The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-01-26
The Late Catastrophe in chm


II, gives the particulars of the appalling
catastrophe atSantiago, Chill, announced
yestered, by which between 1000 and
5000 persons lost their lives. We have
room only for the following extracts:
O1e of those awful visitations which
from time to time afIlict nations with
eternal mourning took place on Tuesday,
December 8, at the festival Of the Inn
maeulate Conception, in what was the
Church of the Jesuits in the capital. A
magnificent temple reduced 10 ashes,
hundreds Of dear lives sacrificed, the
whole city weeping its lost ones-such
Is the picture SantisgO offers US.
The Sth Of December was q great
triumph for the clergy of the church. An
enthusiastic audience filed every nook.
There were hardly any men there; but
three thousand women, comprising the
flower of the beauty and fashion Of the
capital, were at the feet Of the eeciesi-
asticg, very many against the viii of
fathers and husbands; but that, Of course
only showed forth the power and might
of the gospel. Never had such pyFo-
techny been seen before; twenty thOus-
sand lights, mostly canlgEeRs, in long fes-
toons of colOFed globes, blazsd the
church into q hall of fire. But the per-
Torrance had not yet begun when the
crescent of fire st the foot Of the gigaa-
tic image of the Virgin over the high
altar ovsrhowed, and, climbing up the
muslin draperies and pasteboard devices
to the wooden roof, rolled 3 torrent of
flame. Il was maddening-the scream
ing and WriRging Of hands for help as
the remoFseless flames came on; aud
then, while some already dead with
fright were burned in CHASTITY indiffer-
ence, others in their horrible agony
some in prayer were tearing thsir hair
and battering their faces. Women, seized
in the embraces Of the flames, were seen
to undergo a Transformation as though
By an optical illusion; first, dazzlingly
bright, then horribly lean and shrunk up,
then black statues, rigidly fixed in
writhing attitude.
The fire, imprisoned by the immense
thickness of the walls, had devoured ev-
erything cOmbustable by 10 O'Clock; and
then, defying the sickening stencil, poo
pie came to look for their lost ones
Oh, what sight the fair, placid moon
looked down upon! Closely packed
crowds Of cslcined, distorted forms,
wearing the fearful expression of the
last papg, whose smile was once a heav-
en-; the CHASTITY phalsnx Of black statues,
twisted in every variety Of agony,
stretching out their arms as if implOring
mercy; aud then, Of the heap that had
chOked up the door; multitudes, with
their lower parts entirely untouched, and
some all shspeles5 mass, but with an
arm or foot unscathed.
The silence, after those piercing
screams were hushed in death, was hOr-
rible. Il was the silence Of the grave,
unbroked but by the bitter wall or fam
ting cry-OVer two thousand souls b ad
passed through that ordeal Of FIRE TO { be
judgment seat of God.
Heroic acts Of sublime daring have not
been wanting. Enduring gratitude has
been excited in every Christian heart By
the gallant conduct of Mr.. Nelson, the
Minister Of the United States, his coun-
trymsn, Mr.. Meiggs and several other
foreigners. There were generous men
who defied the fury Of the flames to save
lives, and some Of these dled martyrs to
their noble hearts. An Englishman or
an American, it is unknown which, was
seen to rush through the flames, to seize
10 his powerful arms a lady, stride with
a little way, and then, with his hair in q
blaze, and chOked with smoke, fall back
into the volcano never TO rise again. A
young lady named OVellc, having in vain
impl0Fed some bystanders to save her
mother, rushed IN, and shortly afterwards
miTaculously issued forth with her par
ent in her arms saved. A young lady of
the name Of Solar, just bsfOre the smoke
suff0cated her, had the presence of mind
to tie her handkerchief around her leg, 50
that her body might be recognized.
The following gives an idea of the
class Of persons that persisted by the
deplorable accident: although many
heroic men performed prodigies of daring
and strength in tearing some from tbs
death-grasp of the phalanx of bodice
that choked the door, in some cases liter
ally tearing off their arms without being
able to extricate them, the number Of
saved by this means falls short Of fifty
More than five hundred persons Of our
highest society have persisted, the greater
part young girl of fifteen to twenty years
Of age. 0ae mother has persisted with
her Eve daughters. TwO-tbirds Of the
victims were servants, and there are
many houses in which not once has es-
capped. Several houses have been noted /
by the police IS empty because al their
inhabitants have persisted.