Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-05-11
Driven From Home and From Shelter Repeatedly-Forced to Walk the Streets All Night-Saw Dy-
 ing People Under Ruins.

i've ulSlLS we slept On the Sduu
 hills, not daring to go to bed lest we should be hurt while we slept or blown to pieces by dynamite. l say
 we slept on the sand hills, but there was very little sleeping indulged in. As say, for five nights and days as we'll the most of us did not close our eyes in sleep; not only that, but we did not even take our shoes off. Of course the excitement took the place of rest and no one seemed to care. It was an awful vigil, waiting and wondering how long it would be be- fore we ourselves, like our homes, would be burnt, blown or starved to death. It was about the same as war and as near to being in Hades as any person could imagine. The trouble is that it is impossible to describe with words the awfulness of the calamity. The earthquake,
 tis true, did great deal of damage directly, but the damage done indi- rectly Is indescribable. At 20 min utes past five we had a terrific shake which naturally broke chimneys and
 wherever there was fire In houses
 (stoves) those districts immediately
 began to blaze, apparently thou sand fires at once. Of course the earthquake not only broke chimneys but water mains as well. and when the fire department responded to the call of fire they found themselves helpless-no water. Then we knew that nothing could be saved, or at
 least thought so.
 | Then the United States troops were called out and the only way they could fight the fire was to dy- namite the buildings. It was awful, l assure you. Men without sleep for five days, worn out, nearly crazy, not from fear but from exhaustion and hunger, for before we received aid from outside districts we were without food and large numbers without clothing. I say without fear" not in the spirit of bragga- docio but with all due humbleness and sincerity. You heard no crying and bemoaning even from among the women, and all seemed to feel if not to say, Gods will be done" The fire swept through the city, licking up everything before 1t. One build ing would hardly seem to have caught fire when the next would be in ashes, so swiftly did the fire pro- ceed. And then when night would come and the heavens would be all lit up with brilliant hue, the sight was truly beautiful only for its in- tense awfulness. The heat from the fire was intense. You can see now large. massive and particularly strong iron, and in some cases even steel girders twisted and bent into all sorts of shapes. There was of course great number of lives lost. In many lodging houses people who were strangers and without friends, lost their lives who will never be accounted for. In one lodging house or hotel which caved in there were many persons buried in the ruins. Of course others made heroic at tempts to save these poor creatures, but were compelled to abandon them as the fire came closer. Finally when the rescuers were about to be driven away by the close approach of the fire. three persons could be discerned under the ruins--two men and a woman. To the two men were handed pistols with which to kill themselves and also one to the wo- man. The woman refused to shoot herself so they went to nearby store for some poison for her. but be- fore they could return everybody was driven away by the fire and the poor souls under the ruins cremated This is one case and believe there are many more like it. When a certain company of the fire department re- sponded to the fire alarm. one man of the eompany-the hydrant man went to the hydrant to connect the hose and when he opened the hydrant he threw his hands in the air and exclaimed. My God, there is no water,- and tainted. Every where you could see men, women and children dragging or carrying their belongings to place of safety and hardly would they be located when the fire would suddenly come upon them again. Again they would be compelled to move. sometimes three and four times. and finally af-, JET Adhluk AutH UtltuEluSc many blocks they would be compelled to abandon them to the flames and run for their own lives. We. thank God. escaped with our lives. Mothers house which she lived in was not burned. but damaged a great deal by the earthquake My sister Kate was almost killed by the falling of the chimney. It fell straight through the house. carrying floors and all into the cellar Mothers houses which she owned on Guerrero street were burned 10 the ground. While we saved our furniture from the fire. a great deal of it was spoil ei and some stolen Mother. like the rest of us. was compelled to walk the streets all night or lay down in the sand with no covering but the sky. Of course now we are all back in our houses. those of us vho have any. and living after fashion. We cook in the streets. go blocks for wa ter which we czrry in buckets. and est-welI- that is the sad part Of t. It Is cerfaEnly hard ts be compelled to stand in line vifh a basket and beg for scmething to eat to know