Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-03-24
Appalling Particulars of the late awful Earth
quake in the Windward Islands.

ST. THOMAS, FEB. ", lS43.
This morning French schooner came in consign-
ed to The she brings is that the city of
"Ponte fetrc' (Guadaloupc) is entirely devastated,
and not n single building left standing in it. 1t is
supposed that 5000 people have disappeared, some
how or other no one can tell and the bodies of 4000
which began TO decompose and smell offensive, were
dug out of the ruins by the sailors in the harbor and
taken to in boats fast as they could, and
thus get rid of them TO prevent pestlencc. Out of
500 fine soldiers composing the regiment at Ponte
Petre, only 40 remained to tell the tale of woe The
massey Notifications, the guns. the barracks and all
therein being crumbled into dust, while the mouth of
the harbor which before the event capable Of ad
hitting ships Of the heaviest burthen, became com
pletely choked up and forever rendered impossible
by rocks being forced up from the bottom of the sea-
The vessels which were at the Time IN port will, II ls
feared, never be got out among them large ships
from France. and other vessels from America, dc
The survivors were reduced TO such an awful cxrcm-
y for food that whole cart loads OF canes were order
ed in from the the country for hem and IN the way
to the town they rushed out and by main force inter-
cep,ed the carts, and seized the canes as mad from
hunger.
The scene was terrific. 1t was breakfast hour
with the inhabitants. Capt. Fisher of the Am. vessel,
when the shock commenced, was sitting in the low
err story of store fronting the WATER and sprang for
his boat at the end of short wharf. In an instant
! he AT the end Of the wharf, bur the wharf and
the boat both rocked iearully that he hest aed-
Just then the ground opened beneath his feet and
with leap he reached the boat and was saved
Vessels were SO much shaken to be in great dan
| ger. 49,
| Mr. Ridgely, comedian from Philadelphia, was on
the lower floor of hotel and sprang into the street.
On all sides he saw men throwing themselves upon
their faces on the ground. In another instant the
stone walls fell and buried all beneath hem except
few who were so fortunate as to find themselves
above the ruins. When Mr.. II. recovered himself he
was unframed, though all the persons he had just
seen were hopelessly buried. His little son. lad Of
seven years of age the first object he saw SPRING
ing to embrace his father. How they came nenr
together Mr. Rdgely could not understand, the lad
appar,a mt of ocho in Tho md
story of house four squares off. The boy says that
all he remembers, is, that when he heard the cry
Earthquake! he jumped out OF the window. The boy
was sitting at breakfast with the family and all the
family persisted except small girl who after the
shock, was standing by the side of young Rldgely.
Mr.. Ridgcy found his trunk shattered to pieces, hr
y yards from the hotel. His clothes were very bad
ly torn md his hat gone, but he injured. The
earth rocked that could not keep his feet II
opened in several places and closed again swallowing
up people and buildings, and in some instances, the
openings remained About two-thirds OF the inhab..
itants persisted. OF the garrison of eight hundred
men, only seventy survived.
A furious fire broke out Immediately after the earth
quake, which ragged for some days. adding greatly to
the horrors of the scene. Some persons after having
been almost exricated from the rubbish,
sary abandoned to their fate on account of the ap
y proach of the fire. The cries of people buried under
u the ruins heard TOR several days, and large
number were dug out in a mutilated and suffering
= condition. Some it was hoped would survive, bul
y others died alter their deverance Inc stencn from
, sulphur ut first, and from the decayng bodies after
u Two days. was ntolerable
: Among the killed is the American Consul He was
u taken from under the ruins with both legs broken
and put board an American vessel in the harbor
but died the next day.
y In ST. Barts the Church and several massy build
. ngs were thrown down, and the earth opened in tn,
centre of the street, for space of 600 yards-one foo
y wide!
r. At Antigua the shock was very severe though on
y ten lives were lost Almost every windmill steam
II engine, sugar works. &c. destroyed the church
Il ss, chapels, custom houses, jas and other public
buildings almost ruined and the loss of propert!
u supposed amount several millions of pounds
% The canes in the fields must be sacrificed for want
mills to grind hem and there is said to be scarcely
70 building on the island uninured. The catastroph
was preceded by rise of the tide to height of fou
feet above its usual flow.
N At st. Bart's the church and several other build
ines were thrown down. and the earth opened in tn
,e middle Of street the width Of foot, the fissur
!, extending GOO yards in length. At St. Eustata tn
~ damage confined mainly TO buildings, some bein
N very badly injured. At ST. Christophef's several
the public buildings were utterly destroyed. Onl
one person lost her life but some others were bad
l. hurt. At Nevis and st. Bartholomew's the cart
"a opened and water with a suphurous smell issue
e from the crevices Nothing farther had been hear
re from Montserat. When last the Island en-
,e veloped in dense cloud Of smoke dust. The
l. around was violently agitaled. Al ST. Vincent III
u shock was felt but slightly.
s GvApAlosPs, Ponts Psirs. )-As far ~ We hav