The Redwood gazette., 1902-06-04
ST. PIERRE and ITS LIFE
Description of the Devastated
West Indies City.
WAS NOTED FOR ITS BEAUTY.

WAS NOTED FOR ITS BEAUTY.
Gay Little Port, but With No Ave-
nues Of Escape-The People Were
of Many Colors, Straight. Supple
and Tall, Vigorous. Graceful and
HeaIthy-Their Quaint Customs.
st. Pierre, on the island of Mar
Unique, just destroyed by the terrible
eruption of Mont Pelee, was one of
the most beautiful cities in the West
Indies, says the New York Times. Here
were splendid homes, great factories
and magnificent estates. The loss of
the city means the destruction of mil
lions Of dollars worth of property, ac-
cording to men who have been to ST.
Pierre and are familiar with it's busi-
ness affairs.
There were more than $500 people
in the city. OF this number only some
$500 were white, and they were nearly
all of French descent. The negroes of
the island Of Martinique are of the best
class Of negroes. most of them having
been educated in the schools of Paris.
The whites are in numerous instances
descended from old French legitinist
families. The people are very sharply
divided into "bosses" and laboring men,
and the bosses make up social circle
entirely their oWn. So sharp is the
line of cleavage that the only club for
Europeans at st. Pierre was known
simply as the White club. The negroes
had club called the Black club. One
of the old French families, that of the
Per1nnelles, had palatial estate in the
suburbs of st. Pierre, this being prob
ably the most notable private estate in
the West Indies.
The ''bosses" Of st. Pierre were in
nearly every instance engaged in the
manufacture of rum, sugar or cocoa.
| The rum factories are the most i'm
portant, the article being manufac-
tured from the sugar cane which is
raised in great abundance in the plan
tations of the neighborhood. The most
! important of the rum factories belong
ed to NJ. de Garagarri, NJ. Savon and
NJ. Bert. The Berti plant consisted
| Of some five distinct distlleries, valued
ar plant belonging to DR.. Guerin and
valued at about 100000 was destroyed
by the volcano some days ago. accord
ing to cable advices.
The seat Of the government of the
island is q: Fort-de- France. St. Pierre,
however was the chief commercial city
of the island. The municipality was
governed by mayor and a council OF
twenty-seven members The mayor
was NJ. Hyacinthe Nicole, with Rene
Clavius- Mar1us and Amedee Knight as
deputies. The municipal government
was housed in one of the many fine
buildings of the city.
The topography of St Pierre was pc
culiar. Facing the sea. with no land
protection whatever from tides, it's har
Dor was not safe refuge for ships in
time of storm. The beach was so alb
rupt nevertheless that heavy draft
steamships found it possible to go with
in fifteen or twenty yards of the shore
there transferring their cargoes tc
barges and lighters. which could steam
up and down the mile or so of beach
directly bounding the city. The build
ings began within a few yards of higt
tide point and covered the land. ii
mile inland.
Distinctive among the buildings ol
the city was Catholic cathedral. pre-
sided over by Mgr. Marie Charles Al
| fred de Cormont This was magnifi
cent structure for such small city
diocese of st. Pierre there were thre.
churches and several small chapels
In addition, there was Jesuit college
Of no insignificant proportions. there
being about thirty-five professors il
the faculty.
The business of the city. outside O.
the export trade. was done through re
tail stores. There were twelve dry
goods stores. two large hardwar,
stores making speciality of farmin:
materials and four brokers. The mon
ey of the city was largely handled b,
the Banaue de la Martinique. founded
in 1851, with a capital of 3.000.00t
francs. In addition. there were in st
Pierre agencies of the Bank of Franc,
aud the Colonial Bank of London.
The city maintained complete pub
lie school system. There was fin,
hotel. known as the Pierre Crocquet
where many persons went on visit.
from France to enjoy the climate o.
the island. Just outside the city ther,
was an elaborate botanical garden
where superb collection of tropica
plants had been gathered. One of th,
features of this garden. and one which
illustrates the eccentric topography O
the country. was water fall drop
ping some 500 feet