"A hundred boys were shut up in the college, many invalids crowded the hospitals, and the barracks were full of soldiers. The sense of the catastrophe which must have befallen them gave poignancy to the first moments of reflection after the earthquake was over. It was believed that at least a fourth part of the inhabitants had been buried beneath the ruins. The members of the Government hastened to ascertain as far as practicable the extent of the catastrophe, and to quiet the public mind. It was found that the loss of life had been much less than was supposed, and it now appears that the number of the killed will not exceed one hundred, and of wounded fifty. Among the latter is the Bishop, who received a severe blow on the head, the late President, Señor Dueñas, a daughter of the President, and the wife of the Secretary of the Legislative Chambers, the latter severely.
"Fortunately, the earthquake has not been followed by rains, which gives an opportunity to disinter the public archives, as also many of the valuables contained in the dwellings of the citizens.
"The movements of the earth still continue with strong shocks, and the people, fearing a general swallowing up of the site of the city, or that it may be buried under some sudden eruption of the volcano, are hastening away, taking with them their household gods, the sweet memories of their infancy, and their domestic animals--perhaps the only property left for the support of their families--exclaiming with Virgil: 'Nos patriæ fines et dulcia linquimus arva.'"
I have witnessed scenes in Valparaiso, in San Francisco, and in Kingston, Jamaica, almost precisely similar to these so graphically portrayed; but in all these cases the loss of life was considerably greater than occurred in San Salvador. To-day the capital of the Republic bears not a single trace of the disaster, nor yet of some subsequent visitations; for the recuperative faculties of these optimistic peoples are as astonishing as they are thorough and instantaneous in the manner in which they assert themselves.
City of San Salvador--San Salvador as place of residence--Theatres--Parks--Streets--Hotels--Domestic servants--Hospitality of residents--Societies and associations--Educational establishments--Government buildings--Religion and churches--Casino--Hospitals and institutions--Disastrous conflagrations--Public monuments.