The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-04-02
CAPTURE OF IQUIQUE.
A TERRIBLE CONFEDERATION AND
BLOODY STRUGGLE FOLLOWS.

Over &2,oOO,OOO Worth OF Property Do
stroyod-The City Heavily Bombarded
and Abandoned--Revol Threatens
Serious International Conflicts.
PANAMA, March .25-The English
ironclad Warspite arrived at Callao,
March 1st, from Chillian ports. From
those on board some details have been
obtained Of the events which followed
the capture of IquiQue by the rebels
and the first fire which caused the de-
Struction Of property valued at So 2,OOO,-
zoo. 1t appears that when the rebels
captured the port the government
troops took up positions at some dis
tance from it and held themselves in
readiness to attack the city The re-
bels returned to the vessels, leaving
only some fifty men in charge. The
troops soon heard of this and marched
on the place some 200 strong, under
Colonel Soto, They reached the vicin-
lty at about o'clock in the morning
and fell in with a guard of sailors.
Firing commenced and the fusilade on
shore !ed the ships to promptly open
lire. The Blanca, Encalada, Esmeralda
and lluascar used their heavy guns,
While the transports kept their mitrail-
lenses busily employed. n tremend-
Gus obstruction followed and at 10 a. m.
lire broke out in a nitrate warehouse,
which was extlnguished by the fire
brigade. at $50 p. m. another fire
broke out and this time the efforts of
the liremen proved useless, and the
flames spread until the whole central
part of lquique, where tho best stores
and buildings were situated, was III
ruins. Up to the 10th, when the War
spite left lquique the ruins were yet
burning.
The fight which resulted in the fire
was bloody tragedy, and it would
have been more prolonged had it not
been for an arrangement having been
reached by the chiefs of the two parties
and under which the opposition leaders
engaged to pay Colonel Soto $4,000 to
distribute among his men who were
then to join the rebels. Under this
arrangement the government troops
abandoned their arms and soon dis
persed. subsequently Colonel Soto was
arrested and sent on board the AmaZo-
mas, accused of having distributed only
81, ,OOO among his men and having re-
tanned the remaining $4,000.
Those on board the WarSDite had also
been informed that Colonel Robels had
1000 of Balmaceda's troops on the PAM
pas, and that it was possible they would
again attack 1quiQue, i'll which port and
its vicinity the revolutionistS stated
they had 5000 men. They were, how
ever, short of ammunition, but were ex-
decting some by Il steamer by way of
Magellan Strait.
lquique is completely abandoned and
all the inhabitants have taken refuge
on an island where they had previously
been stationed. Pisagua has been
abandoned by the populaco. The In
tendent of IQuique sought refuge on
the Warspite, and subsequently left in
the cable steamer Silvertown for Val
paraiso. The report is confirmed of Il
fight at San Francisco in which Gener-
al Nldagran was killed, and the rebels
were defeated.
In the fight at IQuique on the 10Th,
about 200 persons were killed. Some of
the number lost their lives through
their own imprudence. The Office of
the daily newspaper, NOs DeChetc,
sacked and burned. The Warspite
gave passage to Callao to 115 persons
OF different nationalities. The French
steamship Vile de Belfast, which ar
rived at lquique, reports that 500 killed
and wounded were the outcome OF the
fight on the Tarapaca pampas.
The Lima Drairo said on February
20th: "The present revolution in Chilli
threatens to result in serious interna-
tional conflicts. Peruvian territory has
already been violated by the Chilian
government troops, and now we learn
that government troops with provis-
ions and ammunition have occupied po-
sitions inside the Argentine limits and
on the road to Mondosa. A report
reached Panama March 7th, that when
the forces Of Valparaiso fired on the
Blancoencalada, killing several of her
crew, the commanding officer solicited
permission from the shore authorities
to bury them and that the answer he
received was: "That he might bury
them in the sea-" The commander Of
the Blancocncalada thereupon referred
to the captain of her Majcsty's ship
Champion, and the latter significantly
replied: "Request me to bury them and
shall do So" The request was accord
ingly formally made. Wheroupon the
British commander had the Chillan
dead on the steamer taken ashore un-
der the protection Of the British flag
and buried with due military honors in
graves he had ordered prepared for
them.