Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1868-10-02
lirius nnO sllisrfllaap.
THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE.
Further Particulars OF the Awful "a
fastrophe--A Chastity SpeetaeIe--1ht
Dead Arise from their Graves.
rCorrespopdence Of the y. Y. limos

-, eartbouaIzes which had lately visited
tHis country and DESTROYED nearly the en-
tire south of Peru. and we are constantly
receiving new particulars and hearing Oh
further catastrophe by each new arrival
from the southern coast. BY the steamer
Of Yesterday, Gen. Fitzpatrick, our Minister
to Chill. arrived, on his way TO the United
States. and he reports the earthquake to
have been felt as far down the coast as
Chill, and below Valparaiso, utterly destroy
inc the towns of Talcahuano, TOcopllla,
Tome, 8Iolle, Jumin, and Mejillones, In
Chilli either by shaking the houses down
to complete ruin, or by the inundatIon OF
the sea. In Tacna there IS not foot
square of the town left, and to give some
idea of the immense power and strength OF
the successive shocks of the earthquake,
II is stated that in the little town of Mo-
uuedna there were over fifty heavy shocks,
In intervals Of only a minute between each
onel There was nothing destroyed IN VAL
paraiso or IN La PaZ, although the SHOCKS
were very heavy; and 1t Is singular TACT
that towns, cities and villages 10 the north
and south Of Valparaiso were entirely de
stroved Conception and Curico are
in total ruins, aud at NOria all the
extensive saItpetre establishments, eight IN
number, are entirely destroyed. The Cap
tain OF the ChaTnavilio. an English bark,
arrived here on the last steamer, having
lost his ship, eight men, and barely escap-
ing with his lie. IL Is n singular Tact that
a box containing all his ships papers was
washed ashore and recovered. The body
of Mrs DYER, of the ill-fated Fredonla,
was also washed ashore and buried HE
remains of her husband have never been
found IN English ship, the Kamahama-
ha. was lost: all the crew were saved, but
the Captain was lost.
General Fitzpatrick reports singular
aud horrible sight that occurred at AFRICA,
on the south side of the ruined city. As
the earth opened and yawned, there came
rp RE hundred HummieS, Sho stand IN long
lines facing the sea, every one of the skele-
tons IN perfect preservation. the hands
doubled mp and supporting the chin, the
knees drawn up, and the feet supporting
the fleshless body This must be one OF
the most fughtful sights possible, and
quite beyond description. The SPOT where
these mtmm;es now stand was once an old
cemetery. some ninety years ago, 1t is said,
and these skeletons are doubtless the tabled
Incas and Indians, who either buried
themselves dIire. or were inferred IN this
manner. They correspond exactly to the
old mummies of the IncaS, which / de-
scribed In Il former letter as among the Gu
riOsities to be seen IN the museum ut Lima.
As the ground receded, what a CHASTITY
spectacle, amid the throes of an earth
quake. the coming up again to earth of
these long-buried skeleton remains. Five |
hundred ghOstly mummiesl
There az. fearful stories of the robberies /
committed among the destroyed places. |
Bands OF thieves, mostly the muleteers and !
the very Offscouring of humanity, having |
saved their own lives by running to the |
mountains, have now returned to the ru- /
ined towns to rob and pillage. They prowl !
around the ruined houses, overturning
stones and dOOrways, and pulling out from
under the dust and shattered buildings /
many valuable goods. money, pieces of ele- !
CANT furniture, trunks of clothing, &c. /
And they assemble In crowds upon the /
sea shore and break open boxes, casks of 1
liquors, goods of all kinds that are washed /
ashore from the wrecks of ships and other /
vessels. Nor do they spare the dead, for l /
have been told by an intelligent Peruvian, |
formerly doing business IN Islay, but who /
has Just returned here penniless that these /
miserable thieves viii rifle a dead body of
everything upon it; and hunting among
the ruins for valuables, they will often drag
out a dead body, only to pilfer ii, and cast
il back among the fallen ruins. In one in
stance these LadrOnes found an immense
case of sarsaparilla, washed ashore from
some ship and they drank every bottle of
1t, imagining 1t to be beer. The people
who formerly inhabited these fallen towns,
(those who were fortunate enough to escape
death from the earthquake or by the IN
coming of the sea, } are living In the most
abiect want aud poverty. Many of them
are IN tents. but by far the greater number
have neither clothing, nor shelter, nor
food Having but a minute to escape to
the hills, they are now homeless, house
less, shelterleSs, and without means of sus-
tenance, and many of them must undoubt-
eddy perish.
Some idea of the suffering may be had
when we realize that in the city of Are
quipa alone, a place containing from $4,000
to lO0,O 600 inhabitants, there is not one
house left standing-literally mot one
stone upon another" Peruvian gentle
man who was In africa, has given me many
horrible details and incidents. He says:
''No one who did not witness it can form
any idea of its horror" Groans and out
crys, falling buildings andshivered timbers,
the air so filed with dust and ashes, so
choked with the fine dirt of the adobe
buildings. and so strong an electric smell
in the air, similar to the strongest brim-
stone, that the only way peop.e could
breathe or escape it was by throwing him
or herself fiat on the ground and burying
the face fiat to the very earth which
groaned and opened around them. Parents
crying for their children, wives screaming
to their husbands; and binding cloud of
dust and birthstone, and the crash of tum-
bling houses, the roar of the terrible in
coming sea, and the shrieks of the wound
ed diving in the falling ruins. In Moqua
the ground opened, and as it closed again
instantly it caught the ill-fated people,
leaving them partly projected from the
earth. Here are to be seen hands protrud-
ing, feet and toes sticking out above the
earth, the top of head, and even the
whole head and neck of some of the peo-
pie, fingers and arms, with the bodies to
which they belong shut into the gaping
earth What horrible deaths must these
have been
In africa, a Mr.. Billinghurst,a prominent
citizen, with his wife and five children, re-
fused TO leave their home, believing them
selves safe, bolted and barred within the
building which was very strong one
The whole family persisted. and the re-
mains are found buried in the ruins about
them.