Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-08-20

/ ffAtN fAfNNNNNA WI AAlt MVlkN W ' A7aAAuA
or lquique. Last November the
Anglo Chlleno Nitrate Com any's
mines shut down and work at the
Aagua Santa Government mine was
also stopped. This threw some 5000
men out ~ work aud caused great dis.
tres-, especially n tho mines had been
only about ten weeks In operation,
there having been strike In July on
account OF the payment Of wages IN
| paper money which was worth only Is
cents on the dallsr.
"rhings were Ia very bad shapes In
Chile. Allalong the coast provisions
were high and work was scarce, when,
on January doth, Balmaceda Issued
the proclamation In which he declared
himself the dictator OF Chile. Every.
hOdy knew Mt once that trouble would
come and that the critical situation
would be made even worse than u had
been"
Knox then related the circumstances
under which the hostillties between
the Congressional party aud the Gov.
eminent were commenced by the
rring on the revolutionary tnau of.war
lllsuco Encalada In the harbor Of
Valparaiso by Balmacedh's troope,
on which occasion eight men were
killed. He complained u the brutal
manner Ia which the Chilean Gov
crnment officers received the bod les Of
these iirst victims Of the light when
they were brought on shore.
z Speaking NJ the occurrences nj Pr
sagua n month later Knox continued.
'On February 18th the Magcllancs,
Gus OF the insurgent cruisers, arrived
In port, aud the commander sent word
10 Governor Valen1lula, demanding
immediate surrender. The city had n
garrison of eighty men, and the Gov
efuOr, considering this strong enough
force 10 resist the Congressional war
ship, sent defiant answer.
"rhe people OF pisagun, who were In
Sympathy with the Congressional
party rubellud against Valcnzuolnis
action, aud his little army Joined the
insurfrctlonists. Nhlunzueln aud his
counselor, Judge CAsiillus, we're drag.
gcd out Of their beds at two O'Clock In
the morning, and sont by one OF the
Mngcllhner' launches 10 lqulque.
some forty volunteers Joined the
eighty dCsert.rH from Balmacoda's
army, and marched with them twenty
i've miles 10 In Cruz de Iabign, where
800 Government soldiers were stationed
10 give them battle. They were
bcnien, aud had 10 retreat 10 pi-agua,
followed closely by Balmace1a's men,
who qAmprd NJ Cuesta Arena, "a small
place back Of the seaport, ami few
days later took possession Of Pisagua.
"Nalenzuela and Casiilius returned
aud once more assumed control. They
were greatly ombitteted against tho
! NssaHafsla "a lao had NNa..fs
and M soon ~ they resumed power
they began 10 treat the cllig,ns tyran.
nically. All the stores aud all tho
shops were ordered closed, and none
were allowed 10 sell or give away Pre-.
Visions Of my kind except on orders
issued daily by Nalcnzuela, who dult
out ratirns very sparlngiy. The town
was almost fanilshlug. when Ono day
twenty pampinos (saltpoter miners)
arrived from the Interior 10 purchase
supplies. When these men found
that the restriction placed on the store
keepers prevented them from laying In
stock OF provisions they became No Ia.
censed that during the night they at
tackled Nnlenkuela's residence and,
using cobblestones ~ missiles, started
In. 10 demolish II. The Governor
called out 10 his troops and ordered
them TO fire, which they did. The
fuslladc continued for thirty mlnutos
aud twenty-five people were killed,
many Of them being Innocent women
and children.
"a reign ofterror then commenced
nj Plsagua. Government spies
watched every man, aud the slightest
expression which could be miscon.
strued n an offensive remark against
the Governor or Balmaceda was i'm.
modlatoly punished by death. Tx
ecutions by TOpo or by rifle were daily
occurrences And the people, who were
literally starving ON the streets, did not
dare TO complain.
Relief came at last, hut II came In n
terrible manner. On February Goth
the city was bombardcd from q. m.
until 10 O'Clock this next morning aud
hundreds OF people were killed Ia their
houses and ON the streets, The men.
Of-war Amazona, O'lIiggins, Cochrane
and ChacOpOal had Joined the Magel.
lanes during the night and at daybrake
the thunder Of many cannon and the
burrtingOf shells told the people Of
Pisagua that they were about 10 DO 70.
lieved from the tyrryny OF Valenzuela
at the cost NJ many lives and the de.
stfuction Of much property"
Knox graphically related the hOr-
rors OF the bombardment and tho
scenes which followed. "Out Of the
800 soldiers ouly twenty were alive
whom the firing ceased" he said,
'ani broken up homes, weeping and
praying women, Wholesale destruc-
ton OF property and funeral prosses-
sions were constantly before my eyes
for many days. Castilius was killed by
u police sergeant, who found him In
hiding behind big bed IN his house.
and the much hated Governor Nalon.
zuela was taken on board the "COch.
rane.n
When asked what ultimately be-
came OF Nalenzuela, the young Chilean
smiled anu said. Gas soon ns he was
ON board OF the man.ot.war It steamed
out Of the harbor, and when she ro-
turned two hours later there was no
more Valonzuela ON board. What
they did with him don't know, but
the people believe that he was simply
thrown overheard aud drowned. At
any rate, nobody has ever seen him
since"
On February 2Sth Knox Joined tho
army, enlisted IN the
First Artillery Regiment OF Santiago,
aud with that regiment he fought In
the battles Of San Francisco, Rasarlo
Hura, POao al Monte anu Iquique,
He claims that whenever tho Gov.
eminent troops obtained victory II
was ON account VI their superiority In
and at times when tho Con.
army was short " proylslons.