Oakes Republican., 1902-05-16

the military hospital at Fort-de-F France
say the vessel arrived at G. AS eight
bells We're struck a frightful explosion
was heard up the mountain. A cloud
of fire, toppling and roaring, swept
with lightning speed down the noun
tainside and over the town and bay.
The Roraima was nearly sunk and
, caught fire at once
Il never can forget the lorrid fiery
choking whirlwind which enveloped
me- said Mr.. Evans. MIR. Morris and
rushed below. We were not very
badly burned. not so bad as most of
them. When the fire came we were
gofag to our posts-we are engineers
70 weigh anchor and get out. When
we came up we found the ship afire aft
and fought it forward until o'clock,
when the Suchet came to our rescue.
We were then building raft
Ben Benson. the carpenter of the
Roraima, said: "I was cn deck,
amlds hips when I heard an explosion.
The captain ordered me to up-anchor.
| got to the wind'oss, bue when the fire
came l went to the forecastle and got
my 'duds. When I came out I talked
to Capt. Mugsah and others. They
had been on the bridge. The captain
Was Horribly Burned.
He had inhaled flames and wanted to
jump into the sea. l tried to make him
take a life preserver. The captain, who
was undressed, jumped overheard and
held onto line for while. Then he
disappeared"
Gus Llnder the luartarnaster of the
steamer, who is horribly burned, and
can scarcely talk, confirmed this.
From the Italian ship Tarese Lovico
several men We're saved, but they are
in frigbtful state, except Jean Louis
Prudent of st. Pierre. Although on
deck and unprotected, he was little
burned.
Prudent says there was first an awful
noise of explosion and then, right away,
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. The cyclone of gas tore the
masts out of ships, blew others up and
sunk some of them. Soon afterward
came a wave of fire bigger than the
smoke cloud. THAT cloud" continued
Prudent was bigger, it seemed, than
the mountain.
Burned Everywhere Mt Once.
THE fire burned the city everywhere
at once. Near me saw only dead men:
but on shore 1 saw men and women
rushing back and forth amid the flames
for an hour. They would not run long.
Then came that choking smoke and
they would drop like dead flies. The
explosion, smoke and fire all GANG and
went in three minutes, but the city
burned for three hours Then every
house was finished and nothing alive
was left. Some men from the sinking
ships got ashore. but they We're burned
up there. At no time We're there any
earthquakes; but big stones We're
rained down and fire fell like rain for
a long time
The village Of Urine, south of ST.
Pierre, was almost entirely burned and
almost all the inhabitants We're killed.
One Of the survivors of Urine, who will
die. says the sea, boiling hot invaded
the land.
An evidence of the swftness of the
onslaught of fire is found in the fact
that none Of the victims was blinded,
although the eyelids of most of them
are nearly burned through. No one
knows how the passengers of the
steamers perished and it is impossible
to get a full list of the vessels lost.
The cable repair ship Grappler was
lost With all on board, as was the
French vessel Tamaya. There were
eighteer or twenty vessels in the road
stead at the time of the disaster.
Coast Villages Destroyed.
The coast villages near st. Pierre
We're destroyed simultaneously with
that town. The entire island, UP to
within miles Of Fort-de- France, is COW
cred with mud and ashes. The cattle
of the island are either all dead or dy-
ing. The streams have dried UP or are
polluted. Thousands of persons are
lief is promptly sent famine is immi-
nent, and there is urgent need for the
services of the Red Cross society.
The French cable line via Europe is
now the only means of telegraphic COM
munication with the outside world.
The demands made upon this line are
extremely heavy.
The central and southern parts of ST.
Pierre are still burning. The country
side is deserted. Every family on the
island is mourning the loss of relatives
or friends. Business is at a complete
standstill. st. Pierre was the financial
and provisioning center of the island.
Mount Pelee is still in eruption, and
even more violent and disastrous erup-
tions may follow. Volcanic ashes have
fallen against the wind on the Islands
of Dominica and ST. Vincent.
sOUFRIERl1 BELCHEs OUT RUIN.