Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1864-01-29
AWFUL DISASTER IN CHILL.

An awful disaster occurred in Santiago, the capi-
tai of Chilli, on the 9Th of December. The Immac-
ulate Conception being celebrated in the church
of the. Jesuits. 1t was about o'clock in the even
ing, and the crescent of light (gas) that formed the
pedestal for the Virgin Mary fired the wood upon
which it rested, and the flames sprung wildly over
the building There were ten thousand persons in
the church. The suddenness Of the fire was awful
The dense mass Of women frightened out of their
Senses numbers faintng and all entangled by their
long swelling dresses, rushed as those who knew
that death at their heels to the door, which
soon became choked up. Fire was everywhere
Streaming alopg the wooden ceiling it flung the
camphene lamps, hung in rows there, among the
struggling women.
In moment the gorgeous church was a sea of
fame. Michael Angeles fearful picture of hell was
there but exceeded. Help was all but impossible.
A Hercules might have strained his strength in vain
to pull from the serred mass Of frenzied wretch
es who piled one above another as they climbed
over to reach the air, wildly fastening the grip Of
death upon any one escaping, in order that they
might be dragged out with them. Women seized
in the embrace of the flames were seen to undergo
Transformation as though by an optical delusion-
first dazzling bright then horribly lean and shrunk
up then black statues rigidly fixed in a writhing
attitude. The fire. imprisoned by the immense
thickness of the walls, had devoured everything
combustlble by 10Vclock, and then, defying the
sickening stencil people came to look for their lost
ones The silence after the piercing screams Of
the bun ming were hushed in death, was horrible
1t was the silence of the grave; unbroken but by
the bitter wall or fainting cry. OUsr too thousand
souls had leaped through that ordeal of fire to the
judgment seat Of God.
The writer, referring to the fire. handles the cler
~ in the most severe manner, and says the popula:
ton of Santiago are fred with INDISPENSABLE indig-
nation at the monstrOus conduct of the priests,
holding them guilty of the death Of all these VIC
Tins and particularly the nouRtebank Ugarte, the
inventor OF the Virgins Postofice imposture,
which required countless number of lights paste
board scenery, &C. - 49,.
When the fire broke out they blocked up the
door of the sacristy, to devote themselves
disturbedly to saving their "gimcracks." They
saved gilt image, some wooden saints, chalices,
and great deal of sacred mating After say.
ing their trash they fed away, except one priest
who favored the agonlzed victims with his absolu-
ton.
More than five hundred persons of. the highest
cast perished the greater part young girls between
fifteen and twenty years of age. One mother per-
ished with her five daughters. Two thirds of the
victims were servants, Several houses have been
noticed by the police as empty, because all their
inmates have perished. 1900.
The latest information is that seventeen hundred
!. bodies have been recognized. Three thousand at
least were in the building and it is not yet known
how many have escaped.-Rich. Examiner.