TRAGEDY OF A FESTIVAL
HISTORIC CHRISTMAS CALAMITY. BURNING OF CHILE CATHEDRAL. At the Christmas of 1863 in Santiago, the capital of Chile, a festival was held in the cathedral in honour of the Virgin 'Mary. The vast church was lightel with thousands of wax candles, and the walls were covered with flimsy draperies, The congregation, chiefly women, were attired in long white loose dresses. Dozens of acplytes were passing up and down, swinging silver lamps and burnipg in-i cense. One of .the incense candles accidentally set flr,e to a lady’s costume. The distracted woman rushed madly to and fro in her agonies, and! in an instant hundreds in the cathedral were involved. The decorations of the dhurch caught fire, and in less than ten minutes ,the whole interior was a raging inferno. Nearly two thousand people perished.
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Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5367, 21 December 1928, Page 2
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137TRAGEDY OF A FESTIVAL Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5367, 21 December 1928, Page 2
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