The suburban citizen., 1902-07-19

week should feel that they were the
only passengers aboard, and that ev-
erybody should love them for the dan
gers they had passed. There is nc
doubt about it, some were a trife
"brash," and there was much talk
about eruptiOns, pillars of steam,
mountains of ashes, rivers of mud and
cities Of ruins. They had not been
aboard day, and had not yet got well
shaken down" with the other passen-
gers.
A sunny-faced little woman Of gentle
speech, with fluffy white bllowinG all
about her in the light breezes, reclined
restfully in a steamer chair outside
the starboard staterooms of the deck
cabin. She listened courteously to the
personal experiences of half a dozen
men who. had just "been through the
ruins of st. Pierre" murmuring from
time to time, How very interesting!'
1t was the Bluenose skipper who first
gave me the hint. 1 thought l saw a
wicked gleam in his eye as he over
flowed in q Bermuda chair nearby,
and his five feet (circumferentially) of
wind-tanned seaman quivered all over
in silent mirth.
THE joke, o worthy mariner"
quoth, 'skirting his TANKS, give me the
tip Let me in. Put me next. / enjoy
comedy, and 1 lack cheerfulness
Wherefore those mirthful body
quakesp
Young man." he said, slowly, "some
of these boys have gone full steam
ahead without looking at the chart or
taking soundings. There are other
hookers than the Madiana humping the
sad sea waves. Do you fall over
boardp
l thought did, and respectfully
withdrew. That afternoon l cast an
chor by the deck.chair of the sunny
faced woman in white and said gently,
but firmly: II should like very much
to know what you saw, and how you
felt, in the ruins of the dead st.
Pierre"
She laughed. "Well, let's 60 up on
the roof Of the back porch, as I heard
the young man from Indiana call it
this morning"
And so, on the hurricane deck of the
Madiana homeward bound from Barba-
does, in the shadow of the cloud
crested peaks of the Dominican NOM
tains, I heard the story of the first
woman to visit the desolation Of the
buried city at Martinique and the only
woman yet, so far as 1 know.
when the news of the catastrophe
reached us at st. Kits" said the
woman in white, my husband. Or.
Joseph Haven, who represents the
United States on that island an
nounced his intention Of going to Mar
Unique at the earliest possible Oppor-
tunity. / thereupon announced my in
tention to the same effect. He didn't
want me to go, Of course, Dut Of course
l went You know I'm a Chicago girl
We caught the Madiana at Basse Terre
on Wednesday, May II, and anchored
in the harbor Of Fort de France on
liudy u4gul,
"On Saturday morning we went
ashore and wandered through Fort de
France.
"All Saturday showers of fine ash
fell from time to time over the town.
They came in gusts, binding our eyes
and streaking our faces. l kept up an
umbrella most of the time in an effort
TO shield myself, but the ashes sifted
down the back of my neck Just the
same. l had used umbrellas for many
sorts Of purposes, but never thought 1
would use one to protect myself from
a storm of ashes from a volcano. The
houses were covered, and the people
in the streets looked like ghosts in
fog. The statue Of the Empress JOS
ephine was completely draped in the
ghostly mantle.
we had intended going down the
coast to st. Pierre on Sunday. but
the captain of the Cincinnati declared
that it was unsafe. l spent the day in
visiting the hospitals.
ION Monday morning at o'clock we
went aboard tiny steamboat which
DR.. Haven had chartered. There were
about half a dozen in the party.
Ozark clouds were rolling out of
Mont Pelee as we drew near. We
steamed up and down the roadstead
three or four times, in front Of the
ruined city. The grim, ghostly desola-
tion Of the scene, as viewed from a
distance, was too much, almost, for my
mental grasp. There was no detail to
seize upon. 1t was a relief even to
look at the menacing outpour Of steam
and vapor from the volcano.
1--WE went ashore at the extreme
southern point of ST. Pierre, where a
little stream separated the city from
the village Of LAnse. that lay under
the slope Of Morne d'Orange, on the
top OF which was the spllntered statue
of St Mary the Virgin. The little
steamer ran close in shore, and we
were landed on the beach by small
boat / had to jump, but took the right
moment, and got ashore without
wetting. How was l dressed? Oh, l
| wore just ordinary womaniind clothes.
win short skirt, the Rainy Daisy
IL NWN 4