The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1902-05-21
;eTyF Of AWFUL GRANDEUR
,.s DESTRUCTION OF ST. PIERRE THE
u" MODERN POMPEII.
,,..;d Blaze Flashed Against the
~ mark and Lowering Cloud Of Dust
From a Thousand Points.

destruction of thereby OF st.
ln' with its population OF $4,000 or
NJ pl1 400 people, passes belief; and the
@'VUv .,ic character of the catastrophe
t .'rrsrs the imagination
''s Martinique, the island upon which viii
N aoomed city was built, is but a
the wi throw from the Danish Islands,
stone !s, the United States have recently
Sl,sbt from Denmark, and is ABOUT out
OouSI noo from Porto Rico and l,2OO
mi miles southeast of Florida ' a. o,.,oa
na rso little city of ST. Pierre nestled
The l.' orascent of mountains, while
within s;d a. was the glistening bay.
on one slGo the Central American zone
Inrou are common. They are like
v9 ;nantic bonfres here and tnere, aV
g igbt wierd objects OF interest TO trav.
l ~. Init giving the natives little or
elers n uor They are typical OF the
40 oJ American character, every ma 2
Son'n little volcano and government
o Ie;s beino series of eruptions called
itself Delns
revolutions
u,.rst Pierre stood an old volcano
o.iIed Mount Pelee. A few days ago
e :. became active and the cable report,
II ~ U ,baT it had destroyed factory and
3,;I Iu1I I5O persons. The news was duly
h ahInouicIed, and Mount Pelee was dis
C nia On from further thought. But the
l nid yoIcano had not quit business. Its
t INV Increased. 1t became a gigantic
t tonyntain of fire and smoke. From the
Cited IO depths of the earth there was
sent up by series OF explosions an
snormous cloud of flame and volcanic
dust such as centuries ago buried rom
no,i and sealed it and all its people
from human sight for |, 100 years.
st. Pierre caught fire at thousand
noints and the lurid blaze of the burn
inc city flashed against the dark ana
loTering cloud of dust from the volcano
which overspread the sky, reached TO
the horizon, became thicker, settieu
lower. and transformed city OF lie
aud activity into vast charnel mouse
"a city of death.
The destruction there is appalling;
The city is two feet deep in ashes and
cinders' which cover thousands OF
dead bodies, scorched black and shiny
as if they had been plunged into boil
ing pitch.
At Moudlage, in the southwestern
portion of ST. Pierre, the town hall Is
still standing as high as the first story,
while at a fort in the northwestern
portion of St. Pierre the massive stone
work is calcined. A church tower
built by the Jesuits two centuries ago
of CyclOpean masonry is now ike a
huge heap of aid metal.
The soldiers are guarding the prop
erty from prowling ghouls, who are
robbing the dead. The stencil through
out St. Pierre is terribly offensive.
Now the world waits for the curtain
to be wrung up and reveal the truth OF
this awful tragedy-this modern Pom
peii at our very doors.
In contemplating Mount Pelee's aw-
full work the mind naturally goes back
to Vesuvius and Pompeii. History re-
Gurus GudI NeSuYluS, winch Is olOudu0u
near the shore of the Bay of Naples,
was for years not suspected OF being a
volcano. Its sides were covered with
vines, and its ancient crater, partly
filed with water, was the stronghold
OF the rebel chief, Spartacus.
Its first recorded eruption was A. ID.
70. A huge black cloud arose from the
and stones, ashes and pumace
poured down. Pompeii was buried 20
feet in loose ashes. In later years We
Savius has sent column of fame up.
ware to a height of two miles.
The greatest outpouring of volcanic
ashes on record is said to have occurr-
I'd in Nicaragua in 1885, when there
was an eruption of the volcano Conse-
5nlna. Darkness prevailed oyer an
area of 20 miles in diameter, and "A
niles from the ocean the ashes were
~ feet deep on the ground. Some of
she ashes fell in Jamaica, 700 miles
away.