New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-09-02
WIPED OUT BY PELEE.
Continued from First rage

confirm the theory of Professors Jagsers anu
Hovey. of the Dixie's party OF scien'iSi'' LILO I
Pelee may be in its dying throes, and may be
fore its nresen+ acti,itv ceases. collapse in a
final cataclysm. and like Krakatoa disappear
In its own cavity.
II has been estimated that thirty thousand
people lost their lives by the eruption Of MONT
Pelee on May :. Al that time the Guy VI 81
Pierre and the neighborns towns OF oranoe
Riviere and Macouba we're destroyed anu COW
cred with mud and ashes. The property ioSs'
while exceedingly difficult to estimate Is thousht
To have exceeded $10,HSr"-
II would therefore seem strange AFTER such
destruction Of life and property. and after such
a demonstration of the utter heipiesshess OF
man when brought face to face with SO terrible
= .o,,.,Is,on IF nature that any one would
,a 20 remained on the island of Martinique. But
u has benu noted by foreign travellers that the
inh.httantc of a country visited by volcanic
Disturbances earthquakes or cyclones soon re
cover their natural confidence AFTER each deNas-
tsttan and run even greater risks than before
Then again the fact that certain communities
on the island escaped destruction IN May
strengthened the idea of SAFETY Hence 10 is
believed that the people OF Morne Rouge may
have been more careless when the latest fatal
eruption came.
Oh
St Pierre was heralded on April -. Then the
mountains began to smoke. Distinct rumbings
were heard on the night of April ~, and on May
= the volcano threw out mud and ashes
At noon on May > stream of steaming,
scaIdfng lava bubbling with poisonous gases.
rushed : 100 feet down the mountainside fol-
lowing the dry bed of a torrent. and reaching
the sea five miles away. in three minutes. In
its rush the death dealing flood swept from its
path plantations. buildings factories. cattle
and human beings over breadth of about half
a mile. At the of the Riviern Blanche
stood the large Guern sugar factory, of
the finest in the island. II completely en-
tombed by the mud and lava, which left only
the top Of the chimney visible above the wreck
age,
There was serious loss of life caused by this
lava rush and it created state Of great alarm
in St Pierre Some who able sent their
families away to neighborns islands for safety,
but the most tImid probably did not dream Of
the catastrophe impending
THE DESTRUCTION OF ST. PIERRE,
on May s about : o'clock in the morning,
when the people had more less recovered
their confidence. there was a tremendous out
rushing of hot mud and gases, which dealt
death and destruction before the victims could
save themselves and before they probably real
lied the awful fate upon them. 1t stated
that thirty thousand people persisted within
three minutes, the entire population of the
city. excepting one negro murderer. Who being
confined in a dungeon under the city prison.
escaped with his life.
As the fiery stream rushed to the the lat
ter reCeded three hundred feet all along the
west coast, and then returned in tidal wave,
which carried still greater destruction in its
wake, and which covered the whole front of
St. Pierre
Terrible dctnnations heard hundreds nf miles
north ard followed at short. irregular inter
walls all day. and continued days and nights
thereafter The French waship Suchet visited
the scene Of destruction. and brought away sew
cral survivors.
Following the eruption Of Mont Pelee the vol
of Souffriere. in the island of St Vincent
became active killed two thousand people and
destroyed about SIsboppp worth OF property.
The volcano began to rumble on April ~. ana
the climax of the eruption came on May 4
As soon As the greatness of this West Indian
disaster realized, Congress voted S2oD,eo
for the purchase OF supplies and the transport
Dixie placed in commission to carry these
supplies to the stricken island The Chamber
OF Commerce and the Merchants Association.
OF this city. raised $1,000 for the relief fund.
The Dixie reached Fort de France. Martinique,
on MAY II Much relief had already been &C
telegra phed Ia the Governor of the island by
Morris Is. Jesup, president Of the Chamber of
Commerce