Mr. Nelson to Mr. Seward.
Sir: It becomes my painful duty to report the total destruction by fire of the church of the Compaña, of this city, on the 8th instant, involving a loss of nearly two thousand five hundred lives.
It has been customary for some years past to celebrate the “month of May” with great pomp. Upon the 8th of December, the anniversary of the “immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary,” the festivities always close with a grand illumination of the church, and appropriate ceremonies.
On Tuesday evening, the 8th instant, crowds flocked from every quarter of the city to the church, and by 7 o’clock every portion of the immense edifice was filled with a densely packed crowd, nearly all females, and the steps of the building and the street in front were also thronged.
The number of lights with which the church was illuminated is variously estimated at from ten to twenty thousand, the greater portion of them being paraffine lamps and chandeliers, many of which were suspended from the ceiling by cords.
As the last of the lamps upon the great altar was being lighted, a jet of flame was seen to proceed from an illuminated crescent, at the foot of a colossal statue of the Virgin. The assistant threw his poncho over the flame, with the hope of extinguishing it, but the highly inflammable liquid defied his efforts, and soon reaching the garlands of flowers profusely adorning the altar, shot upward towards the already overheated wood-work of the ceiling. In a few moments the lofty dome was wrapped in flames, the lamps and chandeliers being detached by hundreds, as the cords were burned, and, as they fell, scattered their burning contents upon the compact mass of people below.
It is well ascertained that at this moment but one of the main doors and two small side doors were open.
The terrified crowd, composed almost exclusively of females, as before stated, rushed frantically towards the doors. There being no pews or seats in the churches in this country, the congregation kneel in close proximity, so that rapid exit in case of alarm is difficult, if not impossible. Each one is kneeling upon the dress of her immediate neighbor, and innumerable skirts and crinolines are so involved as to prevent the possibility of quick and systematic movement. Very few succeeded in escaping, and these few bruised, scorched, and naked. The throngs which had succeeded in reaching the very thresholds of the doors became compact, immovable masses of human beings, and the flames, leaping with amazing rapidity along the arches and ceiling, darted down and enveloped them in a sea of fire.
As soon as the alarm was given I hastened to the spot, which is but two squares distant from this legation. The scene presented was horrible beyond description or conception. Within the scope of my vision were more than a thousand persons, manifesting by shrieks, groans, and actions, every conceivable form of human agony. Some were writhing in the embrace of the flames, stretching out their eager hands for that help which it was impossible to give, some standing with uplifted arms, some prostrate and insensible, some kneeling, with clasped hands, evidently commending themselves to Him into whose presence they would soon be precipitated.
[Page 169]Aided by Dr. Silvey, United States vice-consul for Valparaiso, and by others, chiefly Americans, we succeeded in dragging some of the victims from the doorways, and continued our efforts until the increasing flames and prostrate bodies showed that all hope of further assistance was gone. Among those prominent in rescuing the sufferers were Henry Meiggs, of California, Henry M. Keith, of New York, George Colton, of Rhode Island, A. Andrews, of California, C. T. Pearce, of Rhode Island, and W. Eaton, of New York.
At a little after 8 o’clock the last tower, containing a chime of bells, fell with a tremendous crash, and it became no longer possible to give the least aid to the burning victims.
There are but three fire-engines in the city, and they are small, inefficient, and badly served. They arrived at the scene some half hour after the beginning of the fire; but were so utterly worthless as to afford no assistance whatever. The flames subsided about midnight, from mere want of material on which to feed.
I visited the interior of the church the next morning, and nothing can exceed in horror the spectacle there presented. The whole pavement of the building was strewn with the swollen and disfigured corpses of the victims, while near the door were heaps of charred objects, only distinguishable by the shape as having been once human beings. They were rapidly removed to the cemetery, where one general grave was dug for their reception.
The official statistics have not yet been published; but from the secretary of the church, and the records of the hospitals, I gather that more than two thousand persons perished within the walls of the church, and that several hundred more died after removal.
The entire city is shrouded in gloom. The best, and some of the aristocratic families in the city, are the greatest sufferers. Many of the most elegant and accomplished ladies of the city perished. Youth and beauty, and old age, were overwhelmed in one common ruin. In several instances whole families were swept away, and their unoccupied houses are in the custody of the civil authorities.
Upon the 11th instant I addressed a note to his excellency the secretary of foreign relations, expressing on behalf of my fellow-citizens, and on my own, our profound sympathy in the distressing calamity which has overwhelmed the community, (see enclosure A,) to which his excellency replied, upon the 12th, informing me that he had been expressly charged by the president to signify to me the profound gratitude of the people and government of Chili for the exertions of the American residents upon the night of the catastrophe, and for their sympathy in the general mourning. (See enclosure B and translation C.)
These notes have been published in the papers of this city and Valparaiso by the government. The editorial articles in the Mercurio of the 14th, and in the Voz de Chili of the 15th, introducing the official correspondence, breathe so warm a spirit of kindness toward Americans that I deem it proper to enclose herein (marked D and E) copies and translations thereof.
Upon the 14th instant the president issued a decree ordering the demolition of the walls of the ruined church, and in spite of an opposition from the clergy, which at one time threatened to become serious and even bloody, the work is being quietly executed.
I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,