Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1877-08-01
The Horrors Of a Night.

were observed 10 be sending 1ortl
high in the air, from their loft.
peaks, flames, stones and ashes
At night the reflected light illumin
ated the heavens, at times giving
reddish glare to the passing anC
overhang clounds, and would grad
ually disappear. Now and then
glimmering, whitish light would
brightly be reflected from some
bursting forth Of the flames at The
crater's mouth, and with these fire.
quent changes the night would pas:
away. Daylight gave the appear
ance of a dense, smoky cloud hang
ing high above and around the vol
cano. At the foot hills of these
mountain ranges were situated the
cities of Calama, San Pedro and
Chuichui, all of which were de-
stroved.
Wednesday, the 9th day of May,
1877, was remarkable for the
extreme heat and suffocating at
mosphere-a cloudy day. In the
evening at $50, without any an
nouncement by the usual rumbling,
underground sound preceding an
earthquake, the earth began to
shake, slightly at first, and then
the shaking gradually increased in
strength. For the space of three
minutes the motion of the earth's
surface was undulating, rocking,
and uplifting. The shock was
distinctly felt from Callao, Peru,
along the coast of Bolivia to
Valdivia, in the southern portion
of Chill, its central point of action
and force being in Bolivia. Upon
the commencement of the tremor
the startled populace of the differ
ent seacoast cities hurried forth
from their dwellings and found
themselves scarcely able to main
tain their foothold in 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 crashing,
breaking, cracking sound of tim
der, the tumbling down of walls
and clouds of dust flying about,
the crash of household goods,
crockery, glassware, etc, as they
fell, the ringing of the church bell
with the sway of the earth-these,
with the cries of dispair
and shrieks of women and children,
with the loud prayers of
mercy 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 misfor-
tunes 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 upward
were seen miles away at sea on
The light of the con-
flagration upon the jagged, shape
less ruins of buildings in the back
grounds, and the reflection of the
flames upon the passing forms, the
scared, pale faces of the women as
they hastily passed two and fro,
hunting some dear one or anxious
for the welfare of relatives and
friends, gave perhaps a faint pic
ture of the "last day." Amid such
sad and gloomy scenes the cry
broke forth and was repeated from
everyside. "The tidal wave"
Men gave up in perfect despair,
and with the women and children,
intent on self-preservation, they
sought, maddened with alright,
the steep hill-sides for safety
Mothers were separated from their
children, husband from wife I; every
thing was confusion and confound-
ed; the sick arose from the places
in which they had been left in
fancied security, and they, too,
rushed on with the rest, many of
them perishing in the attempt.
The sea gradually left the shore,
and, falling back for at least one
third of a mile, as il to gain
strength and velocity for its fearful
coming leap, rising sixty feet in
height, it advanced, boiling, rolling
and tumbling over and over, with a
deafening noise, bearing all before
it in its course vessels, some OF
them, sank in its embrace and were
never seen again; others chung to
their anchorage and for time were