The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-10-01
A PERUVIAN SHAKE.
The Terrors OF 81 EI TembIor''-Hovy ths
People Act.

Lima Cor. Chicago Tribune.
Since I wrote you my last letter we
| have had some of our customary earth
| quake shocks, passing over Lima in the
direction of Arequipa, and not felt al
all, or very little, in the western part OF
/ the city. Nor did the shock reach Cal
| lao, although it was felt among the
| shipping in the harbor, and the waves
were agitated for few seconds, as if a
| whirlpool were about to form in the bay.
The morning came damp, lowering and
cloudy so that our friends, as we met
| them in the streets, said, with shrug
of the shoulders Regular earthquake
weather this % Exactly IS we would
say to our friend in the United States,
on meeting him, ''We shall have q storm
by and by" At about p. m, low, sui
len clouds settle lower and darker,
birds wheel wildly in frightened cir
cles, chickens and turkey-buzzards fly
IN haste 20 some shelter, and the river
Rimac means noisily as it rushes over
its stony bed. The donkeys In the
street bray with tremendous frequency,
and a cloud of dust, through the foot
deserted streets, warns all pedestrians
that some calamity is at hand. Shut
ters flap and creak the distant blue
hills surrounding Lima darken and
seem lost in gloom my horse, standing
at my paved courtyard gate, unhitched
and free to wander at will up and down
the paths, as is the custom, suddenly
begins to tremble, giving shrill neighs,
and q cold sweat runs down his shapely
neck and legs, as he shudders and grows
more and more uneasy. Now my dog
begins to howl, and crouches with
trembling limbs, and mute, imploring
eyes, at my feet. The wind walls, the
sky darBens, and a hoarse, mutteTed
murniur comes on the air, near and more
near, low and ominOus. Now the doors
rattle. My bird-cage, with its fright
ened occupants, sways and falls ; the
parrot shrieks, Ell temblor FL tenn
blor % (the earthquake the earth
quake y and buried his head under his
wing. Now the very house-timbers and
jOists crack and strain. Chimneys fall,
with adobe plagtering flying and all
the frightened inhabitants. Peruvian
and foreign, rush madly, pell-mell, into
the street. Many run to the open plaza,
or square, to escape the falling build
ings, should any fall.
A sudden lulI, a hush of wind and
moaning sound, and again, louder and
nearer, the dread earthquake comes
again. Here are frightened women,
with disheveled hair and tears of peni-
tence here are wealthy senoras, half
clad, and Just from their toilettes,
kneeling in common fright and suspense
most trying, side by side with the Chi
nese beggar, sore and loathsome, or be-
side negro CholO, fairly pale with ap-
prehension. There are cries and pray
ers, clasped hands and kneeling figures,
in long, black mantas, looking more
CHASTITY from the funeral aspect.
&c Where may we go ?" cry one and all
as the ground rises and fRlls in billOwy
undulations and children mingle their
screams with the general uproar. Yet
all of it passes over in less than a sec
ond of time, less than I have taken
to describe it and whenagain the sun,
bursts forth, the clouds disperse, and
all fears are allayed that the earthquake
will come again this day, then thekneel-
ing figures jump up as lively as they
knelt down, and the laughter and the
gossiping begin. Beside the public
fountains, the dark-eyed senorita, with
the powder on half of her face, gathers
and rolls up her masses of heavy hair,
and, smiling, fits into the house to
complete her toilette and the vocifer-
ous cries of the Water-men, the calls of
the cake and dulce venders, and the
hustle of busy city life commence ex-
actly where they were interrupted an
hour before
Such is the levity of these people, SO
accustomed have they become to these
earthquake shocks that they will dance,
and hirt, and sing go through all the
different gradations of horror, terror,
abiect despair, Paintings, prayings,
kneelings, mea-cuIpa cries and Shrek
ings, during the few short seconds of an
earthquake vibration and forget its
terrors as soon as it has passed quiver-
ingly by.
But with foreigner the case is very
different. He may have been through
fire and food, through the dangers of
shipwreck and through hairbreadth es-
capes on land and sea but the longer
he lives in this volcanic country, the
more he treads its thin, lava-crusted
soil and studies the inner volcanic forces
of its strata, the oftener he experiences
an ever-so-slight vibration of an earth
quake, the more he breads and fears it,
the more solemn are his reflections as
the earth and sea rock and jar and, as
to becoming used to it, only a native
born Peruvian can say that with any
shadow of truth.
OF ali the horrors of an earthquake,
those shocks which occur at night are
the most terrible. Your bed rocks you
like a very cradle; and, throwing on
the first clothing that lies handy, you
attempt to draw with trembling hands
the bolts of the doors of your hours
that meanwhile are jarring and crashing
so that you seem every moment in dan
ger of being buried In living tomb by
the falling timbers-and then, when
desperate fear has given you superhu-
man strength to pull the displaced bolts
from their fastenings, you rush head
long. impelled by the oscillating lateral
motion, into the dismal streets, with
darkness that can be felt all around
You-your knees quaking, and the cries
of kneeling, awe-strIcken wretches sing
ing in your ears.
Such a feeling of insecurity comes
over you, such a sense Of your own lit
tIeness, when the solid ground rolls and
quivels under your feet Such a feel
ing of awe, and shrinking of very soul,
after the shock has passed on and over,
and you are left pallid and dazed, to
think of 1t all.