The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-08

at the exact point where the new
crater has been formed"
The stories on the guide and the
Boulin-Berte party were what brought
about the interview with M. Laudes,
Les Colonies deeming it high time to
discredit the danger. This is what the
paper printed from M. Laudes
IN. Laudes, the distinguished pro-
fessor of the Lyceum, has kindly con-
scented to be interviewed by us in re-
gard to the volcano and the phenomena
which preceded the catastrophe at the
Guerin factory. At five o'clock in the
morning (May 81 NJ. Laudes saw
quantities of smoke escaping from the
upper part of the mountain at the
place called Terre Feudue. He re-
marked that the Rivere Blanche
periodically swelled to a volume five
times greater than the volume of its
greatest known rising, and that it was
carrying down great blocks of rock,
some of which might have weighed as
much as fifty tons. He was in the
village of Perrinele, and went, at ten
minutes before one O'Clock, to find
L'etang Sew "a pool, alternately dry or
filled with water, on the side of the
mountain). While there he saw a
whitish mass descend the valley of the
mountain with the rapidity of an ex-
press train. 1t marked it's passage
with a thick cloud of white smoke. 1t
was this mass of mud, not lava, which
submerged the Guerin works.
Later, at the bottom of Morne Dit
tie mountain) Leonard, it appeared to
NJ. Laudes that a new branch existed,
and that this, perhaps, furnished the
lava. He thinks the phenomena of
Monday unique in the history of vol
canoes. 1t is true, he says, that mud
dy lavas develop with great rapidity,
but the catastrophe at the Guerin fac
tory was due to an avalanche rather
than a lava flow. The valley below has
received the contents of L'etang Sec,
the dixie of which was broken. letting
the muddy water fall from hight of
700 metres (about 1900 feet. If there
was no qualxing of the earth under the
influence of this enormous fall, it was
because the sea acted as a cushion.
1.-THE result of the observations of NJ.
Laudes is this: the central mouth of
the volcanoes. situated at the highest
opening, has expelled from time to time
yellow and black crumbly material. 1t
is necessary to flee from the depths of
neighboring valleys and move to
heights to avoid being submerged by
muddy lava as Herculaneum was sub
merged. Vesuvius' victims have been
rare. Pompeii was evacuated in time,
as few bodies have ever been found in
this buried city. Mont Pelee offers no
more danger to the inhabitants of St.
Pierre than Vesuvius offers to those of
Naples"
TO the Interview" with Mr.. Laudes
the paper added: However, this
morning MAY g.. scrutiny Of the noun
tain disclosed the fact that Morne La
Croix Cthe cresting peak of Mont Pc
lee) had at its base an opening 100 me-
tiers long and 40 meters in depth, ac-
counting for a partial fall"
In the paper OF May s a paragraph
occurred which gives indication OF the
excitement in ST. Pierre before the de-
struction Of the Guerin works and
points 10 a panic Of which nothing Is
known save from the few words with
which Les Colonies discussed ~:
THE Riviere Blanche quarter has
certainly suffered more than Pointe Ia
Mare. II h related that on Saturday
night (Aiay 81, perhaps AZ the moment