The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-13
POISONOUS VAPORs
And Flaming Gases Swept Down
on St. Pierre.
STORIES OF THE SURVIVORS
Awful Scenes in the Hospital mt
Fort de, France-Barbados
Sends Help.

Fort de France, Martinique, May 10
Careful inspection showed that the fiery
stream which so completely destroyed St.
! Pierre must have been composed of poi
sonous gases. which suffocated those who
! inhaled them, and of other gases burning
| furiouslv, for nearly all the victims, had
their hands covering their mouths or were
in some other attitude, showing that they
had sought relief from suffocation. All
the bodies were carbonized or roasted.
At the request of S. A. McCallister, the
| United States consul a Barbados, Captain
| Davis and the Solent were placed at his
disposal by the Barbados government. The
Solent took to St. Pierre the colonial sec
| rotary, two civil doctors, two military
officers and DR.. Aughinbaugh- of Washing
| ton, as we'll as corporal and four hos
| pital orderlies, three trained nurses and
| full field hospital outfit.
The Barbados government also sent 700
barrels of provisions, one ton Of ice and
a full supplya of medicine. 3 These were
useful, but the real need was quick burial.
| Stories of the Roraima's Crew.
C. C. Evans of Montreal and John G.
Morris Of New York, who are now at the
military hospital at Fort de France, say
| the Roraima arrived at 6. AS eight bells
struck, a frightful explosion was. heard
up the mountain. A cloud of fire. topping
and roaring, swept with lightning speed
down the mountanside and over the town
and bay. The Roraima was nearly sunk
and caught fire at once. e.. - -,
| 81 never can forget the horrid, fiery,
choking whirlwind which enveloped me, y
said Mr.. Evans. "Mr. Norris and / rushed
below. We were not very badly burned
not SO bad as most of them. When the
g To wa
are engineers) to weigh anchor and get
out. When we came up, we found the
ship afire aft and fought it forward i'm
til o'clock, when the Suchet came to
our rescue. We were then building a
raft
Ben Benson, the carpenter of the Ro-
| raima, said:
81 was on deck, amidships when heard
an explosion. The captain ordered me to
! up anchor. I got to the Wlndlass, put
when the fire came I went into the fore-
/ castle When I came out. talked with
Captain Muggah, Mr.. Scott, the first OH
GER and others. They had been On the
bridge. -
| sThe captain was horribly burned. He
had inhaled flames and wanted to jump
into the sea. 1 tried to make him take a
life preserver. The captain, who was IN
| dressed, Jumped overheard and hung onto
a line for a while. Then he d1sap-
peared.' -
Gus Under, the quartermhster: OF the
steamer, who is horribly burned and can
scarcely talk, confirmed this story.
. Francisco Angelo says tie captain was
| a very brave man-too brave 10 be burned
to DEATH Angelo further asserted that
the storm of fire lasted not 'lore than hFe
| minutes. -
Joseph Beckels, a seama q. who is %
wears of age and is so frigutfully burned
! that he cannot live, having inhaled hame,
! said in weak tones that he was the last
man to see the captain. The captain was
! then trying to reach a floating mattress.
| Other men of the Roraima rescued: are
Salvador Aiello and Jos Susino. =
| From the italian ship Terese "LoVlcl
i several men were saved, but they are IN
| a fright full state,> except Jean Louis fru-
dent of St. Pierre. Although on deck and
UNPROTECTED, he was little burned.
Prudent says there was first an a"1ul
exnlosion and then a cyclone of'smoke and
FIRE. but such was the poisonous, choking
nature of the smoke that it burned worse
/ than the fire. When it struck people they
fell dead Soon afterwards came a wave
! of fire bigger than the smoke cloud.
*That cloud" continued Prudent, was
bigger, it seemed, than the mountain.
! s'The fire burned the city everywhere al
/ onoe Near me. I saw only dead men,
Int on shore I saw men and women fush-
/ no hack and forth amid. flames. They
vouId not run long. Then came that
1 choking smoke and they would drop.
! t.The explosion, smoke and fire al came
and went in three minutes: but the cry
j ,,,r,od for three hours Then every. house
vas: finished and nothing alive was left:
Some men from the sinking ships got u.
to shore hut thew we're burned up there
In separate part of the hospital were r
found several persons rescued from Car
bet village, four miles from 81. f r. p;oro
90 Jrri O
,,as almost entirely burned and almost all
the INHABITANTS we're killed. One Of the the
e snr Of Urine who will die. says the
sea boiling hot invaded the land. SIX
burned women are in another ward Oh the
| hospital.