The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-05-15
WORK OF RELIEF
,cpEss APPROPRIATES TWO
eo'' HIJNDRED THOUSAND
$. ,..,,t in AIIsvistins Sufferinss Of the Vol.
.,,o Survivors-Ruins OF the City Of St.
Pierre Reached and Terrible State Re-
..,,I,d - Bodies Of Victims Are Being
Crsmated by Hundreds.

Washington, D. c., May 13.-The
house passed bill appropriating $780,
nm for the relief of the Martinique suf-
ferers.
Washington, May 13.-The senate
o,ncurred in the house bill appropriate
mo $1,000 for the relief Of the Martin
;oue sufferers. The president imme-
diately signed the bill.
Washington. D. c., May 13.-President
Roosevelt has sent message to congress
asking that an appropriation of 500, 900
no made for the relief of the Martinique
sufferers. The message was referred to
Tho proper committees ia both the
senate and house.
The president ordered the state, navy
and war departments to consult with
each other and make arrangements for
the forwarding of supplies to the Mar
tinioue sufferers. He also requested
the treasury department to be in readi-
ness to utilize the revenue cutters in
transporting and distributing the sup
plies.
Fort De France, Martinique, May H..
Every available vessel here has been
pressed into service for relief duty at St..
Pierre, which has now been reached
and viewed. Food and supplies have
been hurried to the scene, and will aid
vessels that are bringing survivors away,
No ron;dly q @ noccih1o
The scene in the ruined city beggars
all description. The streets of the city
cannot be traced and are buried in lava,
which continues to run down the sides
Of Mount Pelee, although in lessening
streams.
Relief parties are working under ire
mendous difficulties. A most terrible
stencil arises from the corpses, and aside
from attending to the immediate wants
of the survivors, the work is conferred in
IKE disposal of the bodies. Firewood,
petroleum and quicklime are being used
for this purpose, and funeral pyres light
up the sombre CITY of the dead. The
bodies, some of which are terribly mu-
tiated and burned, and in almost all
cases are nude, are collected in heaps as
rapidly as possible, regardless of sex or
color, no attempt being made at identi-
fcation, and consumed.
The survivors are too stupefied to even
mourn, and collect in groups after being
temporarily cared for, uttering no word
OF comment or description of the holo-
caust. They indifferently watch the
work OF those who are working over the
held. Some of them are violently in
sane. and the terrible maniacal laughter
that occasionally bursts forth is the only
and shocking noise heard over the city.
Intact Bank Vault.
;. While working this morning one party
discovered the site of the Bank of Mar
unique. The huge vault, partly sub
merged in half-cooled lava, is intact. 1t
contains $500, 900. A short distance from
II are the twisted iron columns which
supported the Theater Martiniqe. The
neat at that point was 80 intense that
the huge columns are in some cases bent
double, evidencing the fiery temperature
that must have prevailed when the lava
How was at its height.
Wreckase on Beach
The beach for the length of a mile
rom st. Pierre is strewn with debris of
SHIPS destroyed. All charred trees on
the island are bent seward.
The cruiser Suchet and the cable ship
roger Quarter have already saved 4, 1000
persons from the town of LePreschu .r.
Inc commander of the Suchet says the
geography of the island has been yisibly
iin!0dlhed, crevasses opening and new
NILS and valleys being formed.
heiugees say new craters are opening
III many directions. rivers are overflow
ing their banks and large areas on the
north end of the island are being sub
merged. Other districts are covered
win refugees. Almost total darkness
which materially adds to the
ulihculties of the tasks confronting the
rescuers. The ashes continue to fall,
making breathing difficult.
U. S. Consul Is Dead.
Washington, May 12-The secretary
~ state today received from Louis Ayme,
- = hlted States consul at Point a. Pitrie,
who was sent to Martinique
MIN WI instructions to investigate the st.
rlerre situation, the following dispatch:
Disaster was complete. The city was
wiped out. Consul Prentis and family
are dead.
The governor says at least 80, 900 per-
sons persisted. Fifty thousand persons
are now homeless and hungry. The gov
e : suggests that the Red Cross society
oe asked to send Goldfish, flour, beans,
rice, salt meat and biscuits as quickly as
Morne Rouge Survivors
u Marseilles, May 12.- Commandant
Danger, of the Colonial infantry, who is
mere but whose relatives were in st.
rlerre at the time of the eruption,
fecel Nld ,,ox.... - &