The Jennings daily record., 1902-06-27
ST. PIERRE AND IT'S LIFE
GAY LITTLE PORT. BUT WITH NO
AVENUES OF ESCAPE.
The Metropolis of Martinique Was a
Merry Place UntIl Covered by Lava
and Ashes - A Mountain RiI Ran
Through Every street.

Through Every street.
Merchants and ship captains who
know the Windward Islands cannot
conceive of the gay little port of St.
Pierre de Martinique covered with
ashes and lava. AS do all the colonial
capitals of the French. st. Pierre fol
mails would permit the customs and
fashions of Paris. AT the Hotel dos
Bains at the "absinthe hour one might
always find gathering of the young
men of the town. who sat slipping their
liqueurs and chatting gayly.
Where st. Pierre was the coast line
curves inland like a sligSly bent bow.
Describing il. one of the shopk eepers
on the Rue de Victor Hugo used to say
that the town was situated ON bay
shaped like Il dilemma with volcano
on one horn and a tropical jungle OH
the other. He had got the phrase from
an English correspondents who had
wondered what the inha bitants would
do if such calamity as the present
one ever occurred. The EDgliShman
had noted the lack Of roads leading
from the town and The futiIity of any
hope of escape.
The town was built on the fiat mar
row foreShore that lay between the
foot of the steep wooded mountains
and the sea. The houses and shops
We're built down to the waters edge
and clustered in irr" gular groups about
the Cathedral, which was situated d.
"ectly opposite where the ships lay in
the rnadStead. and was the most promi-
inent architectural feature of the town
1t was built of whitiSh stone, and
with its two towers in which bells Were
hung. WAS sharply acccntuated against
the green background of the mount
airs. The water front of the town eX-
tended for nearly two miles along the
gently cnrving coast. All the space
back TO the hills that shut in the town
was filled with the low white houses of
the people. Some twenty or twenty
five streets ran down from the hills to
the water front. These were cut by ir-
regular cross streets
The Rue de Victor Hugo was the
principal thorouGhfare. All Of the best
shops were located on il. and II served
as parade for the fashiona bleS when
they made their appearance in the cool
of the evening. arrayed in the white
ent-leather shoes. and the women either
in the year-oid fashions Of Paris or in
the striking gayly colored native yarb,
The Cathedral. the Opera House
iwhere travelling companies played be-
fore enthusiastic audiences. the Hotel
des Bains. and the banks were proha-
hly the largest and best built buildings
in the town. French was the common
language. and nearly all of the white
people We're of French extra ction. It
was lively place. and its people had
some of the light spirit and gayety of
their Gallic kinsmen. Always on com
ing into the harbor passengers noted
the apparent freshness and cleanliness
of the place. The white houses with
their green blinds and tiled or thatched
roofs. the gay striped awnings and
vivid green Of the ba ok ground made a
cool, pleasant picture. Ashore, the
bright costumes of the native girls
the movement of the street life and the
Stran2eneSS of the new scenes was a
source of constant interest to tourists.
The upper or new town was the most
attractive part of the place. The streets
We're broader and cleaner and the
buildings of better quality. An of
the streets We're narrow. the princ;pal |
one tthe Rue de Victor Hugo being
scarcely wide enough TO permit TWO !
carriages TO pass abreast
Through every street ran an open
gutter of water from the hills. and |
early in the morning. Just when the
cool daWn-wind was coming down |
from the mountains. these cutters !
would he alive with people. The ma
tiv" women would bring ont their tall |
"arrhen jars. called Welsh hats" hv
the resident Englshmen. to be filed !
with the cool flowing water. Babies
were brought ont and allowed to dis
port themselves, while their mothers
cleaned the household utensils. The
streams being fed from mountain lakes
cleanliness in dress and habitation was
classes.
Back from st. Pierre about eight
milos. on winding mountain road.
was the fashionable native resort.
Morne Rouge. Here the rich residents
had their country homes, and it is
probable that when the flood of fire.
ava and ashes came down from Mont
'elee these were among the first houses
destroyed. In the season, which began
about June !, there We're usually 1000
'r 1000 persons at Morne Rouge. Prob
ibly half that number had gone out
his year to open their villas
The people of st. Pierre were rather
proud of their volcano. Mont Pelec
stood first aS Il point of interest," for
ouIiS:s. There has always been plenty
# evidence that life was not extinct in