, 1864-01-28

W-EIY THE VICTIMS WE'RE
NOT SAVED.


The Providence Journal publishes letter |
received By Mr. ". A. Pearce, Of Providence,
from his father, resident Of Santiago, Chilli, |
who witnessed the recent appalling catastro- |
pl: BIZ which more than two Thousand human
beings ere burnt to death. It appears that |
t 9 failurc to rescue these unfortunate VIC
Tins was owing to the idiotic police system
OF the CT i!fars. The writer says:
IT hear yon asking. why were those suffer- !
ers rot rascued: Yes, why were they not |
rescucd9 Ny heart eickens within nc at tue
question. Those determined, stupid Igno-
fanuses Of policemen! Fifty foreigners, had
tley been allowed to work, and to work In
their own Wny, could and would hare rescued
nearly or quite the whole MESS. But no, as
is alwa, 8 the cnse here on IN alarm Of ire,
tic police place q sentry on every avenue i
icn1ing 10 thc firc. They have rs you know,
Eo fire engines except some TWO or three old
Gordon pumps. I fought my way past the
md sahres from their hands, knocking them
ont of MY way, and being knocked In return.
uLtl I wns oyerpowefed By numbers and
compelled to retreat, aud all within hearing
ct tie most heart rcnding lamentations that
cycr sonndcd on human ears. and nearly
every foreigner fared simi1ar to myscn-was
kept back. btr. Demilow Of tho gas works
received bayonet wound at the fire,
while In the act Of rescninG young
Indy that he recognized: Miss
AMlLEu. uE EEA LIE "A5 III Go*A40A4
with one Of the worKmen at the gas works to
the church, and battered down side or pri-
rntc door nrd saw hIfss Lnrren; she at the
same time recognized him md called on him
to save her. lie could not enter in conse-
qucnce of sheet Of flame between them. He
reached his cane to her which she grasped
with 10th lands, when he and his friend at
tempted to drag her through the flames, but
she WINS 60 surrounded and hcmmcd in with
the dead and dying. that heg strength was not
sufficient. They abandoned this method and
went in pursuit Of some other means to res
cue her, ind returned 'ngain, and on present
Ing themselves with the means Of saving her
ut The door, the pAsaice ordered them back,
aud not needing the order, he (Demflow} was
bnyontted. His friends WFested the gun from
tie police, knocked him senseless to the
ground, and made second attempt to sare
The poor girl. But the time 1oat in dispute
with the police WAS q life lost with her. This
is only one Of many similar scenes,
|. Your brother Charles battered door down
on Ca11c Bazde1a, or Flagg street, entered and
found in small ante room some thirty fe~
males mud all living, hut like SO many stat1cs,
perfectly unconscious. He was compelled to
take many of them in his arms and CARRY them
into the street and eaved them all Mr.
| tie police and rcachcd the church At late
| hour, and when the tower WAS falling al
! about them succeeded In saving several.
ME. N. saw q woman still alive undcra crowd
Of others then dead. She recognized him and
called t9 him. sayI5g d9r Gods s sake, snss a,sS
pushed several OF the dead from her, then at
F! tempted to Lift her out from among the dead,
| but they were SO firmly wcdged In about her
! and on her, he had to abandon that. He then
| procured q lasso, fastened tlat about her
| waist, and the united strength Of eight men
and they had to leave her amid such cries Tor
help az no christian heart could endure, nell
| ther can language describe ,.:
The police had full charge Of the front Of
cIs could do nothing there The police res
| cucd hut few. Axes and croWbars were
| not to be had until a. late hour a single in
stance Will snf1ce 10 show the stupidity OF
the police. An officer Of the police set some
half.dozen of his men to hew or batter down
ono Of those large front doors with their old
I broad swords. The doors are made OF EWo
inch hard wood, double thickness, md ri7cted
through and through with iron rivets. You
can jndge the effect their old cut1asses made
The scene Mt the church the following day
WIS the most revolving; heart distressing,
that ever was witnessed since the world was
Grated. There were the poor unfortunate
dead In all stages of consumption, the greater
portion Of them naked Buta few could be
police ordered on the peones, or laborers, te
remove the dead. Those demons -Worst
that deyilfsh dnmned-commenced their WorA
with as much hilarity as you ever saW 6choo
children enter on some pleasure excursion
The dead were pulled abont and pulled apa.
; as one would pull apart tangled brushwood
You could see two or more peones pulling OF
limb..of some one buried under the others
until the limb was pulled from the body
TEtn they would have q peon rejoice ant
howl Of c1ultation. and commence at anoth
CT. The dead were actnally separated viii
| fnlr TIC 1AnHH and ffAG
ments were shove1cd into carts with no NOR
feeling than Irish laborcrs would hare IL
ehoyeling gravel into railway car. Hun
dteds Of bodies, but partially burned, entirely
paked, were tumbled into open carts ant
pecked up in he cemetery IN one anpna pf1%effa Sc
bundle Of straw or q bulrush,. and and hun
drcds Of these heartless wretches comment
ing and joking on the scene, and NIL unde
} the supervision of the police. have seei
within the past ten years here among thesF
people many things that were to me- very ?n:
|, tor1 that I cannot ind language to express
T Twenty.tTo hundred bodies have beer
counted ont from the ruins, and 1t Is sup
Iosed many were burned entirely up: ih'
: prevailing opinion is that the number Q
.. The count and names collected TO dat M
.. amount to fifteen hundred. =. Many tamilie
!, EaYe lost the entire female members-si5
seven, eight and nine from one family. - a! a.
, those that could not be recognized by thef
> surviving friends arc now buried In on
grave or hole. "A place tETenty-aye yard
, square was excavated, and into this the
were laid or tumbled and shoTeled. :,
This accident has Eiren The haM Gathas 3hst rf5 fs
church Inns eser experienced The eletrge M 81
t ct diecount. The men express themselve
openly and publicly against the elergy h'a nas
The city authorities have had their hand
= frl! the past week In keeping down no NJ,
j. violence, as the masses are determined tha
!, the church shall not again be rebuilt -,
; Dec. 15-The Government have stepped
!, and ordered the ruins taken down and car
t cd of, and will purchase the ground a. 7,
tnct q monument to the memory Of II
tesd: The place ia to be enclosed with
substantial iron fence, and the remainder
tho ground laid ont in flower: garden. :.
y Mr.. J. 3. Hay, editor Of the Ct Gro
Herald. calais, who was mobbed and b
:: Office destroyed for his sympathy with Il