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Show EARTHQUAKE AT CUILAPA Oswald Crawford Visits the Ill-Fated Town of Chilipa, Founded 1678 The Cathedral Ca-thedral Damaged Heartrending Scenes Witnessed Excellent Discipline Discip-line Prevailed Gloomy Forebodings Atmospheric Disturbance Announcing the Calamity Animals Alarmed Oscillation Os-cillation of the Earth Heroic Work Saved the City From Being Burned. (Foreign Correspondence Intcrmountain Catholic); Without doubt, the report of the devastation which has left its melancholy mark upon this quiet and comparatively unknown little inland Mexican city has reached the United States, and has been heard by many of your own people in Salt Lake City. Permit me to break through the formation I had established, when outlining this series of letters let-ters to The Intcrmountain Catholic, that. I may record re-cord for your readers some incidents in association associa-tion with the destructive earthquake and calamity which have visited this quaint and picturesque city , the-day before ! arrived here. Chihtpa had. in round numliers, a population of 15.0'M), and with the exception of Chilpangeingo, was the largest, centre of population in the state of Guerrero. It lies far down toward the -Pacific coast. The earthquake and fire which followed have left the historic town a mass of ruins, and it may be many years before it is reconstructed. CUILAPA. Buried in isolation at the foot of a spur of the Sierras Madres, Chilapa for many centuries has lived its own life in its own way and passed its uneventful un-eventful years in drowsy solitude. It is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the state of Guerrero, aud is thirty miles away from the nearest railroad. The site was included in the grant of Kmperoe j' Charles V to the Marques de Valle de Oaxaea, and ' a settlement was made here before 1620. A few years later Chilapa Was made a town and in 167S it was raised to the rank of a city. The primitivq church, a frame building erected for the handful or .Spanish colonists and the converted members oi the Chichimic tribe, was replaced in 1659 by a substantial sub-stantial structure ii stone which was destroyed by the earthquake of .1798. The splendid Cathedral, completed in 1813 and seriously damaged by tha recent earthquake, was a solidly constructed and imposing building. When on the morning of the 26th of March the news reached Mexico City that Chilapa aud Chilpacingo were destroyed and many lives lost, a feeling of sadness and sympathy took possession of the city. That afternoon, accompanied by three Mexican gentlemen, I boarded the Sierra Madre and Pacific railroad for Tixtla. Here we hired burros, crossed the Huajuapan mountains, and, descending, cam in sight of the ruined city on the morning o March 27. As we drew nearer we could see tha smoke ascending from the burning houses and began be-gan to meet fugitives on their way to Chilpacingo and Tixtla. When we approached the suburbs we rode into groups of men, women and children camped in the open and showing signs of a night of suffering from cold and terror. There was iio order; everything and everybody were in confusion, and no one knew, apparently, what to do or where to go. When we entered the city the devastation was appalling. Police were patrolling the streets; they were compelled to seek temporary quarters, a their barracks were destroyed at the moment the mayoralty buildings fell. There were no frame structures in the city, and as many of the houses of the poor had floors of "rammed earth." the fire, which followed the earthquake, was under control when we arrived. Two hours after we entered the city a company of Rurales (mounted police) rode in from Ometepec and at once organized the citizens into companies and began the work of demolition of leaning walls and the removal of the debris. Xever until then did I fully appreciate the spkitt I did results of military, discipline and military train- i ing. I am satisfied that in three days, under the command and supervision, of the Rurales, order j will be completely restored and the city, so far as j circumstances will allow, assume it3 wonted life.' J And now let me record for your readers some of f the portends which heralded the coming of the ca- I lamity and some of the singular incidents assoei- j ated with it. f On the morning of March 20 at 7:"0 o'clock a 1 very severe shaking was felt, accompanied bj (Contiuued 0n Pago 5.) ,- - EARTHQUAKE AT CHILAPA.. (Continued from page 1.) strange subterranean sounds. The phenomenon was so marked that it seemed as if the great terragueous mass was about to pass from under the people's feet and for a moment the falling in of every roof was expected. In four minutes the trembling again occurred with ominous violence, and the tremen dous and mysterious noises beneath the earth car ried terror to the hearts of the citizens. Tin amafement and consternation were contagious, an , full grown.). men trembled with the expectation o' approaching death. The public squares and opei spaces of the city, which promised security fron the buildings threatening to fall, were taken possession pos-session of by multitudes, besides themselves witl panic. ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE. A fe wmoments before the great shock the heavens heav-ens were clouded, tbe air hot and suffocating, and the silence oppressive. Then the mysterious sounds under the people's feet deepened in intensity, the sun swung blood red in a murky sky. and over the Sierras oseilated dark and portentious clouds. The animals seemed to have en intuition of danger, dan-ger, and in their own way manifested the fear which took possession of them. The howling dogs crouched crouch-ed 'by their masters' feet or with drooping tails followed fol-lowed them from place to place, searching the eyes of their owners for some explanation of the unusual un-usual phenomenon. The horses turned back their ears and whinnied; fowls roosted high, and the cattle cat-tle lying down sprang to their feet terrified, bunched bunch-ed close and stood as if expecting an attack of wolves. Then was heard again the subterranean rumbling, a hoarse, muffled growling, and the catastrophe ca-tastrophe entered. THE EARTH SWUNG BACK AND FORTH from the northeast to the southeast, rapidly su--ceeded by oscillations from east to west; the earili was as if alive and wounded by some awful electric stroke. Amid a terrific hurricane of wind buildings build-ings came crashing down, one of the Cathedral towers leaned to the west, ringing the great bells, and then all was confusion. "I happened," said one of the citizens to me. "to be on the edge of the town just before the coming of the great shock and hurried in the direction of my home. The swaying of the earth threw me down twice; a terrible noise filled the air, occasioned occa-sioned by the crash of falling houses and the dreadful dread-ful screams of the women and children. THE HOME IX RUINS. "I ran with haste toward the spot where my house stood, meeting on the way a number of men and women, wiidlv gesticulating and calling upon God to have mercy on them. My heart almost sank within me as I riuhed forward in the hope of seeing see-ing my family, for to add to the horrors of the scene the groans of many persons led me to fear that each heap of ruins might be a sepulchre, Arriving Ar-riving at the spot where my house was I found but a heap of rubbish. I called lustily. s- as to ascertain, if possible, if there was any alive beneath, but re j ceived no answer. 1 then ran off to another purl ; of the town and there discovered that my family ; fortunately, were away visiting at ih time the i house fell, and were thus saved frenn destruction.'"' i In the annals of its uneventful history there is ' no record that Chilapn ever passed through as .severe .se-vere and trying experience. Forturatcly no liviv were destroyed. The fire threatened at ir.ie time to burn up the whole city, but by heroic efforts on ihe part of the citizens, luckily it was extinguished after six hours of fighting. "Conspicuous, I am told, among the fire fighters was the Bishop and his clergy, who are now moving among tbe people, carrying consolation, comfort and food to the poor people squatting in the plazas and outside the little city. On the Calle del Pradito. the principal street of Chilapn, there is ail opening or fissure three inches wide produced by ihe earthquake ; it is now gradually closing, but is squeezing out a bluish gray mud quite hot to the touch. The night before th-,.-great catastrophe shook the city a great silence, uncanny un-canny in its weird intensity and prolongation, settled set-tled down upon Chilaoa and the surrounding coun-try. coun-try. Another strange thing happened: The Rio'd-.l Sabine, a little river flowing through the town on its way to -ihe Pacific, stood still an hour before the first shock, and between the first and so-oud strokes turned and flowed back, as if affrighted. THE CATHEDRAL. The great tower on the right of the Cathedral is in ruins and the walls of the splendid budding badly bad-ly damaged. The Cathedral .is built on the south side of the Plaza de San Rafael and is slightly elevated ele-vated on a stone platform or terrace. Upon the southern limits of this terrace stood a marble statue of Pius IX, the gift of the Sociedad Catoliea. Elevated Ele-vated upon this terrace the Cathedral stands out boldly and towers over the neighboring buildings, and indeed over the town itself. On the west front rose two lofty towers, and between these is the main entrance, surmounted by stone moldings and basso-relievos in white marble. Over the central doorway is cut the date of the building, and above it, in a niche, a statue of St. Peter. Over the doorway door-way to the right is a carving representing St. Francis Fran-cis receiving the stigmata or the marks of the Five Wounds; and over the entrance to the left a basso-relievo basso-relievo of Santa Rosa presenting A CROWX OF FLOWERS to the Divine Babe reposing in. the Virgin's arms. The building is of massive construction, with heavy buttresses, the whole of a dark blue stone not unlike un-like blue basalt. The interior of the Cathedral is almost severe in its simplicity. The aisles are divided di-vided from the nave or body of the church by twenty twen-ty fluted columns which support the light and beautifully beau-tifully vaulted roof. The central arches form a Latin cross, above which rises a fine dome. Within the dome are paintings in tempera (a kind of white mixture like kalsomine), representing the Assumption Assump-tion of the Blessed Virgin and groups of the principal prin-cipal characters of sacred history. Outside the aisles are toavs of chapels, five on each side of the building. The main altar, constructed in 1819 after - designs by Lorenzo Hidalgo, is raided upon a plat- - form of four steps, and is of variegated marble ot ? sheen polish, and so accurately is the harmony of 1 color followed in the placement of the panels that f at a distance the marbles seem o fade into and l embrace each other. i The sanctuary was inclosed by a handsome rail- - ing of tumbago (a composite metal of gold, silver i and copper), made in Guerrero. Chilapa, Mexico, March 2f. |