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Show AN earthquake! People Ensiling from Houses are Thrown to the Ground. For a Fow Brief Seconds the Day of Judgment Seemed to Keign Hills Slide from their Foundations. YrMA, A. T., Aug. 11 Daily arri-j vals from the region of Sonora, on the i Colorado river, report the most wonder- j ful changes in topography and appear-1 ance of the country, caused by the re- j cent earthquake. The damage done I was principally to stock-men, who have ; lost many a head of cattle. The Coco- i pah Indians are heavy losers. The In- j dians predict that another earthquake is liable to occur soon. ! Lkrdo, (Sonora, Mex.), Aug. 1 1 This i point, which is seventy miles south ot j Yuma, was the center of the great; earthquake of July 30. On Thursday' morning premonitory rumblings gave; notice oi lire coming slorm. The earth ireinbled undeif'Ot; then came a! mighty crash, as though subterranean ! artillery by the thousand pieces had j been discharged. The people rushed I irom their houses at the first signal, to ' be thrown fiat on their faces. The i adobe houses just vacated wormed to j pieces, were ground together and then i tumbled in ruins. The air was tlikd : i with clouds of Oust. For a few brief seconds the day of j judgment seemed to reign. Theterti-j lied people cautiously rose to their feet j and moved about, horrified to find that l vviiure before had been solid -ground! now yawned cracks and crevices appa-: reiitly without bottom. Iliils had slid j from "their foundations and occupied j new stations. The very river itself had 1 disappeared. Where oetore IIoAVed a shallow, sluggish stream of ochre was nO!v only a channel of mud. This did not, however, remain long, and ttie river gradually reappeared, but yet in a diminished volume. Reports igq.gi-fg. .in :i.m ln..utLaii:",j.uif. i-iL. cate a tidal wave of uuusual height and force. Owing to the country being sparsely settled no damage to life occurred oc-curred so far a3 known, and there was little property to damage. Lerdo has been for years chiefly a relic of blasted hopes. The recent eccentric ec-centric millionaire Thomas II. lily the, in connection with General Andradleot Mexico, came into possession of a vast stretch of country in the stateof Sonora bordering the Colorado river and commencing com-mencing at the American boundary tine. The extent of the grant was about 300 000 acres. The conditions were that the country must be settled ny the colonization of a certain number num-ber of families. The soil is rich bottom land adapted to the growth of most of the prouductions of the southern states, such as tobacco, corn, cotton, etc. The textile plant known as wild hemp grown on thousands of acres. During Blythe's lifetime a few hogs of tine breed were placed on the grant, and have increased so greatly that they are now estimated to number 30(h). r hey roam at will along the river bottom bot-tom and have become so savage as to be dangerous to man. They live chiefly chief-ly on tne wild potato, which grows tlie size of a walnut. The present owner has a man catching the hogs and curing cur-ing the meat. The Colorado river overflows over-flows its low banks annually, and consequently con-sequently the country is naturally irrigated. irri-gated. ' The death of Blythe in 1SS3 left his Senora colony scheme in its infancy with very little accomplished. His interest in-terest reverted to his partner, General Andrade. The latter, hy the payment of heavv expenses and" bounties induced in-duced fifty families, mostly from San Francisco, to emigrate and settle on ids immense grant, but he discovered, vhen too lote, that he had not secured i he material which makes empires. Notwithstanding the fact that every thing was furnished them. Not many months elapsed until they had nearly abandoned Lerdo and found ti.eir way-back way-back to Yuma and eventually to Sau Francisco. Leaving Yuma, for the first few milts, ranches are scattering along the rivtr bank, then a long stretch of deseit, and finally come the fertile lands of Lerdo, after " two days travel. Between the river and mountains is the country upon which the wrath of the Almighty seems to have rested. The crust of the earth is unsteady and unsubstantial, volcanoes spew- out mud and others rain boiling water, anil still others send forth a thousand hissing jets of steam. Slight earthquake shocks are so frequent fre-quent usually as to be hardly noticeable. notice-able. The slight rumbling of a passing tremor may cause the stranger to make a casual remark, or perhaps be strong enough so that the pious Mexican wiil cross himself and mutter a pravtr. Southern Arizona was the scene ages ago of ereat seismic agitation. Wells have been found showing repairs thrice made from damage inflicted by earthquakes. earth-quakes. Not within the memory of white inhabitants, however, have strong buildings been thrown down or water turned from their courses. |