Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1902-05-22
PEOPLE ARE NOW DIGGING
IN ITS RUINS IN SEARCH
OF DOCUMENTS AND
VALUABLES.
A Resident of a Nearby Town Says
That AL About Him When the
Explosion Came There Was
a Terrible Suction of

Fort de France, May 15.-phe ap-
proach to ST. Pierre is easier. The
fires in the wrecked buildings of the
city are extinguished and represen-
tatives of the commercial houses
from here are digging in the debris
of houses and stores in search OF doc
uments and valuables.
The town is a mass of i~ndescrib-
able ruins which bear a striking re-
semblauce to those of Pompeii. In
the lower part of the town called the
Moullege the outlines of the streets
can be made out, and in places here
and there are stretches of walls OF
houses several yards long which are
still erect, but battered and crushed
in at the top.
The number of victims is SO great
in places that in the great heaps OF
commingled dead Identification of
individuals is very difficult. The
deadly odor of the putrefying bodies
makes the work of handling them
not only horrible and offensive, but
dangerous to the searchers as well.
Thus far two thousand bodies have
been found and disentangled from
ruins. Of these $50 have been bur-
led.
A noticeable thing is that petro-
leum will not catchfre when thrown
on the bodies. On the ground floor
of the hospital there is a mass O
twisted iron beds to be seen, but ne
trace of fire. It is supposed that al
enormous puff of gas produced {
great atmosphere pressure. The for
nation of sulphurated hydrogen ga
doubtless caused thousands to die o
sheer s~uffocation before the fire itsel
reached them. This would explain
the condition of the bodies whlcl
are covered by superficial sWellln
and superficial burns caused by tn
great cloud of fire which folloWe
the first gust of gas fromthe volcano
After this there came a shower
stones, some as large as apples. Cel
tain bodies have mark ofthe WOunC
produced by this awful hail Of rock
All the dead are covered by a layt
of ashes ranging in depth from a fe'
inches to a foot or m
An lnhabitant OF Morne Rouge,
town of 600 inhabitants, seven xii
metres from St. Pierre, who w
watching the volcano at the momel
of the catastrophe, says that the
were seven luminous points on I'll
volcanoes side just before it burs
He said that alFabout him when Il
explosion came there was a terrib
suction of air, which seemed to
dragging him irresistibly toward tt
mountain in spite of all his RESI-
lance. The volcano then emitted
sheet of fame, which swept dow
toward ST. Pierre. There was ]
sharp, distinct oar of explosion,
when a cannon is fired, but on
awful Jared rumblings.
No n thinks that the entire OF
burst that did all the work of hav
lasted more than thirty SECOND
Then there was complete darkne
for ten minutes caused by the den
volumes Of smoke and clouds Of cit
and shattered rocks.
The entire country all about
Pierre was turned into a chao
waste. All the trees are either to
up by the roots or snapped off a.
lie level with the ground.
In the streets Of Pierre heaps
copper and silver have been four
In the neighborhoodo of the telegra
office the instruments were four
but some of them had been hurled
a distance of fifty yards. The me
of the instruments vas melted,
the instruments themselves could
recognized. During the greater p
of the day of May 10 Mount Pc
was for some time free from smol
y q TT