Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1902-06-18
TERRIBLE HORROR
 OF MOUNT PELEE
A Member of the Relief Party Sent to Recover the Body of the American Consul Writes of Their Awful Expert
 enCes.
An Awe Inspiring Sight-But One Which Sent Terror to the Bravest Hearts---Dangers
 Attending the Trip.

Among the members of the party sent to recover the body of the Ameri- can consul from the ruins of St. Pelee, was Austin Kuntz, son of Mrs. A. V. Kautz, now a resident of Whip pie. MT. Kautz is in the navy and assigned to service on the cruiser Cincinatti, from which the detail of officers and men was made for the above hazardous undertaking. Under date of May 20, MT, Kautz writes to his relatives a thrilling account of the experiences of the party in the i performance of its mission, from which the Journal Miner is permitted to quote what follows:
 | |. S. s. Cincinatti, Fort de France.
 Martineque, West Indies,
 May 20, 1902. Believe me, no description could ex- aggerate in the slightest degree, the immensity of the disaster. I never saw such complete destruction, and until yesterday could not conceive of how such total wreck and ruin could be brought about. Yesterday morn ing a party of officers left Fort de France, myself included, for St. Pierre in the U. s. navy tug Potomac The primary object of the expe- dition was to recover the remains of the British and American consuls at that place. The officers simply went along out of curiosity and to collect curios and relics. As we entered the bay on which is spread out the city like a panorama, we noticed unusual activity on Mount Pclee-she was sending up vast clouds of smoke which were rolling down the western slope of the mount ains and into the sea; causing i'm mense clouds of vapor to rise up into the sky, and a violent ebbulljtion of the water. which emitted loud reports. We landed our undertaken party and ourselves, and penetrated into the city. I went with It. Mccormick to the ruin of the British Consulate, where we deposited the casket des- tined to contain the remains of the consul. Just before landing, the British cruiser Indefatigable took Captain Mclean, of the Cincinatti, on board. The streets presented a ghastly ' sight filled with one solid mass of debris piled over nine feet high, while here and there a blackened, charred mass denoted a human body.
 In the British consulate McCor- mick and l found three bodies, one l of which he identified as that of the British consul.
 While 1 was rummaging around amid the ruins looking for something 70 carry away. I heard Mccormick outside calling to come quickly and see the eruption. l rushed outside and saw the grandest, and also the most terrifying sight 1 ever saw in my life. Rising up above the haze surrounding the mountains was an enormous column of black clouds hoisting, twisting, whirling-ascend- ing higher and higher to the very heavens and seemingly getting nearer and nearer. Some one said we had better be getting out of there, and as 1 it was getting worse and worse we l turned back. looking over our shoul uels from time to time. Loud re- ports were now heard, and it seemed l 10 all of Us as though these masses of hamamble gases were rolling down over the city. It proved too much 1 for our courage, and We broke and ran pell mell down to the beach as hard as we could go over the debris. Arriving there we saw the whole thing in all its magniicence. These clouds were also rolling down the side of the mountain to the westward md to the north of the city into the sea, causing the same phenomena we saw while coming into the harbor. ] This proved only temporary and the eruption was soon over-the clouds dissipating themselves into a fine dust. Meanwhile, a thunderstorm had been created. by the eruption, l suppose, and a light shower began to l fall.
 Mccormick went of to the ship and sad lie would send the boat back for Us.
 l don't think we realized the dan ger We were in-at any rate, we turned back, most of us, and returned 10 the city. 1 went up until 1 came to the corner of d street where We found a number of dead bodies, now nothing but cha-red bones, lying one on top of the other where they had fallen.
 Tn a house near by, I saw the body of a woman, only blackened a little ieaning up agai-st the wall of the house. her hair was not burned and some of the clothes were untouched !, Her abdomen had burst open and the entrals had fallen on the ground I The inleiOr of the house was mol a burned at all There was d wooder e partition and wooden staircase as @ cending to the upper floor, who'll, I- untouched. The roof was partly on n and it is impossible to conceive how d even this little portion of the huust e escaped ihe terrific heat caused b, f the gases rolling down from tll |. crater during the first eruption. l. &hile we were examining thi e house We heard the steam siren O l. the R!ndeiatigable and the whistle o e he Potomac footing at a tIemen@ou rate. The sky suddenly grew darke 9 and darker, and on looking up We bs
 held a second eruption, far greate
 than the first. which fairly frcze tn
 marrow in my bones. This time W
 fled for good, and ail hands rushe = pellmeli down to the boats. Lou
 reports were heari, whether thuude
 from the approaching rain squall c
 not 1 cannot tell. 4 violent comma
 ton of the water was noticeable. an
 the waves rose higher and higher 0
 the beach. As l ran, 1t seemed to m
 as if the air was growing hotter an
 hotter and I cried out loud to tn
 others that the eud had come th
 time; but when we had gotten to th
 boats it seemed as though the eruI