Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-09-23


destroyed. A few minutes after j Z. NJ, on the
18th instant, the inhabitants were terrified by
Ioud subterraneau noises, pres>aging the ap-
pl oach Of al earthquake. The shock Immediate.
ly followed. Every lding was shaken to.its
foundation. The populati0n rushed into the
st.e, Is, and those who were not bun led by the
try with all. spced, Had they. remained iu
the city the entire population must have per
iShcd. a. Immediately onthe paSsingof the
fist shock, tiie sea retired for some distance
ard then returned with great rush and u
roa.i sound more terrible than the loudest
lLu,sdrr. he wave was oi drta,lfut height
al:d iorce. and il swept irrcsistibly over the
town, completing ihg ruin begun by the car,h-
quake No, a mercantile establishment has
escaped, nor docs ve>tige remain OF the most
opulent aud handsome section OF that town.
The massive buildings belonging 10 the nj
trate merchants, mostly constructed OF stone
and lime, have entirely disappeared. Build,
IS constructed of timber were swept away
at once, lra.ing nothing 10 mark the place
where tley sl.oi. II
The iuroad made by the sea extended to-
the Eant ra. part uf which was covered by
tie wave, and that section oflthe town known
BY the ume Of the Puniela has been entire
ly destroyed, leaving nothing but he debris
OF innumcrabie houses. Since the occurrence
OF the. 18th repeated sh .cks have been felt,
al. hough of u nilder4uatura. The inhabitants,
filed with CONSERVATION, retired OH the Incur
siun. of the sea, a..d cannot be prevailed upon.
to return to tile town. -s, s.sle' -
The Furnishing city africa, through which
the greatest, part, OF our commerce with tue,
neiglboring republic of Bolivia flowed ), and.
which was the most picturesque vi our ports.
alter havi.g bSen destroyed by the earth:
quake, was obiterstcd by the SEA. There, rs
in the other towns on the coast, the water,
after having retired to a. great distance, fell
with irresistible force on the ruins of the
buildings, and has efta sud and silent beach,
where but q, short time before was activity
andsliie. s..@ -; r.. sr.
The port of Chala, about half way between
| Callao and Iquique. suffered great damage, the
havoc Continuing for about forty five minutes.
at the moment the steamship Santiago Was
about TO anchor, after a shock Which was felt
| very sersibly on board, the sea receded, part
| ing the chain Of the vessel, and of the CONS
.,pany's hulk, a.. anchor in the roadstead and
then returned at height Of about. fifty feet
covering the rocks about the anchorage aud
in the harbor, and sweeping up into the town
| for. the distance of over one thousand feet.
The customhouse, steamship agency, MOLE,
and everything within range, was swept away
| by three successive seas, preceded and 1el:,
lowed by as many rs twelve. shocks OF eartl-
quake. leach LISTING from three seconds 10 two
minutes in duration. 4 -,s e.
AN EYE.wlrNEss DESCRIBES TIE SCENES rs
+. AFRICA. . s!s;t q.
i From africa the -ageot Of the Pacific Steam
\ Navigation Company writes: -
i At.about. five o'clockin the afternoon ofithe
4 18th eswere visited with a.tremendous earth,
quake. had barely tine,t to set my iwileand
children into the street " heh5 the whole OF
theSwalls of,my house iell--ftll.is. hardly the
word, as they were blown out as if they were
ypatsat me; the same time the earthiOpened,
probably two or threeinches, and belched out
dust, accompanied with terrible stencil IA
of powder, the. air was darkened, and could
not see my wife who was within two feet Of
Eme with the children. Ifathis had LASTED any
! time we must have been sufocated, but in
about. a.couple of minutes it. cleared, aud,
4 collecting my household goods together,
; then started forathe hills. Howfwe passed
through thesfalling houses, when we saw men
struck down, some stone dead, others manned,
d is5to-me:amysterYT Tbut merciful Providence
was over us. We -wendtd our sad way as
we'll asiwe could towards the hills the earth
: shakingr making US stagger as druuken peo-
I pie, when great cry weut,up': "The-see has
retired" hurried onaud had barely got
to- the outskirts of the town when looked
back and.saw ailthe vessels in the bay car
ried out irresistbly to the sea, probably with
q speed OF ten miles an hour. In few min:
utes the great outward current stopped; then
rose a mighty wave, Il should Judge about fifty
feet high, md came in with a fearful rush; car
rying everything before tim its awful majes-
lty; the wholeso the shipping came back with
it, sometimes turningin circles, but all speed
1 ing on. Meanwhile the wave had passed in,
struck the mole into atoms, swallowed up my
office, and roaring. on swallowed up the Gus
tomhouse, and rushing down the same street,
carried everything before it. The remains OF
my dwelling house eidisappeared faster than,the
change OF scene in Christmas pantonfme,
! my launchesshad long since diappeared and
my ruin was completed. Every vessel was
eitherrsshore or bottom upward. The Peru
vian war steamer America lost about eighty
a|flve hands. The United States steamer Wa
teree escaped Will: the loss of one life; with
small draft Of water; shewas carried bodily
on the top of the sea, and landed about a
quarter of mile inshore of. the railway track.
i The Fredunia, United States storeship, was
bottom upwards, every soul on board persisted
(excepting: the captain, surgeon and paymas-
ter, who were on shore and were sayed). The
British bark Chanarcilio, of Liverpool, was
| lying high up on the beach, the remains oil 81
hull half. her crew perished. An Amer.
ican bark. laden with guano was swallowed
up, and has not left a,yestige to tell her fate.
The last of the lfated squadron, Perpyian
bark, was placed on the railway track appar
emily without losing rope or spar. For near.
| ly two days we lay on the hills without, Gov
,ering and without food, ina constant state Of
alarm, as the shocks of earthquake were in
cesssnt. q. -.
THE EARTHQUAKE AT THE cHlSCHA ISLANDS
At the Chinehss great damage was done to
the shipping. The following is a list Of the
vessels injured or destroyed The British ship.
Resoute, partially destroyed British ship
Eastern Empire, badly damaged; British
ship Royal Oak, in leaky condition = .'tish
ship Oceanica, almost wreck; Brit, u ship
Southern Ocean, badly dathaged; Prlssan
bark Leopold II, a total wreck. Many of the
above vessels were; loaded, and were about toi
leave; their cargoes have all been badly in
jdred. All the launches and small vessels are
tot,dly destroyed the wharves and the mole
are so injured that immense sums will have
to BE- expended on them before they can be Of
any service. In addition to the mortality at
Iqnique we haze to record the death Of DR.