The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-05-16
DRIFTS OF ASHES
Like Snow They Cover the Is
land of st. Vincent.
Area Affected is Larger Than
That at Martinique.
DEAD ESTIMATED 1900.
Thirteen Hundred Bodies Have
Been Buried Already.
Crops Ruined and Nothing Green
is Visible.
Relief Work in Martinique is
Well Under Way.

W CAA u
Kingston. Island of St. Vincent.
Thursday afternoon, May ia corre-
spondent of the Associated Press has
just returned here from a visit on horse
back to the devastated district of this
island, during which he Travelled so
miles and penetrated to within five
miles of the Soufriere crater. The ash
covered area of St Vincent exceeds
that of Martinique, which the corre-
spondent has also explored. The most
conservative estimate of the death rate
here now places the number at seven
teen hundred. About 1,S00 bodies al
ready have been inferred.
The entire northern part of the IS
and is covered with ashes to an average
depth of Is inches, varying from thlh
layer at Kingston to two feet or more
at Georgetown. The crops are ruined,
nothing green can be seen, the streets
of Georgetown are numbered with
heaps of ashes resembling snowdrifts.
and ashes rest so heavily on the ROOFS
that in several cases they have caused
them to fall in. There soon will be D.
600 destitute persons in need OF as
sistance from the government, which IS
already doing everything possible to re-
lieve the sufferers.
There are a hundred injured people
in the hospital at Georgetown, gangs OF
men are searching for the dead, or rap
idly burying them in trenches, and all
that can be done uuQer the c1ICuIl-
stances is being accomplished
The British cruiser Indefatigable
brought 25 tons of supplies here, and re-
turned to the island of Trinidad today
for more.
The governor of the Windward ISL
ands, Sir Robert LeWellyn, is here su-
pervising the work of the authorities
While the outbreak of the volcano on
the island of Martinique killed more
people outright, more territory has been
ruined in St Vincent. hence there is
greater destitution here.
KILLED NINE MILES AWAY.
The injured persons were horribly
burned by the hot grit which was
driven along with tremendous velocity.
TWenty-siX persons who sought refuge
in a room ten feet by twelve. were all
killed. One person was Drained with
a huge stone nine miles from the
/ crater.
Rough cof1ns are being made to re-
eeive the remains of the victims. The
hospital here is filed with dying people
Fifty injured persons are lying on the
floor of that building, as there are no
beds for their accommodation, though
cots are being rapidly constructed of
boards. This and similar work has
been in progress since Immediately
after the disaster. Two days elapsed,
however, before there We're any burials.
as the negroes refused to dig the neces-
/ sary trenches though they We're offered
three times the usual wages by the local
authorities. The nurses employed are
! learn and are working hard. The ne
} grOes are Indifferent to all that is trans
/ piring and to what has taken place.
! They expect to receive government ra-
/ tfons but there have been instances
! where they have refused to bury their
/ own relatives.
It is estimated that the sea has en-
/ croached from 10 feet to two miles along
/ the coast near Georgetown, and that d
! section on the north of the island has
| dropped into the sea This is appar
| emily verified by the report of the
| French cable ship Pouyer Quertier, that
( sOundings now show seven fathoms
/ where before the outbreak there were
! Sc fathoms of water.
Lieut.. Benjamin 3. Mccormick, COM
manding the United States steamer
! Potomac, now in these waters. has
called on Governor Llewellyn and Of
/ fered him the sympathy of the United
/ States and any assistance which it was
/ in his power to render The Potomac
| has also landed what she can spare Of
! her foodstuffs- The Potomac carried
/ official dispatches to the island of St
CANNONADING CEASES.
Since midnight Tuesday the subter
| ranean detonations here have ceased,
and the Soufriere, Wednesday, relapsed
apparently into perfect repose, no smoke
/ rising from the crater and the assures
emitting no yapOr. The stunted vege-
! tation that formerly adorned the slopes
! of the mountain has disappeared, haV
ing given place to gray colOred lava
! which greets the eye on every side
/ The atmosphere is dry, but somewhat
/ agitated. Rain would be welcomed as
there is q great deal of dust in the air,
which is very diSagreeable and irri-
tating to throats and eyes, and is caus-
| ing the merchants to put all their dry
goods under cover. The inha bitantS
/ (meaning the white population, as a
rule) naturally are anxious to know
i whether the repose of the volcano is
permanent, or whether it is the lun
/ which usually precedes greater parox-
/ ismal activity. Some people, antici-
pating that there is danger of further
volcanic eruptions, are leaving the out
/ lying towns for this city The negroes
/ who have remained on the estates are
half starved, and the Carib survivors
I are leaving their caves and pillaging
t abandoned dwellings and shops a
number of arrests have been made in
/ this connection.
AS the colonial hospital here was
/ found inadequate to accommodate the
1 sufferers. large army tents have been
+ erected for the use of the patients, who
are being constantly brought here from
/ other towns on the island, but even
/ these annex hospitals are overcrowded.
/ The local doctors have been reinforced
+ by a doctor who arrived here from tie
/ island of Grenada, one of the British
/ Windward islands. He brought with
/ him a number of packa geS of medical
supplies, which were extremely useful
FIRST BATCH OF SUFFERERS.
The arrival here of the first detach-
/ ment of the ambulance corps which
/ brought sufferers from Georgetown
/ caused quite q sensation This batch
/ consisted of a hundred persons. whose
! charred bodies exhaled fetid odors ard
/ whose lOthsome faces made even the
/ hospital attendants shudder. It Is
doubtful whether one of the whole
party viii recover.
The death rate arnoDe tho raon1a IN