe
 The church of San Juan is much injured. A large portion of the portal in front--several tons--was thrown a long distance into the street from its position.
 h the Lonja, Q lamp, hanging in the main snloon, was swung for g long range, and by ac- cident caught upon hook at the side of the room, where it. with it's suspending cord, de- scribed almost horizontal nfter the earth quake had passed Que of the arches in front of the same building, which is better known as the Municipal Palace, or Deputacsom, has been injured so badly that it had to be propped up to be kept from falling.
 The National Palace suffered considerably. In many parts of the building damage has been done, especially in the Treasury department.
 The old theatre in the Cae Coliseo was shattered in almost every part. Stones are to be seen detached from their places and moved out and in for several inches. The Fonda of the Progreso, next door, suffered in similar manner. The glass roof over the patio of the Progreso was broken in every direction, and the patio covered with broken glass.
 Several mules in the carriage shop of MT. Tiesen were killed, and considerable other dam age was done in the same building. We hear of number of mules and horses being killed in other places
 The old broom factory, situated near Garita