COSTA RICA— VULCAx\'S SMITHY 



513 



Photo from Rear Admiral F. Singer, U. S. N. 

 THE CARNEGIE PALACE OF PEACE, NEARLY COMPLETED AT CARTAGO, COSTA RICA, AS 

 IT APPEARED THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE OF MAY 4 



isolated steel rails, as may be seen, for 

 example, in the pictures of the destroyed 

 Carnegie building in Cartago. The frames 

 protect the structure by their almost abso- 

 lute rigidity, while isolated steel rails act 

 under the shocks like so many springs 

 that repeat and prolong the initial oscilla- 

 tory movement, only to make more cer- 

 tain the total destruction of the walls 

 they were intended to strengthen. 



MR CARNEGIF/S PEACE PALACE DESTROYED 



Several incidents are reported that give 

 a further idea of the nature and vio- 

 lence of the seismic storm. All around 

 Cartago the innumerable rounded stones 

 scattered over the fields by former irrup- 

 tions of mountain torrents had been 

 collected to form the inclosures around 

 pastures and truck gardens. These walls 

 were completely demolished by the 

 quakes, and many of the heaviest l3locks, 

 weighing in some instances over two 

 tons, were moved 70 to 100 feet from 

 their original place. 



The top of the southern tower of El 

 Carmen, one of the oldest churches, 

 which had in the past resisted many 

 strong shocks, was detached in a single 

 piece and hurled to the middle of the 

 neighboring street, where it demolished 

 the railroad track. 



On the plaza in front of the church 

 the statue of Don Jesus Jimenez, a for- 

 mer patriot and president, was merely 

 transferred, without falling, from the 

 center to one of the corners of its 

 pedestal. 



The palace built at the expense of Mr 

 Andrew Carnegie, to be the abode of 

 the Central American Court of Arbitra- 

 tion, and which was soon to be dedicated, 

 was converted into a shapeless heap of 

 rubbish but for its foundation and the 

 southern front wall. The new sewerage 

 and water systems, on the other hand, 

 do not seem to have suffered. 



Going westward the extent of the 

 damage becomes graduallv less until it is 

 almost insignificant at Alajuela, at the 



