COSTA RICA— VULCAN'S SMITHY 



509 



A HOUSK l\ TllK CKM'KK OF THE CITY OF CARTAGO 



of the calamity, although on a lesser 

 scale. 



A first relief train was soon started, 

 but at a short distance beyond Tres Rios 

 a huge cleft in the mountain side had 

 twisted the track in such a way as to 

 make impossible any further progress by 

 rail. So the little troup of physicians 

 and other helpers, headed by the Presi- 

 dent of the Republic, had to continue 

 their way on foot, arriving at the place 

 where formerly had stood Cartago a 

 little before 5 a. m., or nearly ten hours 

 after the direful event. 



Unfortunate Cartago, one of the most 

 ancient European cities in America, has 

 had in its past several like experiences, 

 though none so fatal. As a consequence 

 of the long eruption of the Irazii, ac- 

 companied by continual earth move- 

 ments and subterraneous rumblings, the 

 place was largely depopulated in 1723. 

 It grew up again during the next cen- 

 tury, but on September 2, 1841, it was 

 utterly wiped out by an earth commotion 

 of unheard of violence ; the victims, how- 



ever, were few, and as most buildings 

 were very unsubstantially built of adobe 

 and roofed with straw or tiles, the dam- 

 ages were of relatively little importance. 

 So the community was again prosperous 

 in 185 1, when on May 18 it was partly 

 destroyed by a new series of seismic dis- 

 turbances. 



Although it suffered less . than San 

 Jose from the several shocks experienced 

 in i888-'89, it would appear that it is lo- 

 cated at or near the more exposed por- 

 tion of the Costa Rican seismic area. 



In the present case, however, the little 

 village of Paraiso, a short distance to 

 the east, seems to have stood on the very 

 center ; here, except for the newly 

 erected church, the ruins of which are 

 still partlv standing, every bit of wall 

 has been razed to the ground, while the 

 proportion of human victims is consider- 

 ably larger than in Cartago. 



A few weeks ago tlie surrounding 

 country was strewn with small native 

 dwellings, most of which sheltered large 

 families, and which also crumbled into 



