The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-05-22

glapple with the awful calamity.
) the best sugar estates in the CARR
bean country are devastod and the ca
f tie are dead. The eruption continue
. but is apparently modorating. An:
iety is still felt. All the officers an
residents are cooperating with M
, The ladies are making clothing"
Sir Alfred M. IIodgson, the govern
or for Barbadoes, has forwarded III
colonial Office the report of the color
ial secretary, who has just returnc
from visit to ST. Pierre, Martinique
which confirms the worst accounts G
the disaster. The secretary compare
the ignited matter, which destroye
everything within an area of ten mile
long by Blk wide, TO burning sealing
wax. lie adds Significantly, tha
the services of doctors are not re
quircd as there arc no wounded per
sons.
Governor IIodgson estimates tha
two million tons of volcanic dust fel
on the Island Of Barbados.
In the destroyed city of st. Pierre
the work among the ruins is being con
tinucd III an unsatisfactory manner,
says Fort dc France dispatch to tho
Now York Herald.
The dead are being burned, the py
res being fcd with petroleum and tar
Great fires are kept gong, which at
night light up the entire island, and
which, being seen at St. Lucia, led to
the belief that Fort dc France had
burned.
Although thousands have been burn
ed, many still remain to be crcmatcd.
Searchers, while walking through the
ashes, often step upon what appears
to be charred pillar Of stone, only to
learn as it yields gruesomcly under
foot, that it is the trunk of another un-
fortunate.
Some of The walls OF the houses that
still stand, crumbc and fall at touch
Some idea of the terrible heat that
poured down from Mont Pecc may be
had when it is known that the IRON
rollers of the prnullc sugar mills were
moltcd as though they had been put
through furnance.
The island Of ST. Vincent is one of
the British West Indian group, lying
one hundred miles west of The Bal ba-
does, and between st. Lucia and Tic
Grenadines. 1t is seventeen miles
lon" by about ten miles in width, and
its Ca is 1872 square miles. Through
thu island, from north TO south
str tches ridge Of high, wooded, VOL
can c hills of subordinate, irregular
which extend to the sea on
either side. The volcano called the
Soufricrc is in the northwestern part
and tremendous eruptions have &C.
Cured in it. |! rises to height of
three thousand feet above the sea
level. Its crater is three miles IN cir
and five hundred feet
deep. While the climate of st. Vim
cent is exceedingly humid, the average
rainfall being nearly seven feet, 1t is
not unhealthy. The soil of the valleys
is rich loan, and sugar, rum, molas-
scs, arrowroot and cotton are produced
in abundance. ST Vincent has local
government subject to that of the
Windward Islands. Kingston, the
capital, is near the southwestern cx-
trcmity of the island. 1t had popu-
lation of 4 900 ten years ago.
Prof. Henry S. Williams, professor
of geology at Yale University, in dis
cussing the Martinique horror, said:
" The trouble. at Martinique Was ILL.,
doubtcdly Of volcanic origin. 1t
might have been associated with earth
quake energy, as the two sometimes
occur together. The thunder and
lightning which accompanied the erup-
ton are not uncommon at such times.
They were produced by the tension in
the atmosphere.
"The volcanic explosions were due
to water getting into The cavities in
the earth and coming in contact with
the heated rocks. These explosions
are frequent in the vicinity of the sea
or rivers. The ashes spoken of were
really not ashes, but fragments of rock
thrown out"
How far down in The earth arc
these disturbances?' the professor was
asked.
cat various depths. Usually they
are pretty deep in the earth and may
be several miles down. The matte,
that flows out after an explosion is no
real lire, but molten matter. II is rec
hot and flows down the mountain lik,
water and gives the impression of fire
Gases arc emitted, and taking fire pro
ducc the flame which is often seen
The molten matter sets fire to any
thing in its course. The theory is tina
the matter in the interior of the eartI
is under very great pressure, whicl
keeps it from becoming molten. Blu
as soon as it is thrown up, then it be
comes molten matter.
Earthquakes arc produced by
sliding away of masses of rock an
then there is settling Of the earth
At the Charleston earthquake tn
crack in The earth was several mile
long. The earth settled only fcs
inChes."
The late Senator John Sherman
L,