The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1902-05-30
MARTINIQUE DISASTER
Weird Experiences of the
Steamship Horace.
CLOUDS OF SAND MET AT SEA.

as "a Judgment of God.
Weird and interesting were the ex.
periences Of the crew OF the British
steamship Horace of the Lamport &
Holt line, which reached New York
from st. Lucia the other morning. says
the New York Herald. The Horace is
commanded by Captain Byrnes.
She touched ut Barbados and had n
decidedly interesting time in the vicin.
ity OF Martinique on Friday. May 0,
when, despite the fact that she was
l21 miles from Mont Pclce. the ships
decks were covered with lava dust 20
the depth Of several inches. 1t was
only through what seemed providential
accident that the steamers engines
were saved from disastrous injury as
result OF the storm Of lava dust which
covered them. The Horace brings the
Information that the visitation Of St
Pierre Is looked upon by the supersti-
tious islanders as Il judgment Of God.
"While In ST. Lucia" said an officer
OF the vessel, Il heard several OF the
residents telling one another that they
believed the destruction of st. Pierre
was a terrible punishment sent by the
Almighty on account of the wlckedness
OF the city. don't know about the
divine retribution, but do know that
81. Pierre was a pretty bad place.
I'VE had cleared from Barbados"
said Second Engineer Anderson, land
were making our way to St Lucia,
where we were TO complete our cargo,
take on n little more coal and then
clear for New York.
ION the afternoon Of May s CThurs-
day. we noticed a peculiar haze in the
direction of Martinique. The air SEEM
ed heavy and oppressive. The weather
conditions were not at all unlike those
which precede the great West Indian
hurricanes; but. knowing It was not
the season of the year for them, we all
remarked I'm the engine room that there
must be heavy storm approaching.
80 unusually peculiar were the
weather conditions that we talked Of
nothing else during the evening. That
night in the direction of Martinique
there was a very black sky, an unusual
thing at this season of the year, and a
storm was apparently brewing in n di-
rection from which storms do not come
at this season. AS the night wore on
those on watch noticed what appeared
to be great flashes OF lightning In the
direction Of Martinique II seemed as
though the ordinary conditions were
reversed. and even the forecast!e
prophets were unable to offer explana-
tions.
Occasionally over the pounding Of
the engines and the rush of water we
thought we could hear long, deep roars
not unlike the ending Of deep peal OF
thunder. Several times we heard the
rumble or roar, but at the time we
were not certain as 20 exactly what 1t
was or even whether we really heard
IL.
There would suddenly come great
flashes OF light from the dark bank
toward Martinique. Some of them
seemed TO spread over a great area.
while others seemed to spout skyward,
funnel shaped. All night this contln-
ued, and 1t was not until day came
that the flashes disappeared The dark
bank that covered the horizon toward
Martinique. however, did not fade
away with the breaking OF day, aud
at in the morning Of the 9th (Friday)
the whole section OF the sky in that di.
rection seemed dark and troubled.
About O'clock Friday morning
was sitting on one OF the hatches aft
with some OF the other engineers and
officers OF the ship. discussing the pc
culiar weather phenomena. noticed q
sort of grit that got into my mouth
from the end OF the cigar | was smok
ing.
Then noticed that grit was getting
on my clothes, and finally some one
suggested that we 60 forward OF the
tunnels, so we would not get the dirt
on us. AS we went forward we met
one or two Of the sailors from the
forecastle who wanted TO know about
the dust that was falling on the ship
Then we found that the grayish look
ing ash was sitting all over the ship
both foreward and aft.
EVERY moment the ashes ralneC
down all over the ship and at the sam'
time grew thicker. A few moments
later the lookout called down that W.
were running into a fog bank deaC
ahead. Fog banks in that section are
unheard Of at o o'clock in the morning
at this season, and we were more thar
hundred miles from land. and wha'
could fog and sand be doing there?
Before we knew It we were in thu
fog. which proved 10 be a big dens'
bank OF the same sand. and It rainet
down on us from every side Ventl
lators were quickly brought to thei
places, and later even the matches wer'
battened down. At first we though
that the sand must have been blowr
from shore Then we decided that 4
the captains hgures were right w
J wouldn't be near enough TO shore 4
have sand blow on us. and as we haC