The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-12-04
The Sad STORY Of Mendoza.

In his recently published book,
s.Across the Pampas and the Andes"
Mr. Robert Crawford thus refers to the
terrible catastrophe which befell the
City of Mendoza less than a quarter of
8 century ago, when $4,000 to $1,000
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 goth 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, while 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; founda-
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 q cruelty and inhuman-
ity scarcely to be credited bands of
plunderers from other places rushed to
the scene, as vultures to a carcass, and
occupied themselves with endeavoring
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 a new one at some distance from it !;
but associations proved stronger than
the teachings of experience, and 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
fg-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 a 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-
BILE to divest the mind of the sad men,
cries connected with the locality.
Your host, while he entertains 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-
merous precautions should be taken to
| guard against the possible recurrence
| of a 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 q
timber framework, filled in with sun
dried bricks. The people, too, live in
a 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.