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Earthquake In Mexico

Earthquake In Mexico image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
December
Year
1847
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The American Army, novv in the city of Mexico, must have had an entertainment on a grand scale, about breakfa-t time on the second day of October. Ifthey wero ' reveling in those Hnlls' about that time, it must have reminded llioin of Belslmz.ar''s faast. Ilcre is a description of this last earthquake, by Kendall, who took a shake with the rest : City of Mexico, Oct. 3, 1847. An enrlhquake we have liad an earthquake ! Between the houra of7and8 yesterdny morning, and when all nature was hushed in a stillness most prufound, suddenly the earth began to rock with a si range and most feaiful motion. I nm living at the house of Pena y Henn, the headquarters of Gen. Worlh, immediately in front of the beautlful alameda, and ihe fir=t intimation we had of the dread convulsión, was the slamming of thpjJoois. accompanied by a furious jingling of the glass pendants a'tached to a chandüier hanging and swinging from the ceiling of the room. Soon our bed3 comrnenced rock ing, something after the manner of B ship bf ca'med at tho close of n storm, and then carne the shrieks of innumerable 'vomen and children. driven halfdres3nd, affrighted into the streels - the dreaded iremblor,as the Mexicana cali it, was upon us. Most slrange and impressivewas the scène disclosed from the front windows, as reeling and stagsering we approached and opening them - to walk steady was impossible, so violent were Ihe uphnrvings and oscillations of the mighty earth. The tops of the tallest trees in the alameda wero swaying, the water in the reservoirs was billowing to and fro, the walls around us were cracking and gnping asunder, the wide street in front was crowded with women and children as well as men, screaming and praying, and cross'ng thernselvcs in ihe extremity of their fright, while our own soldiers we re reoüiig unstcndily in their midst, astonished and awe stricken at the strauge comrnolion. The senünels halled upon their rounds, nncertain and not knowlng what to do ; the callejons or na rrow lnnes, continued to pour 'brth their liundreds of aíTiighled inhabitants, all seeking the refuge nf ihe wider strpeis nnd open squares, lest iheir own houses might totier and tumblc tipon iheir heads, whi.'e on tended knees they confesspd their sins aloud, and earriestly potitioned furgiveness ere it was vet too late. A wounded oiïicer in our house, bed-rio'den and apparrently unable to move since the hard fought batile of El Molino,came hobbüng hurriedly from his room driven i henee by the cracking of the walls and the strange tumult from without. The stillness of the morning, so profound had been the repose of 1 lure, but added to the general íeeüngof wonder and awe - of consterr.ötion pprlinps I should term it, a fear caught from the actions and countenances of those 'natives liere and lo the mnnor bom,' tliose cradled nnd rocked nmid commotions of a kindred nature. The domes nnd sieeples of the innumerable churchesandcon ents reeled like drunken men - the lakes hard by rolled theirsluggish waters as though moved by an elemental slrife from above instead of the earth n wliich they are nestled in her sore travail. An oiïicer in the strcet, about to mount his horse at the commencement of the commotion, suddenly found the animal receding from liim. Astonished, he inquired of a soldier close by, the cause ; buL the man wis as ignorant as himself. The puddles in the streeta - for there had been asevere ahowor the night before - sprad selves nnd disappeared uponthe pavement, so greut was ihe motion, whilt the trers in the almeda continuad to lash their huge tops as if swayed by unsein yet all-powerful hands. Tlie shock his'ed over two minutes- perhaps I should siy succession of shocks, for the oscillatory motion of the earlh at short intervals became calm - while the wiiole sceno impiessed evpry one anew with the niight, the mnjesty and the manifold power of the most High. But if the streots and open ways presented a spectaele most impressive.dou'.lv nwful was the effec' produced nmong iIip wounded men in the different hospitns Unconsciojs of the cause of the sir.ingf coramolion, filled with appreherisions whicli altack with ten-fold force the disabled and infirm, and dreading results from a phenomenon they mi:st hnve deemed akin to the suprrn;itural, the poor fello-.vs had liobbleJ from their cots - trembling and sirickon by deep awe, ycl r.ot knowing wliither to flv. The armless hurried iliither, the lepless hoLb'ed nbou: ín all direciions, whilfi the beH-ridder, the prosirate, and tlin utterly helplos-s, panicst rieken and despondin?, earnestly prayed i and peti'ioned not 10 be left unprotected - not to be deserted in an e.xtrernity which their ignorance made painfully terrifying. I5ut by :ind by the earth became relieved of her mighty throes, the staggpring steeples resumed their quiet, the affrighied inliabitnnts rose ibankful from their kneés, the sentinels recommenced their rounds - ihe fury of the dreaded tiemhlor was spent.

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News