The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-05-20
PLEES FROM ST. VINCENT.

doing so. the schooner arrived oppoHltt
st. Pierre, Martinique, Thursday morning
May 4. while about mile of the vol
cano OF Mont Pclce fire from 1t swept
the whole town of st. Pierre, destroying
the town and the shipping there, includ-
ing the cable repair ship Grapplor OF the
west India and Panama Telegraph Com
pany of London. which was engaged IN
repairing the cable. The ocean Traveller,
while on her way to Dominica, cncoun-
tered n quantity Of ~rckagc.
LONDON, May lO.-A dispatch to the
Reuter- Telegram Company from Kings
ton, Jamaica, giving the details OF the
Martinique disaster already known, says:
Thousands were killed at St Pierre.
where terrible panic prevailed The err
upton began Saturday. May 3, when st.
Pierre was covered with ashes and APP
poarcd TO be onyoloped In fog. The flow
of lava continued until "Wednesday, May
eth"
The message adds: "Tn the island Of st.
Vincent the sOufriorc (volcauo) II active
and earthquakes are frequent. So tar no
damage has been done
In response TO the request OF Governor
Llewcllyn of the Windward Islands, the
British cruiser interchangeable will be dis
patched from the island of Trinidad to
the island of St. Vincent by way OF St
Lucia.
A dispatch from the Daily Mail from
Pointe-a-pitrc, island Of Guadalupe,
French West Indies. dated yesterday,
says: "The Mont Pelee est Pierre crater
elected yesterday morning molten rocks
pletcly destroyed St Pierre and the dis
tricts within q four-mile radius All the
inhabitants We're burned"
About eighteen passengers from the Ro-
raima Of the Quebec Steamship line were
saved by the French cruiser Suchet.
The inhabitants OF the southern dis
tricts Of the island, who were dependent
on St Pierre for provisions are menaced
by famine.
A dispatch from the Daily Mail from ia
maca says: 1.-The first intimation of n
disaster (at Martinique was the break
ing of the cables on Tuesday. The French
cable to Martinique from Puerto Plata
was broken Wednesday Gable communi-
cation with all the northern islands is
stopped"
The survivors OF the British steamer
Roddam describe the scene at St. Pierre
as being 'glimpses of hell" beyond their
description. The Roddam's men were
killed chiefly by molten lava,
The Roraiam was wrecked in terrible
upheaval of land and sea. The whole
crew persisted.
Two ships were lost with all on board
in an attempt to approach Martinique.
All then ewspapers here express the ut
most horror at the catastrophe, which.
they say, for its magnitude is. only COM
parable to Pompeii, and they extend deep
sympathy to the French nation
Owing to the cable breakdown in the
West Indies, no details OF the disaster at
Martinique have yet been received here.
The available dispatches from the West
Indies represent the inhabitants of the
! other islands as being in deadly fear.
Professor John Milne, the seismologist,
in an interview published in the Daily
Express, declares that his seismic instru-
ments have recorded no disturbance, and
they would almost invariably have done
SO had serious earthquakes occurred.
Professor Mines theory is that Mon,
| Pelee had blown its head on" owing tC
the infiltration of water through tn,
rocks until il had reached the molten
material beneath, forming steam OF tire
| mendous pressure, when something had
| to give way.
PARIS, May l0-Although the destruc
ton OF st. Pierre, Martinique, was known
here early yesterday, the Parisians Dc
not yet seem to realize the awfulness o.
the catastrophe, which apparently hardl,
| caused more than IL ripple OF excitemen
| on the boulevards. Even the newsboyi
last night were not shouting the last edi
tons of the evening papers with the
usual vim. This was mainly due to tn
meagerness of the dispatches receive,
here, and to the total absence of details
The only sign of grief Yet visible Is tn
half masted flag over the Ministry OF tn
Colonies. Beyond reproducing the cabl
dispatches received by the Government,
the evening papers yesterday either re
Trained from commenting on the disaste
or confined themselves to printing his
tories. ancient and modern. of simila
events. The morning papers today do III
tie better,
The Figaro follows the cable dispatche
with a geographical history Of the islam