The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-14
FOR DEAD
FORT DE FRANCE MOURNs VICTIMS
OF MONT PELEE.
ST. VINCENT'S DEAD 1000.
UNITED STATES RUSHING ITS RE-
LIEF WORK.

POstmasters and National Banks.
Few Dead Bodies Found at st.
Pierre-Fiery VapOrs May Have
Consumed People UtterIy-Rescue
Work on the Island Continues.
Fort de France, Island of Martinique,
May 13.-Business here is suspended.
The people of the city have assembled
in the churches and the cathedral,
where special services are being held
for the ST. Pierre dead, has been
thronged since daylight.
The United States government tug
Potomac leaves here tonight for the
island of St. Vincent, where conditions
are reported to be worse. LaSou-
friere, on st. Vincent Island, was in
full eruption May 10. A stream of
stone and mud half a mile wide was
then issuing frim the volcano. Stones
two inches in diameter fell twelve
miles away. At Kingston, the CAPT
tai of the island, the ashes were two
inches deep. Seven hundred dead were
reported Sunday, May IL. 1t IS esti-
mated that the total number of deaths
Oll ot NlllCCHI ICdNAlC0 ASOoV. NhOSb ~
the victims are said to be Carib In
dams. Seven estates on the island
have been burned to ashes, and 1t is
authenticity reported that two earth
quakes occurred there. 1t is believed
the submarine cables at st. Vincent
have been broken by the disturbances.
The present volcanic eruption on st.
Vincent is the first since 1912.
Gov. Hunt of Porto Rico, has asked
Louis H Ayme, the United States con-
sui at Guadalupe, who is now here,
what assistance he could render. Gov.
Hunts offer was communicated to the
government, which will gladly accept
it.
The tug Potomac cruised along the
coast of this island yesterday after
noon. She encountered an inky black
column of smoke which made it nee
essary for her to so five miles out of
her course Words fail to describe the
present situation at st. Pierre. A
small detachment of French troops is
making efforts to inter the dead, al
though the government seems to be
strikingly unconcerned as to what is
OOllG III ills I'LL CNlAOAl.
Bodies of Dead Looted.
The looting of the dead has begun
already. While coming to Fort de
France the Potomac picked up boat
containing five colored and one white
man whose pockets were filled with
coin and jewelry, the latter evidently
stripped from the fingers of the dead.
Lieut.. B. b Mccormick, the command
er of the Potomac, arrested the men
and turned them over to the command
ant of the French cruiser Suchet for
punishment The Potomac also brought
a ton of supplies to Martinique
A famine here is imminent. The
northern section of the island is depop-
ulated.
Few COrpses Mt st. Pierre.
Fort de France, Island of Martinique,
Nav 13.-Strange to relate, in view of
the number of inhabitants of st. Pierre
who were swept to death by the vol
canic waves from Mont Pelee on
Thursday last, very few corpses have
been found by those who are engaged
in the work of cremating the dead
bodies This is due to the fact that
the most populous quarters of the
town are buried under a thick layer of
cindered lava, which apparently en-
tirely consumed the bodies of the vic
Tins.
Public interest centers in the stories
of the survivors and in the efforts be-
ing made to succor the refugees.
A woman named Laurent, who was
employed as a servant at st. Pierre in
the household of NJ. Gabriel, and who
was among those taken to the hospi-
tai in this city, in describing her eX-
periences, said that on the day of the
terrible disaster she heard a loud re-
port and thereupon fainter. When she
regained her senses, a few hours later,
she was horribly burned, and, glancing
around, she saw two members of the
Gabriel family still alive; but they
died before assistance could reach
them. Mile. Laurent, although she
lived for some time after being taken
to the hospital and was conscious while
under the care of the physicians, died
without being able to impart and
additional information concerning the
catastrophe.
The work of succoring the refugees
continues incessantly.
Good Work of Cable Ship.
When the cable repair ship Pouyer
Ouertier, Capt. Tirion, started on her
mission of mercy she had to pass
through clouds of burning cinders at
the risk of catching fire. in order to
reach the terror-stricken people ashore.
But she succeeded in bringing to this
port 546 people, mainly former resi-
dents of the village CT LePrecheur.
This was on Saturday last. Since then
the steamer, as the result of other dar-
ing trips, has succeeded in bringing
many other persons to Fort de France.
On Sunday she rescued 923 persons, and
piloted the French cruiser Suchet and
the Danish cruiser Valkyrien, which
took on board fifteen hundred persons.
The Pouyer Quertier has distributed
to the sufferers large quantities of bis
cults, milk wine and cheese.
The specie found in the vaults of the
Bank of Martinique at st. Pierre,
amounting to 10000 900 francs, has been
brought safely here. The species in the
public treasury at st. Pierre is still
buried under a layer of lava about six
to eight meters thick
Path of the Torrent.
The path of the volcanic torrent
which swept over St. Pierre. is marked
out in a strange manner. The vicinity
of. the shore. where vessels anchored.
was swept by a whirlwind Of volcanic
gas, which ripped. tore and shattered
everything in its passage. but left few
traces Of cinders behind. on the other
hand. the fort. center and adjoining
parts Of St. Pierre are buried under a
thick bed OF cinders. which consumed
everything beneath =