The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-08-03
THE HORRORS OF 4 NIGHT.
CITIES DESTROYED BY EARTHQUAKE, FIRE
AND TIDAL WAVE.
tFrom the Boston Advertiser. !

! place, the volcanic mountains of San Pedro
| and San Pablo were observed To be send
! ing forth high in air, frcm their lofty peaks
! f1ames, stones, and ashes. At night the
reflected light illuminated the heavens, at
! times giving reddish glare to the passing
and overhanging clouds, and would gradu-
ally disappear. Now ard then a glimmer-
lug, whltIsh light would brightly be
! tiected from some bursting forth of the
| flames at the crater's mouth, and with
! these frequent changes the night would
| pass away. Daylight gave the appearance
of a dense smoky cloud hanging high above
and around the volcano. At the foot hills
Of these mountain ranges were situated the
cities of Calama, San Pedro, and Chuichui,
Fall of which were destroyed.
! "Wednesday, the 9th day of May, 1877,
was remarkable for the extreme heat and
| suffocating atmospheric cloudy day. In
! the evening at $50, without any announce
ment by the usual rumbling, underground
| sound preceding an earthquake, the earth
began to shake, slightly at first, and then
! theshaking gradually increased in strength.
| For the space of three minutes the motion
of the eaIths S surface was uudulating, rock
| ing, and uplifting. Tue shock was dis
tinctly felt from Calloa, Peru, along the
coast of Bolivia to Valdivia IN the south
ern portion of Chilli, its central poin. of ac-
ton and force being in Bolivia. Upon the
| commencement of the tremor the startled
! populace OF the many different seacoast
/ cities hurried forth from their dwellings
! auc, found themselves scarcely able to main
! tain their foothpld i'll the public streets :;
some there were who fell upon their hands
and knees. The darkness of the night, the
grinding Of the walls of the buildings one
| against the other, the crushing, breaking,
cracking sound of timber, tue tumbling
| down of walls and clouds of dust fiying
about, the crash of household goods, crock
cry, glassware, &c, as they fell, the ring
ing of the church and the other bells with
the sway of the earth-these, together with
| the cries of despair and shrieks of women
and children, ming led with the loud prayers
/ of meIcy, were but a portion of the horrors
! of the passing moments. With diminished
| force for hours after, shake after shake oc-
! Cured, and TO add to the misfurtuues of
| many of the cities, flames broke forth from
the ruined houses.
! Bravely the men contended with the new
enemy, which was fast gaining the upper
! hand. The blazing flames as they shot up
| ward were seen miles away at sea OH ship
board. The light of the confiagration upon
the Jagged, shapelesS ruins of buildings in
the background, and the reflection of the
/ flames upon the passing forms, the scared,
| pale faces of the women as they hastily
passed to and fro, hunting some dear one or
anxious for the welfare of relatives aud
/ friends, gave perhaps faint picture of the
/ "last day" Amid such sad and gloomy
scenes the cry broke aud was repeated from
every side, "The tidal wave!' Men gave
up IN perfect despair, aud with the women
and children, intent on elt-preservation,
they sought, maddened with alright, the
| steep hilsides for safety Mothers were
separatnd from their children, husband
from wife /; everything was confusion and
coufouuded; the sick arose from the places
r-i, had l,nt4 l.ft id
curity, and they, too, rushed on with the
rest, many OF them peIshlng in the at
tempt
The sea gradually left the shore, and
falling back for at least one third of a
mile, as if to gain strength aud velocity
for its fearful coming leap, rising sixty
feet in height it advanced, boiling, rolling,
and tumbling over and over, with deaf
euing noise, bearing all before it in its
course ; vessels, some of them, sank in it's
embrace and were never seen again 9TH
ers clung to their anchorage and for time
were buried in the wave, were lifted up.
and in safety swaying from side to side
settled at last in smooth water many
| dragged and hurried 10 the land, where
they were dismantled OF broken to pieces
The tidal wave, gaining in force and power
with <its onward rolling motion. seemed
striving for the final struggle, and running
| its fearful course it soon entered the thrice
doomed cities, putting out the flames OF
the burning buildings and raising dense
volume of smoke and steam. In receding
the wave took with it all that remained un-
destroyed.
With the appearance of daylight was
, discovered the wreck of what "a few hours
before had been fiourishing cities, now a
dcsolate waste. An industrious. thriving
people were homeless aud houseless, and
soon to suffer the bangs of hunger aud
4
was strewn with the wrecks of their prop.
erty, aud the sea bad destroyed their pro
visions. For five days the tidal waves
rose and fell, growing each day lesser III
force. II is supposed To be the most dis
astrous wave ever experienced this
coast, and to have been caused by a sub
terraDean earthquake under the sea. and
connected with the volcano of San Pedro.
Cities and towns have been ruined,
some of them never 10 be rebuilt in all
probability. Among the places which
have suffered i'll more or less degree are
Callao, Pisagua, Iquique, AFRICA, Cobja,
BAHAMA, San Pedro, Pisco. Pabillon de
Plea, Punto de Lobos Huanilos, Tocopil-
10, Mejilione de Botaena. Many of the
mines have been sunk or badly injured,
and the POSSES sustained by the people are
incalcuiable. The Carmen mine fell out
of plumb and buried thirty five miners
and an overseer i'll its ruins. The trading
steamers of the coast took deck loads of
suffering women and children to Coguim-
DO and Valparaiso, where they were cared
for by liberal, charitable people, and the
Chill Government. immediately upon re-
ceipt of information of the state of affairs
along the coast, sent men-of- war steamers
loaded with clothing, provisions, and wa
tel Cor the relief OF Tie suffering.
The following is related by a captain Of
a vessel on the coast At tise time of the
shock his wife was playing tive piano,
"Home, sweet home" and his TWO daugh-
tiers we're present, singing the song. They
ran up the companonway on deck. and a
few moments later the tidal wave left the
vessel broadside to the incoming current.
The heavy roller struck and bi oke the YES
sci into pieces, and all we're left at the