Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-23
SAW THE EARTHQUAKE
Graphic Description of the Chill
can Horror.
EXPERIENCE OF A SURVIVOR
Interesting Letter From an Irish
Doctors Son.
FIGHTING FLAME In THE RUINS
One of the Most Graphic Descriptions
That Has So Far Come Out
Of Valparaiso.
EXPERIENCE OF A SURVIVOR
FIGHTING FLAME IN THE RUINS
Special Cablegram to The Star.

| DUBLIN, December 22.-It Is a far cry
from Santiago and Valparaiso to Dublin,
and it is long time since the Chilean
earthquake. and yet what are perhaps the
| best-written letters in connection with that
| incident are those which have been re-
| ceived by a well-known Dublin doctor from
his son. signed Jack" and dated at I'm
tornado National, Santiago, Chile, August
| 81 The letters are certainly worthy of
| far wider circulation than have been given
| them. Among other things the son of the
| doctor writes:
| Here We are living in easy luxury, the
guests of the government, lodged, fed,
| clothed and supplied with everything we
+! could require from a toothbrush to a port
] manteau by the personal order of the presi-
| dent The story of the catastrophe is a
| frightful one
THE evening before the earthquake when
| We were playing foot ball in the Potnero
| we were surprised by triple rainbow of
| extraordinary brilliance, so bright that the
glow of its colors tinted the atmosphere
| all round. 1t was the talk of the evening,
and the old Spanish majordomo said it pre-
dicted bad weather. Next day rain fell at
| a high temperature and no one thought
any more OF the matter. We had dinner S
usual at half past and when the boys went
to study L went to my room to read
| could not fix my attention to read, SO l
spent my time looking through the Graphic
| about the King of Spain's wedding and saw
| some photos of the San Francisco disaster
| In the same number. At ten minutes to 8
| l felt strong 'trembler,' but thinking 1t
| was only our ordinarily little blood curd-
| lers did not at first take any notice. With
| increasing rapidity the trembling increased
| and when 1 felt the whole house swaying
| l jumped up and opened my door, but
| l did there was frghtful torremento-
| earthquake.
Blazing Lamps Fell
| THE house bounding out of Its founda-
| ton, jerking, wrestling, straining in the
| hands of some awful supernatural power,
the walls ripping open, gaping idiotically,
/ and then falling with siekening crash /
| clung to my door, the safest place in such a
| danger. The house seemed to have gone
| mad and danced in its homecidal frenzy.
| WashstandS- chairs bookcases, lighted
lamps We're flung about the room like con-
| fetu The rumbling continued but the
| smashing and crashing, the crying talking
| and shouting of orders rose loudly. 1 rushed
| into my room, tripping over my bookcase,
| picked up my lamp and blew 1t out. The
| next room was empty; Griffith had flown;
| his lamp was blazing the floor. / ran
| to the staircase and shouted for some one to
come; that the house was on fire l saw
| two panic-stricken little boys at the foot
/ of the stairs standing like stays before
| pack.
Il pushed them into the garden door and
| found Toro, boy of eighteen "a nephew
| of Balmeceda, the great president of Chile),
| and two boys of about the same age Nietos
OF the great Nieto family, the great mir
| lonaires of Valparaiso We rushed up-
| stairs and gathering bed clothes of all sorts
| tackled the flames. 1t was a terrible fight;
the bed had got the flames; the smoke was
| might be cut off by the collapsing of the
| walls-as it was they gaped and grinned
| and sometimes threw bricks and mortar at
| us, and generally behaved like a half-witted
| boy at a burning house. At last we gave a
cheer; we had won; the enemy's fire had
ceased and great clouds of smoke alone
arose.
| Il asked for the light one was holding; a
| moment / pol1ed about on the floor 1 was
1 looking for mothers photography; 1 could
1 not find 1t. Nieto picked up my big topcoat
| and begged me to come We must go out
| and put out all the lamps in the house.
| What a terrible journey. Sometimes it was
| necessary to go back and up and down the
| stairs another way because of the fallen
| house.
Natives in Despair.
.''The boys were all gathered in the gIoriot-
| ta halfway down the vineyard. Eastward
| Don Emilio Claros beautiful residence
| burned like a beacon fire in the night.
| Southwark the town lay and one thought of
De Quncys Essay on Roast Pig. Northward
| was open country-that Is miles of wal
| nut trees-and In the distance the Andes,
| and to the west was our residence, and be-
| hind it the residence of Don Adolphe East
| man. and some said his house had caught
| fire. and when we went to we found it
| was ours and the flames had got beyond
| control, and that we had lost everything
| we had in the world.
| II went into one wing with Mr.. Hamilton
| and we threw bedding out of the window.
| The second earthquake came then, and as
| the walls continued to crash We abandoned
the house, and many things We loved, to
| the flames. We had no time for regrets.
| Lecky and l We're sent into the town to
| telephone to Valparaiso and Santiago that
| all the boys were safe But what sight
! met us. Iimache thing of the past;
| not a house was standing. and what re-
! manned of the people were gathering in the
/ ruins of the station. horror-stricken and in
| despair for the average Chilean knows lit
| tie of God.
| '"ro telephone was, of course. impossible,
so we returned. We met our Chilean music
| master, a widower with lot Of children,
| running along the road, hatless-not know
| ing where he was-he had lost everything.
| We found Surgeon Majoraze, the medical
| attendant of the college, poking in the
| ruins trying to find where his cook was
| buried"
| The letter teens with human-interest in
| cidents, and it is doubtful whether train
ed correspondent of metropolitan papers
/ could have seen more of the interesting
/ things In connection with the Chilean earth
/ quake than this son of a Dublin physician
i who had been in attendance upon one Of
i the colleges there.