Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1864-01-30
Amfnl ElInn.lcr IL ChIlE.

! An awful disaster occurred In Ssntisgo TIE
capital Of Chilli, on the S.h Of December The
ImmAeulate Conception was being celebrated
in tie church Of the Jssuiis. It was about
o'clock in ihe evening, and the crescent Of light
fgss) that lOrmed the PEDESTAL for the Virgin
Mary cred tbs wood upon which il rested. and
the flames gpEIBg wildly over the building
There were ten thousand persons ia tho church
The sGddeness Ct the Ere was awful THIS
dense MASS Of women, friglened cut Of tEsiI
senses, numbers fainting, and al enlGnglsd by
their l5ng swelling dresses, rushed as those who
knew that death was At thsir heels, to the one
door, which soon hscsme choked up. Fire WAS
sVeIywhere. SIetmirg along tie wooden ceii-
/ ing, Il dang the cenphens lamps, hung IN rows
there, smong The struggling women.
Il Z moment tha gorgeous church Tns q sea
of fame. MiehEel Angeles fearful picture Of
hall was tboTe bat exceeded. Help WGt all but
impossible "a EsTcules might hsvo strained
lis strength in vain to pull one from She ser
yied MACS OF iTeuz.cl beings Th9 piled one
above another IS tasy climbed over to reach
The cir, wildly fastening the gIip OF death upon
any ons escspirg, In OId9F that they might be
I dragged cut with them Women seized ia the
embIaee Of The flames Tgere seen to undergo &
| Transformation as though BY an optical delu-
sion--Grss dszzliGg bright, thon horribly lean
and shTuDk up, then black statutes rigidly
/ fixed in q writhiDg attitude. The Ere, impIis-
cned by ths thickness Of the walls. had deyour-
cd everything combustible b. 10 O'Clock. and
then, dsfyiug the siekeDing stencil, psople came
TO lock for their lost ones. TIE silsuce, after
tie piercing screams Of The burning were
hushed in dSsth, was horrible. Il WAS the ST.
I lenee Of the grave, unbroken but by tho bitter
wall or fRinting sIy. Over two thousand souls
he'd leApea through that ordeal Of Gre to tbs
( Judgment seat Of God.
The wIi'or, referring to tho FIRE, handles the
clergy Ia tbo most severe manner, and ssys the
| population OF Santiago ere hIed with inde-
| seTibEble indignation 81 tha mOnsirous conduct
Of the priests, holding them guilty OF the dG ath
OF all these victims, and particularly Tee mum
I tebaDk UgATss, the inventor Of the Virgins
postCfics' irnpcstUTo, which required count
/ less number of lights, paste board sCeEeIy, etc
Wien ths FIRE hreke out they blocked up The
door Of tho szeTistY, 30 devote themselves more
I undisturbed to saving heir "gimcrAcks." They
saved Gilt image, some wooden saints, chsl-
ices, and gToat deal Of sacred mating Afteg
saving their trash they Red away, except enc
priest, who favored tho Ag5Bized victims with
bis sbsolution.
More lhai five hundred persons Of the high-
est caste p,Fishedl the greater part young
girls between iitioe2 and twenty years OF age.
One neither psrishsd with her i've daughters.
Two-tbirds Of the victims Wera servants Ssv
eIal houses have been noticed By the police as
empty, because all their inmates have per
isbed.
Tho latest information is iha. seventeen hun
dred bodies have been recognized. Three
thousand, at least were in the buildiHg, snd il
is not yet known how many ezcaped.-Batt-
more drReFicua.