Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-10-02
MILWAUKEE,.
AOUAKE THAT Vas 4 QUAKE.
The story by M Lye-wisness or the Collapse
Of the cay OF Conception.


There il at present stopping In this city
an sgcd gentleman who has spent the
greater pant Of scyenty.iye years OF an UNI
usually adventurous life abroad. The gen
ilenan's name /. 4. ,. Ilolcomb. and he 10
row on his way East 10 spend bis days. ss he
says. amid the scenes 81 hi, youth, 'ter an
absence OF quarter OF a century. ln view
of The interest recently excited In earth
uuakes in the United states. CAL reporter
visited MIR. Ilolcomb and asked him To
relate some Of his experiences during
South American shocks. 81 VIII tell You"
said he, "of the dc,t uctiOn OF the city OF
Conception. The day was a burning one.
ln The afternoon a slight shock Of elrth-
quake occurred. but nothing was thought
oi h. A. night approached the heat
arreor'd T. become more Intense. L
rcured 10 my hammock early that night.
| do not know now long ] slept.
but I was awakened by the cies Of
many people. | arose 10 ind the city In
confusion, looked al my watch. II was
haf.pa>t II. The people were pre-
varirg 10 leave the town ana seek the
highlands OF the mountains. Grer dis
tlcss prevailed among families. Members
were missing. and were sought for with
walls and lamentations. The heat had be-
come 80 that II was Ike sitting In m oven
and undergoing a gradual baking.
II remember packed what available.
could find in my yaiise and prepared 10
Join In the general migration. But depnr-
! ture had been delayed too long. | had no
/ sooner placed my foot upon the main street
| of the Town than there came distant
rumbling from the west. II increased In
sound TN Il resemblcd the approach
| OF band OF horscmen over a
wooden bridge. AT the same mo-
| ment the earth seemed 10 me u
| rise up Icrpendculariy and crash against
the sky heard the shrieks that went
from he fleeing people a. was tossed Ike
A baulle by The rocking earth. rec0llect
| nomorc. Wien recovered consciousness
II was yet night. and ! heard the groin' OF
wounded people in agony all about me.
| Even as opened NV eve. the elrih trrm-
! blcd underneath me with the restless mo-
ton II the sea.
"All that night Ivy In that spot, ago
nized by fears and terrors indeScribible.
Ii was useless 20 move or attempt 10 do
ANYTHING IN the darkness. There were
shocks II more or le,, severity every few
minutes. and n each SILVER passed
/ heard groans OF pain and express
siOus OF fear on every side.
hailed the first lush oi dawn In
the East with feryent prayer OF graft
tude. The sun rose over the Cordiileras
like circular plate Of brass and revealed
dreadful scene. The town OF Conception
lay in ruins aud hundreds OF its people
were dead. Great assures and openings In
the earth were visible here and there. from
which volumes Of gaseous matter poured
forth. How many were swallowed up IN
the assure, and openings will never be
known.
"The suffering and destruction At the
city OF Conception was only mite in coni-
parison with what took place in other parts
OF the Province. At Tclcahuana. the sea-
port Of the Province. some seven miles
distant from Conception, a tidal wave over
forty feet In height rolled in from the ocean
and deluged the place. Thousands were
swept away. The following day the shore
was strewn with corpse. and masses Of
dead fish,