Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-09-19
ONE THOUSAND LIVES LOST.
CotopaXi's Latest Eruption. Darkness,
and Dismay---The Inca BUNS De
StrOyed,

Cotopaxi's Latest Eruption. Darkness
and Dismay---The Inca Ruins De-
StrOyed.
QUTro, July 4.-The eruption took
place on the Goth Of June, with every
circumstance that could increase it's
horror-utter darkness in the broad dav,
thunder and lightning, fearful explosions
that made the earth trembe, subterra-
mean noises and wild gusts of wind, &C
companled by rain of ashes. An eye
witness told me that the volcano poured
out cataract ten times the bulk of
Niagara, which carried all before it in
Its headlong course, and submerged the
whole surrounding country. The tor
rent divided inself into two opposite
directions, as if to give greater scope to
its devastation, and to make tse confu-
sion still more dire One branch took q
southerly course toward the city of
Latacunga, situated twelve miles from
CotopaXi.
On its way the torrent converted the
plain of Callao into an immense lake.
There is but faint hope that the ruins of
the palace Of the Incas, described by
! humboldt and other travellers through
the central valley Of the equatorial
Andes have escaped the ravages of the
Hood. Near Latacunga the furious cur
rent tore up from its very foundation
the cotton factory of Jose VallagOmez,
whose value was estimated at $300,000
crops, cattle, buildings were swept away;
the massive bridges of Catuche and Pam
salvo were destroyed, as well as part
of the fine carriage road Scarce equalled
even IN Europe) which connects Quito
with the towns in the south of the Re
public.
The branch that headed toward the
south of Cotopaxi devastated the pros
porous and enchanting valley of Chillo,
and in particular the estate of Senores
Aguirre, noted for having been the resi-
dence of Humboldt. There, too as in
thriving factory, which, only the year
before had been destroyed by fire, and
had just been repaired at a great ex-
pense. The torrent rooted it from the
ground, and bore it away in thousand
fragments. 1t is asserted that a m II of
Don Manuel Palacios foated on the
water like a ship at sea until scattered by
the current. The loss in the valley of
Chillo alone is estimated at over two
millions Of dollars, and the loss in other
sections is equally great 1t is likewise
calculated that the number of the dead
exceeds one thousand.
A third cataract took an easterly di-
rection, destroying the bridge of Palate,
and doing grievous injury to the estates
IN that neighborhood, of which the most
| important is celebrated for its fine wine
we'll known as "Nino de Patate'
! Although the surroundings of Quito
| have been laid waste, the city itself has
suffered from only rain of ashes and a
complete darkness, which began on the
Goth Of June, at P. NJ At Machache
and other places the night lasted for
of this Opaque gloom one could hear the
believing of the cattle and the cries of
other animals, who deprived Of their
usual food by the shower of ashes, sought
in a species of frenzy for the means to
satisfy their hunger. Other beasts, frantic
with terror, careered hither and thither
as if IN despair. and the piteous bowling
of the dogs pierced the air with its omin-
Gus sound. In Quito the darkness was
not as that Of night; it was like that de-
scribed by the younger Pliny in letter
to Tacitus, in which he relates the erup-
ton of Vesuvius and the destruction of
Pompeii. at was" he says, as if the
| light in room had been eYtinguished
At Quito the shower at first was of
coarse heavy sand, which subsequently
turned into ashes so fine and impalpa-
bic that they penetrated not only into
apartm ents, but into the most carefully
closed receptacles. In the depth of the
darkness, men and women, Drawing the
rain of ashes, sailed forth into the
streets, screening themselves with UNI
brellas and fighting their way With Ian
terms, and all the while these strange APP
partitions rent the air with their cries
and prayers for mercy. The umbrellas,
as well as the green eyeglasses used here
on journeys, were no superluous pre-
caution, although they afforded but
scant protection against the subtle pow
| der, which it was remembered had in
many cases produced blindness during
the eruption of 1913, and the rain Of
ashes of thirty hours that attended it
The Nation.