Weekly Trinity journal., 1864-02-06
NUMBER 4.
The Calamity at santiago.

The late terrible disaster at Santiago, Chill,
by which over two thousand human beings per-
ished by an awful death, has been mentioned in
the JOURNAL The steamer america, brings fuller
details The following particulars are from the
Valparaiso Aercrio of Dec. 18th.
Every year, from the sth of November to the
9Th of December, the day of the immaculate
Conception, lasted splendid festival in which
orchestral music, singing, and an astonishing
prodigality of incense, of lights of oil, liquid
gas, wax and every combustible in the world,
glittered and ared in every part in the cornices,
in the ceiling and particularly on the high altar.
Every night the church blazed with sea of
flame and 1uttered with clouds OF muslin and
gauze draperies. 1t could only be lighted up in
time for ceremonies by beginning in the middle
| of the afternoon, and the work of extinguishing
was only ended when the night was far advanced.
In 1858 they thought of adopting hydrogen gas,
but the engineer plan, though convenient and
safe, rejected. The church was built in the
latter half of the seventeenth century, possessed
a spacious nave, but roof that dated back only
Is years ago, of painted timber. The only door
of easy access to the congregation was the prn-
cipal one in the center, the small doors leading
TO the asles being only opened half way and OBJ
structed by screens. Near the high altar there
|
cristy.
few minutes before seven in the evening Of
Tuesday, Dec. Sth, more than 3 zoe women and
a few hundred men knet in that church, cram
med to'overfowing The lighting of the lamps
had hardly been finished when the liquid gas in
a transparency on the high altar, set fire its
wood work and wrapped in fame kind of tab
ernacle wholly composed Of canvas, paste-board
and wood. In less than two minutes the altar,
twenty-three yards high and ten Broad was an
inextinguishable mass of flame.
The advance of the fire was, perhaps, even
more rapid than the panic Of the audience
When the fire had flown from the altar to the
roof the whole flock of devotees rushed to the
principal door Those the lateral doors
were able to escape at the first alarm others,
and particularly the men, gained the little door
of the sacristy and lastly those near the chief
outlet forced their way through the throng, even
still struggling to get in. and indeed part of
which did get in, even in the face of the fire,
stimulated by the desire of getting good place,
which on this occasion meant good place to die
in Then, the flames having crept along the
whole roof and consequently released the lamps
of oil and liquid gas from the cornices to which
they strung, rain of liquid blue FIRE pour
ed down upon the entangled throng below, and
and in fifteen minutes tpo thousand human beings
had pershed including many children, but very
few men.
Help all but impossible. A Hercules might
! have strained his strength in vain to pull one
from the serried mass of frenzed wretches who
, piled one above another as they climbed over to
reach the air, wildly fastened the grippe Of death
upon any one escaping, i'll order that they might
i be dragged out with them. Those who longed
to save them were doom cd to bear the most har
rowing sight that ever scared human eye-balls.
To see mothers, sisters-tender and timid women
dying that dreadful death that appals the
stoutest heart of man-within one yard of saliva
| tion-within one yard of men who would have
I given their lives over and over again for them.
1t was maddening-the screaming and wringing
of hands for help as the remorseles flames came
on and then--saye when some already dead
with fright were burnt in CHASTITY Indifference
their horrible agony--some in prayer, some tear
ing their hair and battering their faces. Women
r seized in the embrace of the flames were seen to
undergo a transformation as though by an optical
, illusion-frst dazzlingly bright-then horribly
lean and shrunk up-then black statues rigidly
1 fixed In writing attitude.
The fire imprisoned by the immense thickness
of the walls, had devoured everything combus-
tible by 10 clock. Then, defying the sckening
stencil, people came to look after their lost ones.
, what sight the fair, placid moon looked
down upon Close packed crowds of calcined,
= distorted forms, wearing the fearful expression
of the last pang, whose smile was once heaven
the CHASTITY phalanx of black statutes twisted
in every variety of agony, stretching out their
arms, as imploring mercy-and then of the heap
f that chOked up the door, multitudes with the
lower parts perfectly untouched, and some a
shapeless ruin, but with one arm or foot I'M
t scratched. Two thousand souls had passed
! through that ordeal Of fire to the judgment seat
8 of God.
Heroic acts of sublime daring have not been
:. wanting. Enduring gratitude has been excited
o in every CHILEAN heart by gallant efforts of Mr.
Nelson, o. S. Minister, his countryman Meiggs
Lon ofh hon An
or an American was seen to rush through the
/; flames, seize in his powerful arms lady, stride
+ with her a little way, and then, his hair in
blaze and choked with smoke, fall back into the
volcano never to rise again. A young lady
+ named Orella having in vain implored some by
# ISLANDERS to save her mother rushed in and short
j.. " afterwards miracuously issued forth, bearing
her glorious load. young lady named Solar,
: lust before the smoke suffocated her, had the
e presence of mind to tie her handkerchief round
J. her leg that her corpse might be easily recog-
nized.
More than 500 persons of our highest society
have persisted, the greater part young girls OF
n fifteen to twenty years. One mother has perish
f ed with her FIVE daughters. Two-thrds of the
victims were servants, and there are many houses
:, I, in which not one has escaped. Several houses
have been noted by the police as empty because
s all its inhabitants have persisted.
The people think of nothing but the victims
and their obsequies. All with one voice demand
the demolitionof the ruinous walls Of the fata
temple and the Offering of monument TO thu
S dear memory of the martyrs. The municipal
body solicited this, by the medium of q commits
sion on the 18th, and the Government on tn,
l4th of December ordered that the walls be lev
s eled to the ground
STATE observation-disclosures Jones and Assem-
blyman Personette are thanked for pamphle
copies of the annual reports of the Surveys
General, Secretary of State, Capitol Commits
, sioners, Trustees of State Library Trustees o