The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-09-02
CALAMITY NOT NEW
TO VALP ARAISO
Has Beeo Twice Before Shaken
by Great Earthquakes
BLIGHT OF EVIL DESTIN
City Has Been Twice Sacked, Three
Times Upset by Earthquakes,
Thrice scoureed by Fire
and Once Flooded.
BLIGHT OF EVIL DESTlN
From the Kansas civ Times.

lAtltlonS u eNl as lnlS valley OF Hdrd-
disc" inaptly so named by a Spanish dis
coverer in the sixteenth century.
Don Juan de Saavedra, captain under
Aln1agron. Spanish voyager and soldier of
fortune. sailed into the crescent bay
where the city afterward stood in tho
year 1882. He was struck by the beauty
of the spot. and Immediately chrlstened
this new bay on the little-explored west
ern coats by the name that 1t has borne
through much tribulation since. Pedra de
yaldivia visited the place in 1913 choice of
the name given the then struggling coll
ony by its foster father Don Luis de
Alvala. one of the early governors of New
Spain made the settlement a municipality
under royal charter in 1871. after it had
been sorely tried by many years of mis-
fortunue
In 1913 Sir Francis Drake sailed into the
harbor of Valparaiso and bombarded the
town, afterward saclxing It of its treas
ure and putting many of 1t slnhabtants
~ the sword. Sir John Hawkins gentle
man, slave trader and pirate, visited the
Spanish settlement later, and again the
town was given up to pillage
The year 1870 witnessed the first great
earthquake that shook Valparaiso. Prac-
tically the whole town was destroyed In
this convulsion, and only after many years
OF slow progress did it recover. In 1922 a
second earthquake came to shake down
what had been rebuilt In this catastro-
phe many lost their lives. A great fire
swept the city in 1913. destroying 81 100000
worth of property. Hardly had the for
tunes of the community begun to mend
when second fire licked up five times as
+ 4, ~.
i in 1858
When the Spanish made the last futile
attempt to destroy the republic of Chile in
| 1866 they sent a fleet into the harbor OF
Valparaiso, and the town was mercilessly
bombarded. What with the damage
wrought with the shells and the fire that
followed 100000 was the loss counted
up. The last great disaster preceding the
one which the Chilean city has just suf-
fered came in 1888, when a large dam
back of the city burst and a portion Of
the business district was washed away
with great loss of life. The city had DIT
the last census a population of $4,000.
Name Is Applicable.
Travellers say that the first sight of the
city of Valparaiso confirms the belief in
| the fitness of the baptismal name con-
/ ferred upon it by the old Spanish voyager.
After passing through a sea gate very
much like the one that gives entrance to
| the bay of San Francisco, passenger on
i an incoming steamer sees the city. unless
1t has again been wiped out, piled up In
terraces Of sun-browned building upon
the steep hills that rise almost lmmedl-
ately from the water front.
The city proper takes on roughly the
form of amphitheatre, the circling
ridge of hills upon which 1t is built ter
minating in two horns of rock at either
/ l..
extensive artificial embankment, or male
con, that follows the shore nearly it's
whole distance along the city front seems
to form n restraining wall that keeps the
heaped up city from slipping into the
bay
Running parallel with the malecon are
the principal business streets of the city
blocking off the land between the sea and
the crowding hills in irregular squares
The cerros, or ridges, in the mountain
side that rise abruptly from this narrow
strip of ancient sea beach, with clean-cut
arroyos between them. are covered with
villas and wooded at their tops. From the
city beneath the cliffs cogwheel railroads
lift the people home from their daily
work to the wind-swept cerros above.
very much as the jewellers In HongSong
go several hundred feet up in the cliff to
sleep every night.
ne FOTt DtStflCl.
The port district is that which lies be-
low the center and along the water front
! The custom houses along the embank-
ment are the first buildings to be passed
by passenger coming in from sea. They
are handsome and commodious structures
thoroughly equipped with hydraulic ma
ehlnery for the lifting of goods from
ships holds On the water front. too, are
two floating docks, capable of accommo-
dating ships of 1000 tons burden.
In the center of the port district stands
the Plaza Sotomayor. the downtown parx
of the city. A monument to the heroes
of the late Peruvian War. surmounted by
a statue of the Chilean general Arturo
| Prat. stands in the center of this square.
At a little distance are the tribunals OF
justice. massive building constructed on
the characteristic architectural lines of
| Latin America. Near this plaza is the
fine marine government house. overlook
ing the Malecon Paeso. broad espanade
| along the embankment. which Is the fav-
orite promenading place for the Valpa-
raise folk on long summer evenings Dur
Ing the summer season military band
holds forth on the malecon every night
and the procession of carriages carrying
veiled senoritas and punctilious grandees
winds round and round the music stand
In formal line of state.
West of the malecon stand the Mem
brlllo and Playa Ancha, popular bathing
houses situated on the white strip OF
beach that fringes the bottom of the GER
ros What Wal Kai-kai beach is to the
summer folk of Honolulu the Playa An
cha Is to Valparaiso. Horse cars running
to this spot are daily crowded to their
utmost capacity. The park of Playa An
cha. situated on the bluff that marks the
western terminus of the bay. is laid out
in broad avenues and filled with flower
ing plants of rare species
Most Modern Section.
The eastern part of the city. where it
! broadened out between the Malecon and
| the cerros, is the most modern section.
| Through this quarter runs the Avenida
Brasil, the main thoroughfare, which is
split by a middle band of cemented boule-
ward, ornamented by fountains and statu-
AIRY. The portion of the city on either
side of the avenue, popularity known as
the Almendral district contains the finest
mansions of the wealthy people. the the
aires and the cathedrals. On feast days
and Sundays the beautiful Victoria Plaza.
| located in the center of the Almendral.
is always thronged with promenaders. The
fine residence of Sonora Juana Ross de
Edwards. one of the philanthroplc wo-
| men of Valparaiso, overlooks this plaza
on the right Here also are located the
/ Victoria theatre and the Church of Espir-
itu Santo Near the Bella Vista railroad
| station, at the end of the Almendral.
stood the old Cathedral de la MERGED.
the Parochial Church of the Twelve Apos-