The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-11-07
Tne Sad STORY Of Mendoza.

In his recertly-published book,
across the Pampas and the Andes"
Mr.. Robert Crawford thus refers to tho
terrible catastrophe which befell the
City of Mendoza less than quarter of
q century ago, when $4,000 to $4,000
people persisted from the effects OF an
earthquake. But the author does more
than simply repeat the sad story of the
calamity. He says:
The 10th of March. 1861, had been
sultry and oppressive day. and. as the
night approached, the half-suffocated
| inhabitants of Mendoza, issuing from
their houses, went in search of cooler
air, or sat at their open doors to catch
each breath that passed, white the more
devout among them assembled in the
churches to offer up their evening
prayer, when, without note of warn.
ing, a terrible destruction swept over
the devoted place. The earth shook
! and opened in yawning chasms; FONDA
tons tottered and houses fell, burying
beneath them nearly the whole of the
population. In less time than it has
taken to describe it all was over, and
from $4,000 to $4,000 people had
persisted in the ruins, which still exist
as records of the dire calamity, and
tell, with force that words could not
express, how terribly complete it was.
| Scarcely was the earthquake over,
when fires broke out in different places
among the debris Of fallen houses, and
ragged for many DAYS before they could
be extinguished. Nature had done Al
most her worst. but it was reserved FOR
man to add the last touch of darkest
shadow to picture already full of
misery. With a cruelty and inhuman-
ity scarcely to be credited, bands of
plunderers from other places rushed to
the scene, as vultures to carcass, end
occupied themselves with endeavor;ng
to secure what spoil they could, instead
of helping the few still surviving but
imprisoned sufferers to escape from
! their living tombs ere the consuming
flames had reached them.
After the catastrophe the Government
tried to induce the scanty remnant of
the population to abandon the site of
the Inflated city. and begin the building
of new one ut some distance from it
but associations proved stronger than
the teachings of experience, and a new
Mendoza has arisen alongside the ruins
of her unfortunate predecessor, evolved
from a state of chaos and confusion
into one of beauty and prosperity. Fine
public buildings, private dwellings that
indicate comfort and convenience. gar
dens with their fruitful vines and
tig-trees, walnut trees, and pop
lars, both Lombardy and Caro-
lima, grace the public streets and walks;
but above all, the pleasant promen-
ade more than half 4 mile in length,
with its streams of running water flow
| ing on both sides, beneath the canopy
of shade afforded by two double rows
of well-grown trees. Add to this the
mountain torrent which rolls past Men
doza along its bed of rounded stones
and gravel, from the mighty Cordillera,
whose slopes reach almost to the city.
All these combined to make a lovely
spot, but in spite of this, it is impossi-
bic to divest the mind of the sad men,
cries connected with the locality.
Your host, while he entertain5 you,
recounts the hairbreadth escape he had
himself, while many members of his
family persisted. The coachman, driv-
ing through the town, tells similar dis
NAL tales of friends he lost, and points
to particular spots among the ruins
where some exceptionally appalling in
cident occurred, while the hair-dresser,
not to be outdone, as he cuts your hair,
pauses at intervals to tell, with the
garrulity of his calling. more horrors
of that dreadful day. With such sur
roundings. it is not surprising that nu-
me.ous precautions should be taken to
guard against the possible recurrence
of similar calamity. The new streets
have been laid out much wider than
the old ones were, and the walls Of
houses are generally composed of
timber framework, filled in with sun
dried bricks. The people, too, live in
state of continual apprehension, as
may be seen from their using, instead
of doors, heavy curtains drawn across
the entrances to their bedrooms, so
that, upon the first alarm of an earth
quake, they may spring from their beds
and rush into the open courtyard, with
which each house is usually provided.
.