The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-12
BILLS FOR POLICE PEARL OF The SEAS !
Minneapolitans Talk Of Ill Fated
City of St. Pierre.
PRETT1EsT IN THE ISLANDS
Beauties of the Town Which Was
Overwhelmed by Volcano
Graphically Described.

Horrible as are the details Of the dis
aster which overwhelmed st. Pierre,
Island Of Martinique, to the average read
er, the picture presented by the press re-
port Is much more vivid to those who saw
the doomed city in all its loneliness when
mature was at. peace.
Among the Minneapolitans who have
visited Martinique are E. P. ,Capen, of the
Boston Ice company, j. E. Bell of the
Hennepin County Savings bank, and his son
John Bell. and J. w. Raymond of the
Northwestern bank Mr. Capen was there
IN March, 1895. The others saw Mar
Unique in a trip to the Windward islands
in 1895. Speaking Of the eruption Mr..
Capen said: ~.
After reading the accounts of the destruc-
ton wrought by the volcano, it requires but
small trick of the imag ination to conjure
up the terrible scene that followed. When
we sailed into Martinique it was a perfect
summers day and the frowning peaks of
the mountains four or five miles back OF the
compactly built city gave no sign of the
destructive forces which have at last found
vent - -. @"<is5
My, impression of St. Pierre is that it was
the prettiest. and cleanest city we saw in
the Windward islands In most of the cities
7 OF these islands the opposite conditions OBJ
| taill--notably at st. Thomas, which was
| nlthy beyond description.
| We We're in Martinique for two days, and
| In that time we had an opportunity to see
the town and get fair glimpse yof the sur
rounding country. The buildings, with
| scarcely an exception, are. two-story stone
/ aHalrs, and the architectural features of the
| place were in no sense striking. The popula-
| ton was almost entirely of the French
| Creole type, but had an idea there were
more white persons than the press reports
| indicate. The town stretched along the sea-
! shore, the harbor being unusually open and
| unprotected for a distance Of perhaps two
| miles. The. abrupt rise of the MOUNTAINS
prevented its building far in the other di-
| rection. A few miles out of town on either
| side were villages @of about thousand in
habta1ts each, which must have been in
lVolved in the general ruin.
Fun-Loving People. -.r.....
remember that VIC arrived the day after
| the annual mardi gras festivities. The in
| habltants were a superior class of people
| for that cline They were essentially fun
| loving. They and the town were decked out
| In gala attire The streets were crowded
with pleasure seekers and joy was uncon-
| fined. Their amusements were simple enough,
the dance being the principal attraction.
| About the only street of any Importance
was the long, narrow thoroughfare Which ran
the entire distance of the town. Back of the
| city were tine. beautiful botanical gardens
. described in the reports. These gardens were
cared for by convicts. The water Of the
harbor is very deep. There are no wharfs as
reported, the depth being such that vessels
can come within a few feet of the sandy
| beach, which shelves off suddenly into thirty
or forty feet of water. The water was so
deep that our ship dragged anchor in the
night. From the situation of the town, there
would have, been little chance for any one
| to escape. !.
,oJl ;,{o wilt Nv
lin of Portland Me-, whose extensive in
terests at st. Pierre were destroyed. We
were school boys together back in Maine.
| J. E. Bell says the only chance of es-
| cape for the people Of the town would
have been to- take refuge in the noun
| talns The country surrounding the town
| is so mountainous that protection from
been afforded by overhanging Lodges and
| other natural retreats. He said: X!
| The town was situated at the mouth of a
| river, one bank of which rose precipitously
for height of 800 or 400 feet. Some people
may have taken refuge in this narrow val
ley, but 1 suppose it was choked with the
fiery flood from Mount >uila. ="
Beauty of the Scenery.
The country round about St. Pierre was
| covered with luxurious vegetation and the
| scenery was very beautiful. One of the larg-
| asylum, the mouth of the river. The
| country was thickly populated and L imagine
that the loss of life, including the sur
rounding villages, is even larger than yet
| reported. The people were thrifty sober and
/ intelligent, the women being unusually beau
tiful .~.~ -., .....'.,' -.
St. Pierre was one of the points touched
by the City of Paris, when that ship was
designed not only to take travellers over
| Sh-A ct
gle in this hemisphere, but to extend to
various points of interest on the French
and English islands as we'll, and a stay
of thirty-six hours was made at st.
! Pierre.
| A number Of Minneapolis people were
with that party, among them Mr.. and
Mrs. j. D. Macmillan, Judge and Mrs. M
Koon, Mr.. and Mrs J w Raymond
George Peavey and Mr.. and Mrs. G. c.
Bagley. All of them landed at St. Pierre
and spent day in sightseeing. Mr.. Mac
MILAN this morning said that the city
had a population of about $4,000 II
was located on the side of hill, and ha6
only poor harbor. Said he:
There was no live volcano near the cit,
when I was there, and 1 can teexacty locate
Mount Pelee. don't know whether it wa.
tie mountain Immediately back of the town
or whether it off to one side. At an,
rate it was supposed to be extinct in 1899
The population of st. Pierre was largely col
ored, and the buildings were mostly one
: story affairs, although 1 remember they weri
} putting up one, steel building, such as w.