DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. — 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 door-
ways, and continued our efforts until the increasing flames and prostrate bodies
showed .that all hope of further assistance was gohe. 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. ey

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 begin-
ning of the fire; but were so utterly worthless as to afford no assistance what-
ever. 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 thou-

sand 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 author- —
liles.

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,
| oo THOMAS H. NELSON.
Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, = 7
“Secretary of State of the United States.