The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1902-05-22
AWFUL RUIN WROUGHT
ERUPTION OF MOUNT PEleE BEGGARS
DESCRIPTION.

Destruction of St. Pierre Complete
Fearful Loss of Life Notwithstand.
! Ing Repeated Warnings That Had
Been Given by the Volcanic Noun.
tain for Days Before 1t Burst In Its
Fury and Deluged the Country With
Rain of Fire and Lava.
A special correspondent writing
from Fort de France. Martinique. to
the Baltimore Sun, after a visit and
stay of u hours amid The ruins Of St
Pierre, says:
Your correspondent has Just return
ed from the ruins Of St. Pierre, scarce
! ~ able to withstand the terrible hard
ships and encounter the horrible
sights that were on all sides every
minute of the "a hours Of our stay
there.
When we reached St Pierre We
were surprised that more OF the dead
were not to be seeff: Strange to re-
late, that in view Of the number who
were swept to death. not many of the
corpScs are to be found This is due
to the fact that the most popnlou.
quarters Of the city are buried under
thick layer of cindered lava, which
seemingly entirely consumed the
bodies Of the victims.
Every moment Of our stay in St
Pierre it was feared that the volcano
would again belch forth its bllows OF
death-dealing fire. 1t continues active
vomiting lava in streams. which flow
down its sides, changing the surface
of the Northern end OF the Island
every hour.
The path Of the volcanic torrent
which swept over ST. Pierre is marked
out in a strange manner. The vicinit Y
OF the shore where vessels anchored
was swept by whirlwind of volcanic
gas, which ripped and shattered
everything in its passage, but left
few traces If cinders behind. On tho
other hand, the fort. center and ad-
joining parts of ST. Pierre are buried
under tn. thick bed Of cindcrs ust
described.
DANGER OF REsCUERS.
When the cable repair ship Pouyer
Quertisr, Captain Thiiion. started on
her mission of mercy she had to pa S
through clouds of burning cindcrs at
the risk Of catching fire in order tc
reach the te.rorstricken people
ashore. But she has succeeded in
bringing many persons 10 Fort de
France. On Sunday she rescued 923
and piloted the French cruiser Suche,
and the Danish cruiser Valkyrica
which took on board 800 more
The Pouyer Quertier distributed to
the sufferers large quantities OF bis
cults, cheese, milk and wine.
PEsTILENCE's SHADOW.
The unburied dead and the danger
of pestilence make St. Pierre plac.
of even greater horror than was
caused by the first result of Mount
Pelee's explosion. Some of the bodie.
first found on the surface have beer
burned by soldiers, but few of those
in the ruins have been dug out. i
will require months, unless a greater
force of men is employed. before thu
dead are properly disposed Of.
The sand and ashes that cover thu
city are still hot. Waves of hea
come down from tho crater of the
volcano, making work among thu
ruins difficult when it is not absolute
ly impossible.
Not all the inhabitants of the towI
of lie Prscheur. thr0s miles North o
ST. Pierre. had been brought to thi
city. A great wave of lava swep
across one part OF the town, destroy
ing the lives OF about 800 persons
The others fed to the seashore ant
were rescued by the cruiser Suchet
Other villages at the foot Of Mount
Pelee were destroyed by the lava
which flowed along the courses form
erly followed by the rivers.
FIRST AMERICAN RELIEF.
The United States Government tus
Potomac has arrived here from Sal
Juan. Porto Rico, bringing ton o
supplies to the sufferers. These art
the first American relief supplies tt
reach the island. While off St. Pierr
the Potomac encountered a column o
thick smoke which she could no
pass. The tn. was compelled to g
five miles out Of her course to sscap,
the ashes that were falling in clouds
In the harbor of st. Pierre steam
ship is in constant readiness to TAX
away the workers il Mount Pelee be
| comes more threatening. A watch i
: constantly maintained, ready to Civ
warning, and if the lava turns in tn
direction of St. Pierre the place vii
. be imm ediately deserted.
: Aside from those working in tn
: ruins, there is probably not huma
being alive in the Northern part c
the island. All who have not bee
killed have fled to Fort de France.
CAsrRIES, St. Lucia, b. w. l., Ma
? 1O.-Mount Pelss, a volcanic mour
tain some ten miles North OF $
Pierre. the commercial capital {
Martinique, is the mountain whic
made a faint show Of eruption fit
: years ago. On May 3rd it bsga
: to throw out dense clouds OF smok'
:, At midnight, the same day. flame
>, accompanied with rumbling noise
}. lighted the sky over an imnen.
: area, causing widespread terror. Ma
: 4th hot ashes covered the whole cit
g quarter of St. Pierre An inch thie
), and made Mt. Pelee invisible.
+ AT noon, May 5th, a stream
It burning lava rushed 400 feet dow
the mountain side, following tho dr
;. bed of torrent and reaching the Sc
q five miles from the mountain, in thr'
n minutes.