Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-09-22
0blo Statesman,
THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE.
Authentic Description by an
ID ' Eye Witness. -5., an.
Copy of q Letter written by Ed
ward ID. Taussie, MidshiPrnan1
ON Hoard of United States
'uloO z Steamer Wateree.7 y
U. S. STEAMER. WATERRE,

STRANDED NEAR AFRICA, Aug. 81, '6S. T.
.riDEAR PARENTS How to describe
the terrible change which occurred here
in q, few hours-nay, moments-on the
18th Of this month, is a task too difficult
for me to accomplish; yet, knowing how
anxious you must be, l have taken the
earliest opportunity of jotting down
some of the events. ~ .-sf-1;rC no .ofsO -f
About o'clock on the 18th, we ex-
perienced shock of earthquake, ac-
conpanied by a. low, rumbling noise.
The shock, at first, was very gentle, so
as barely to make the ship tremble, but
gradually increased, so that we were
soon inviolent commotion. Upon rush
ing on deck we saw great masses of the
Moro a white cliff which protects the
town from the southwest winds, which
generally blow -here1, detached, then
the houses began to shake and tremble,
the people to fee toward the hills and
the plaza, to escape being buried among
the ruins of the houses. -------
The shock lasted about ten minutes,
ndrdestroyed about one.half Of the
towno The sea then slightly receded,
tbutin few minutes again rushed in with
immense velocity, its course being along
the beach. Itcarried everything before it,
and being accompanied with another
shock more violent than the first one.
every house.in africa but two was either
washed away by the sea or shaken to
the ground by the shock. A great many
of the people had crowded in front of
the custom house and on the mole, and
some sixty of them are supposed to have
been carried away by the current, which
totally submerged the mole, for, upon
the sea receding. neither they nor the
least sign of the mole was to be seen.
Immediately after the second shock, a
man, crying for help, was seen upon a
mass, of earth and weeds, drifting by us,
being carried along by the current,
which was running with great atswiftness.
Immediately after. the first shock, all
the boats were lowered, and one of them,
the first. cutter, was manned. Upon
hearing the cries OF the man on the float,
Mr.. Stuyvesant asked for an officer 10 go
in the first cutter, so volunteered, and
as soon as the boat could be
hauled alongside, or rather under the
stern, 1 let myself down into her, cast
off and letting go the painter, pulled sin
the direction from which his voice was
heard, but by this time he was far be.
yond the reach of our aid, and the sea
receding again with great violence, we
barely escaped being carried to sea for
tunately we brought up close alongside
the Wateree again, and rope thrown to
us was made fast to our bows. The
scene now was fearful the town of Nor
ro was envelopedin smoke and dust, for
the houses falling down had started three
or four fires in the different portions of
the town. The swiftness of thecurrent
had carried us about mile to the north
and east of our anchorage; a brig in
shore of us went on the rocks, and a
bark with American colors was on her
beams ends. The sea always came in
from the south and west, and went out
from the north and east. During part of
the time strong breeze blew from the
south and west also. The Fredonia
and Peruvian corvette America until
then had still held = their ground.
An English bark, the Chauarcillo,
was being dragged in the same direc-
tion as we. The sky was overcast, SO
that at six it was perfectly dark. The
ship had now two anchors down, with
about 100 fathoms (600 fset) to each
chain. The chain of the -Chauarcillo
rushed out with such speed as to strike
great flashes of fire in passing through
her hawser pipes; the sea came in, in
immense waves, so that in the cutter,
for I was still hanging to the stern of
the Wateree by the rope that had been
thrown us, the spray wet us completely
and rocked so violently as to endanger
the equilibrium of the boat. Violent
shocks were heard every few minutes,
keeping every thing in commotion. The
sea was covered with the debris of the
wreck-houses, railroad cars and tracks,
boats, men, dogs, trees, logs, &C., were
rapidly carried past us, first one way
and then the other. The boats made
fast to the ship had great difficulty in
keeping clear of the driftwood. About
half-past P. NJ, the rope which held
my boat to the ship broke, casting
us adrift for a few seconds.
was in great uncertainty whether to
go to sea, make for the "Fredonia' or
for the. "America." The waves, and
currents decided for the America, so that
with all our might and main we pulled
for her. 1 rendered willing hands to
the stroke-oarsmen in order to make sure
that all hands kept one stroke, for il
any bad failed We would Immediately
have been drowned. l never pulled SO
hard in all my life; and although it could
not have been more than two or three
minutes before we were under the stern
of the America, Iehad but little breath
left in me to go through the rest of my
adventures. The Peruvians cast us a
small line, which, with our oars pulling
kept US pretty close under her stern.
The helm was of little use, as the sea
was now in such ferment that it was
impossible to tell from where the current
did not come. The Peruvians then
threw us another line, which we made
fast. and then seeing itwa impossible for
the boat to live in such sea, ordered
the men to climb up, which they did as
rapidly as possible. We had a good
deal Of slack rope, and the sea would
sometimes bring us close under the
America's counter and then would
tauten out the line to its full
extent. As we always came
alongside with thump, we soon
sprung some of the planks. The boat
was half full of water, the line was taut,
and there was still three men in the boat
beside myself. "For Gods sake, give
way,pI cried, and with four oars out
"a Wifi al or1r might. Tho Pa.