River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-05-15
ARE PILED IN HEAPS.
Site Of St. Pierre Is Covered with
Dead Bodies.
Soldiers Are Engaged in Cremating
the COrpses Three Suburban
Towns Burne I-LOSs of Life
May Reach 5000.

Fort de France, Island of Martinique,
May 12-It is now known that three
large towns besides ST. Pierre were de-
stroyed in Thursday mornings catas-
trophe. They were lie Carbet, four
miles south of ST. Pierre, and lie Pre-
cheur, AZ miles northwest, and Man
ceau. lie Carbet had population OF
nearly 6,000 and lie Precheur between
$500 and 1000. Manceau was smaller.
These towns were properly suburbs
of st. Pierre, although they had sep
arate municipal organizations. They
were situated at the foot of the noun
tains Piton de Carbet and Piton de
Precheur, and many of the inhabitants
saved themselves by taking t. the high
ground. In this manner between 1000
and 5000 were saved. They are still
in the hills, their escape practically
shut off by the sea of lava. Plans are
being made for removing them. The
fatalities on the island may aggre-
gate $4,000.
First Landing Mt Pierre.
A landing was made at ST. Pierre
since the town was destroyed. The
captain of the French cruiser with
party of officers and men and a COM
mission of citizens from Fort de
France, landed south of the town. The
party made its way through the laby-
rinth of ruins and found practically
every building in ruins.
Thousands of dead bodies, naked,
mutilated and frightfully burned, were
piled in heaps in all parts of the town
while other thousands were burned
under the ashes, mud and lava which
had overwhelmed the islands. The
work of burning the rapidly decompos-
ing bodies was begun at once.
Lava Torrent stiII Flowing.
The searching party found that the
entire northern end of the island was
in ruins. The lava from Mont Pelee
continues to flow down the mountain
sides in a seemingly never-ending tor
rent. and the great mass is steadily in
croaching to the northward. Every
village and plantation in its pathway
is destroyed Streams are dried up.
Food is destroyed. and the people who
escaped death in the fiery flood or suf-
location in the dense clouds of ashes
are perishing of hunger and thirst.
Beginning of the Eruption.
Fort de France, Island of Martin
ique, May 12.-Advices received here
Sunday from the vicinity of st. Pierre
(ten miles from here) contain fur
Their details of the terrible volcanic
upheavaI which resulted in the ut
ter destruction of that town and the
death of nearly all it's inhab-
itants. The crater of Mont Pelee had
been wearing it's 'smoIe cap since
the third of May; but, there was
nothing until last Monday to indicate
that there was the slightest danger.
On that day stream of boiling lava
burst through the top of the crater
and plunged into the valley of the
River Blanche, overwhelming the
Guerin sugar works and killing %
work people and the son of the pro-
prietor. A commission was appoint
ed by the governor to investigate the
outbreak, and it returned a reassur-
ing report on Wednesday evening.
But about eight o'clock on Thursday
morning a shower of fire rushed
down on ST. Pierre, and the coast
from LeCarbet, which had popula
ton of 5000, to LIE Precheur, which
had a population of 1000, burning up
everything in it's path.
Survivors Rescued.
Throughout Thursday the heat in
the vicinity of ST. Pierre was so in
tense and the stream of flowing lava
was so unremitting that it was i'm
possible to approach the town during
the early part of the day. AS even
ing approached the French cruiser
Suchet, after heroic battle with the
heat, suffocation and sulphur fumes,
succeeded in making a dash toward
the shore, nearing the land close
enough to enable her to take off 80
survivors of the disaster, all of whom
were horribly burned and mutilated.
St. Pierre at that time was an abso-
lutte smoking waste, concealing 3d.
600 corpses, whose rapid decomposi-
ton necessitated, in some cases, in
stantly completing their cremation,
which was only partially accom-
plished by the lava. The inhabitants
of Fort de France were panic strick-
en-, the morning of the disaster, when
the sky suddenly blackened until it
was as dark as at midnight. The sea
shrank back 80 yards, and hot rain
began to fall, while gravel, the size
of walnuts, poured down on the town.
This lasted about Is minutes. The
$50 survivors who were brought here
Saturday from the vicinity of st.
Pierre by the French cable repair
ship Pouyer Guertier came from the
town of LIE Precheur, where, sur
rounded on all sides by flowing lava,
they were nearly roasted to death
and expected momentarily to be en-
quilted.
In the TvvinI<Iing of an Eye.
London, May PA dispatch to
the Times from ST. Thomas, d. ". l.,
says that st. Pierre was destroyed in
the twinkling of an eye, and that not
40 of the inhabitants of the city es-
capped. Some of the outlying parishes
of the Island of Martinique have been
inundated. The whole northern por-
ton of the island is burning. 1t has
been denuded of vegetation and is a
rocky wilderness.
It is reported that Fort de France.
Island of Martinique, is threatened,
concludes the correspondent, and