The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1902-09-24
pELEE ALARMS A CONSUL.
Volcano May Become Another
KrakatOa.

'Mont Pelee may assume the Kraka.
toa type of volcano, and in that case
| there NAV be another great disaster in
! the West Indies" said Louis II. Ayme,
who returned to Chicago the other day
| after fishing excursion in Minnesota,
says the Chicago Evening Post. Mr..
Ayme is United States consul at Quad"
alOupe.
Mr.. Ayme held in his hand a press
dispatch from st. Thomas stating that
news had come from the island of Do
minica that prolonged noises in quick
succession were heard there from the
south recently and that the indication
is that Pelee is again in a state of VIC
lent eruption.
While Consul Ayme does not wish to
be understood as an alarmist, the
news, coupled with his intimate knowl-
edge of the situation on Martinique,
causes him to feel grave apprehen-
sions as to what the still active vol
cano may do in the near future.
What Consul Ayme fears most is
LAdI Al LlAdl hON Z may LO1AOh NOilbIiI-
ued eruptions, and a tidal wave, it
should be remembered, is likely to af-
feet not only Martinique, but the entire
chain Of islands.
"Krakatoa is the name of q volcano
in South America which blew the top
of the mountain off several years ago."
said Consul Ayme in explanation of
his statement THE report was heard
2, 400 miles away. 1t began to erupt in
February and continued to mutter for
months after. | think it was in Au-
gust that the climax came. This may
prove to be the case in Martinique
Mont Pelee may blow the top off the
mountain, and then there will be seri-
Gus trouble 1t was the eruption of
May 8 which destroyed st. Pierre, but
that explosion was not SO severe as the
one of June 6, and the explosion Of
June 6 was not so severe as some
which have followed.
up to June 6 there had been four or
five separate craters on the sides Of
the mountains near the base. Their
mechanism was old-that is to say
they were old craters which had been
filled up and then burst out again.
June 6 a new crater was formed near
the one which destroyed the city. My
information points to another new era
ter and indicates that Pelee's activity
is increasing instead of diminishing.
eff the vent is not sufficient, vol
canO will blow it's head off" declared
the consul. "In the case of Mont Pc
lee, which extends under the sea, the
result would be tremOrS of earth and
water which might cause a terrible
disaster At least 100000 people would
be affected by a tidal wave flooding
the adjacent islands. Fort de France
and all other cities on the leeward side
of the island of Martinique would be
destroyed A rise of three feet in the
tide would food Fort de France, and
q fifteen foot rise would completely
wipe it out of existence.
1.-The islands of the West Indies are
so situated that a tidal wave which af-
fected one would affect all the others,
and if Martinique went under the same
fate would await st. Thomas, Domin-
lea, Antigua and the rest of them.
There is comparatively nothing now on
Martinique to suffer from either vol
cano or tidal wave, but the other is
lands are quite thickly populated, and
it is to be hoped that Pelee will not
complete it's work by hurting the sea
over the remainder of the group