Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-12
A QUAHE THAT WAS A QUAKE.
A Story by an Eye Witness of the Col
lapse of the City of Conception.

A@BSOo Va INC CAty VI OOuCcpCAuhs
There is at present stopping in this
city, says the San Francisco Cal, an
aged gentlemen, who has spent the great
er part of seventy-fye years Of an I'M
usually adventurous life abroad. The
gentleman's name is A. D. Holcomb, and
he is now on his way East to end his days,
as he says, amid the scenes of his youth,
after an absence of a quarter of a centu-
ry. In view of the interest recently ex-
cited in earthquakes in the United
States, a Cal reporter visited Mr.. Hol-
comb and asked him to relate some of his
experiences during South American
shocks.
81 will tell you," he said, ''of the de-
struction Of the city Of Conception. The
day was burning one. In the afternoon
a slight shock of earthquake occurred,
but nothing was thought of it. As night
approached the heat appeared to become
more intense. 1 retired to my hammock
early that night. l do not know how long
l slept, but was awakened by the cries
of many people. l arose to find the city
in confusion. looked at my watch. 1t
was 11:30. The people were preparing to
leave the town and seek the highlands of
the mountains. Great distress prevailed
among families; members were missing
and were sought for with walls and lamen-
tations. The heat had become so that it was
like sitting in an oven and undergoing a
gradual baking.
II remember l packed what availables
could find in my valise and prepared to
ioin in the general migration. But de-
parture had been delayed too long. l had
no sooner placed my foot upon the main
street of the town than there came dis
III hn N
creased in sound till it resembled the APP
proach of band of horsemen over a
wooden bridge. At the same moment the
earth seemed to me to rise up perpendic-
ularly and crash against the sky. l
heard the shrieks that went from the flee
ing people as l was tossed like bauble by
the rocking earth. / recollect no more.
When recovered consciousness it was
vet night, and | heard the groans Of
wounded people in agony all about me.
Even as opened my eyes the earth trem-
bled underneath me with the restless mo-
ton of the sea.
sAll that night lay in that spot, agon-
lied by fears and terrOrs indescribable. 1t
was useless TO move or attempt to do any
thing in the darkness. There we're
shocks of more or less severity every few
minutes, and as each shiVer passed l
heard groans of pain and expressions Of
of dawn in the east with a fervent prayer
of gratitude. The sun rose over the Cor
dilleras like circular plate of brass and
revealed dreadful scene. The town of
Conception lay in ruins and 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 assures and openings
will never be known.
'EThe suffering and destruction of the
city of Conception was only a mite in
comparison with what took place in other
parts of the province. At Telcahuana,
the seaport of the province, some seven
miles distant from Conception, tidal
from the ocean and deluged the place.
Thousands were swept away. The fol-
lowing day the shore was strewn with
corpses and masses of dead fish,"