The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-13
BODIES OF DEAD BURNED.

CONCLUDED FROM FIRST PACED
below. We are not very badly burned. not
so bad as most of them. When the fire
came we were going TO our posts eve are
engineers) to weigh anchor and get out.
When we came up we found the ship afire
aft and fought it forward until 3 o'clock.
when the Suchet came to our rescue. We
were then building a raft"
FATE OF THE CAPTAIN.
Benjamin Benson, carpeI.ter of the Ro-
raima, said: II was on deck amidships
when 1 heard an explosion. The captain
ordered me to up anchor. L got to the
windlass, but when the fire came 1 went
into the forecastle and got my buds
When 1 came out 1 talked with Captain
Muggah, Mr.. Scott, the first officer, and
others. They had been on the bridge. The
captain was horribly burned. He had in
hailed flames and wanted to jump into the
sea. tried to make him take a life pre-
server. The captain, who was undreSSed,
jumped overheard and hung onto a line for
a while. Then he disappeared"
Gus" Under, the quartermaster of the
steamer. who is horribly burned and can
scarcely talk, confirmed this.
Francisco Angelo, who speaks poor Eng
lish. wildly described the Onrush of the
fire. He says the captain was a very brave
man, too brave to be burned to death. An
gelo further asserted that the storm of fire
lasted not more than five minutes.
FROM the ltal1dn snip Teresa lONlcO
several men were saved, but they are in
d frightful state, except Jean Louis Pru-
dent. of st. Pierre. Although on deck and
unprotected, he was little burned. Prudent
says there was first an awful noise of eX-
plOsion and then, right away. a cyclone of
smoke and fire, but such was the poison
Gus, choking nature of the smoke that it
burned worse than the fire. When it
struck people they fell dead. The cyclone
of gas tore the masts out of ships, blew
others up and sunk some of'them. Soon
the smoke cloud. That cloud, Continued
Prudent, was bigger. ii seemed, than the
mountain. The fire burned the city, every
where at once. Near me L saw only dead
men; but on shore | saw men and women
rushing back and forth amid the flames
for an hour. They would run long. Then
came the choking smoke and they would
drop like dead flies. The explosion, smoke
and fire all came and went in three minutes.
but the city burned for three hours. Then
every house was finished and nothing alive
was left. Some men from the sinking ships
got to the shore, but they were burned up
there At no time were there any earth
quakes. but big stones were rained down
and fire fell like rain for a long time"
VILLAGE OF IRENE SWEPT.
In the hospital were found several per-
sons from Carbet village, four miles from
st. Pierre. The village of Irene. south of
st. Pierre, was almost destroyed, and al
most all the inhabitants were killed. One
of the survivors of Irene. who will die,
says the sea, boiling hot, invaded the land.
Six women, whose bodies are one solid
burn, are writhing in another ward of the
hospital. Ten women, severely burned,
from Irene. were brought in and four of
them have died. 1t is doubtful if any of
the six still alive can recover.
An evidence of the swiftness of the on
slaught of the fire is found in the fact thai
none of the victims was blinded, although
the eyelids of most of them were nearly
burned through. All those saved, except
the engineers of the Roraima, are poor sail
ors and Martinique negroes. No one knows
how the passengers of the steamers per-
ished.
1t is impossible to obtain a full list of the
vessels lost. The cable repair ship GrappleI
was lost with all on board, as was the
French vessel Tamaya. There were eight
the time of the disaster.
Three hours exploration of the ruins OF
st. Pierre resulted in finding no trace o.
the American consulate. Consul Thomas
7. Prentis, his wife and two daughters are
undoubtedly dead. That quarter of the city
Is still a vast mass of blazing ruins. MOI
has any trace been found of James Japp
the British consul. Mr.. Japp had a larg.
family at st. Pierre.
The coast villages near ST. Pierre wer,
destroyed simultaneously with that town
The entire island. up TO within a few miles
of Fort De France, is covered with muC
and ashes. The cattle of the island ar,
ellnef all uedQ or Dying. Inc streams nav
dried up or are polluted. Thousands of per
sons are f1ocking to Fort De france. Tn
less relief is promptly sent famine is i'm
minent and there is urgent need for tn,
services of the Red Cross Society.
The French cable line. via Europe, il
now the only means of Geographic commu
nication with the outside world. The de
mands made upOn this line are extremel!
/ heavy.
The central and southern parts of ST
Pierre are still burning. The country side i
deserted. Every family on the island i
mourning the loss of relatives or friends
Business is at a complete standstill. ST
Pierre was the financial and provisionin,
center of the island.
Mont Pelee is still in eruption and evel
more violent and disastrous eruptions ma
follow. Volcanic ashes have fallen agains
the wind on the islands of Dominica and ST
Vincent.
Governor Mouttet. who was at Fort d
France when the first indications Of erup
ton were seen at st. Pierre. declared tina
the danger would not increase. and sent
detachment OF soldiers 10 prevent a gen
eral exodus of the inhabitants. He late
went TO St. Pierre himself, with his wife.
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