The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-08

houses. All the stores were closed. the
people were still in a terrorized state. and
big sums of money were offered for passage
TO any port to which our ship might be
bound
DESTROYED BY FLAMING GAS.
There is no doubt that the volcanic
discharge which destroyed the city of St
Pierre was totally different in character
and attributes from the eruptions OF which
we had been the witnesses. ST Pierre was
destroyed by a hurricane OF flaming gas.
a whirlwind of fire. The believer in special
prcvidences and special vsitations of
Gods wrath will find in the destruction OF
St Pierre material for ammunition and for
LITIGATION of his position. The Sunday morn
ing that we lay in the harbor of Fort de
France the chaplain OF the Cincinnati
preached sermon to his flock in which he
took the position that gay. frivolous. ex-
travagant. wicked. licentious, goddess St
Pierre-the Paris of the West Indies" had
been wiped from the face of the earth by
the Almighty because of her iniquities.
The first time we passed the ruins of st.
Pierre. on our way from San Juan to Fort
de France. Thursday May Is. with the aid
of the glasses we could clearly trace line
from the summit of Mont Pelee 10 the ocean,
a mile south of the blighted city. On one
side of this line was a stretch of country
scar and dead: on the other side green
fields and waving sugar cane. st. Pierre hes
just within the dead belt. The line re-
ferred to does not deviate on account OF
hill or ravine, but runs almost as straight
the crow flies. These facts are interest
ing as supporting the hurricane or nre
theory. for a rush of molten lava would
have respect for the principle of gravita-
ton, and would follow the meanderings or
its channel.
officer Evans, OF the steamer Roraina'
whom 1 saw in the hospital at Fort de
France, gave a graphic description OF this
first fiery blast of the morning of May 8
He was standing on the deck of the Ro-
rama, and his eyes and attention were on
the crater, for the reason that several
passengers were taking snap shots with
their cameras. There was no sign Of dis
turbance except that a thin cloud of smoke
was curling skyward. Without warning the
top of the mountain suddenly blew out
with a thunderous defamation, a fiery col
umn shot straight up seemingly thou
sand feet in the air, then toppled and fell
in the direction of st. Pierre. 1t was In the
rush of this furnace blast that the city
was enveloped and destroyed. The whirl-
wind came with such lightning speed that
the people had scarcely time to get out OF
their houses None reached the roads .leav-
ing the city. and only few got to the
beach in their flight before the pursuing
terror The walls of great buildings went
doxr bafo nd "A
houses were completely enveloped in
flames. 1t struck the shipping in the har-
Dor, masts and spars went down like
| straws before sickle, and all the smaller
craft were overturned and sunk. The cable
ship Grappler went out to ablaze from
prov TO stern, and no living soul knows
where she sank The Roraima was struck
so hard that her cargo was all thrown to
| one side, and when she had righted as near
as she could she listed at an angle of TWEEN
I ~ degrees. The poisonous breath OF the
blast was instant death to those who in
hailed it, and only those were saved who
succeeded in temporarily barring them
selves from it. These are only few of the
phases that mark this eruption of Mont
Pelee as a type of its own. type present
ing subject matter for study of absorb
| ing interest in the line of volcanic research.
UTTER DESOLATION.
BY noon OF Tuesday, May 20, our cargo of
| relief supplies had been discharged, the last
| official call had been made, and the Ster-
ling steamed out of the harbor of Fort de
| France, headed for San Juan. Only four
| members out of our entire expedition had
| thus far been able to get into St. Pierre.
| There had been an intense desire on the
| part of every member of the party to ex-
plore the ruins, and Captain Mentz had
| promised that he would stop the boat and
| give us chance to go in. 1 myself had in
mind number of friends for whom / had
a keen desire to pluck few old stewpans.
| or forks and spoons, souvenirs of one Of
the mightiest calamities of all the centur-
| les We swung in toward st. Pierre and
steamed slowly to within half mile of the
shore. Through the glasses the place
seemed strangely altered 1t was more diff
| ficult TO trace outlines. and the ruins in
the extreme northern limits were almost
covered from sight. st. Pierre had indeed
become lone mighty sepulchre,' for since
our visit Of the day before apparently from
to II feet of mud and ashes had fallen
into the town. The peak of Mont Pelee.
too, seemed to have completely changed in
it's outlines. There was a great cleft
through the center of it from east to west.
suggestive of a slice out. of a watermelon.
Should we go in? Captain Mentz was on
the point of ordering boat lowered when
there was a sudden puff of smoke from the
| crater. 1t was only a puff. but Mont Pelee
was again showing her teeth. Again we
swung round. and this time We headed for
the open sea. The imagination cannot con-
ceive a type of more utter desolation than
St. Pierre appeared as we steamed away
from her. or of a place more utterly ac-
| cursed. w. X. lands.
VIEWS OF SCIENTISTS