The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-20
FROM VOLCANOES WRATH.
Refugees From Guatemala Reach
San Francisco.


San Francisco, Nov 19.-The first of
the refugees from the devastated lands
! of Guatemala arrived to-day on the
| Pacific Mail steamer City of Para.
| They came from the districts on the
inland sea and travelled over a coun-
try laid waste by sand, ashes and
pumice.
They sailed on Nov. Z, when the vol
cano was still smoking, and rumbling
of thunder and flashes of lightning
gave evidence of more eruptions to
come. These people fed from their
plantations in fear of their lives. They
escaped to the seaside with little more
| than the clothing they wore, transport
tation being so difficult as to preclude
carrying baggage.
The refugees confirm stories of the
loss of life. They say that the VIC
Tins for the most part are Indians.
They had not heard of any white peo-
pie being lost. Thousands of Indians
were asphyxiated or buried in the
! sand.
/ Miles Of plantations are under ashes
and absolute ruin IS the lot of many
planters whose all was invested in The
| Fincas. One refugee comes from with.
in half an hours ride of Gen. Barillos
and brings Information that the Cen
eral and his family are safe The
refugees say that it is not the crater
of Santa Maria that is In action, but
smaller mountain, rising from one of
the western slopes of Santa Maria,
called Eel Fosaio.
Ferdinand Bardwell told the story of
the eruption, as experienced by him.
self and his relatives as follows:
"A great column of smoke and fire
fn Of
Maria, about 5 o'clock on the night of
Oct. "A. All that night the earth shook
almost constantly, and the next morn
ing the sky was enveloped in a thick
cloud OF smoke
Ashes like coarse sand fell in
heavy shower that continued for sew
eral hours, and then the ashes be-
| came lighter and drifted about in
clouds. Breathing was difficult. and
the atmosphere was so hot that it
seemed as though the skin would be
peeled from a persons body.
For three days we We're i'm almost
total darkness. On the fourth day
with light breeze from the south,
the smoke clouds were rolled back to-
ward the mountains, and at times
streaks of light would break through
Then we saw the ruins which had
come over our plantation. We were on
the side of the volcano least exposed
to the fury of the eruption and fully
thirty miles away from the mountain
yet our place is ruined beyond all hope
of recovery.
AT Champerico, while waiting for
the boat, we met several Of the plant
ers from the vicinity of Costa Cuca
Palma, Reforma and Xohuits, where
the destruction was much more Sc
we're than on the side of the mountain
from where our plantation is located
col has 10 Al -. TX
property there was complete and that
from 1000 to 1000 of the natives
and employees Of the planters
had persisted. One of these
refugees from the ruined district
said that on his way out one of the
roads leading from xolhuits he count
ed seventy natives lying half-buried
under stones and ashes from the vol
cano and every one of them was lying
beside a pack of his household goods.
The country about these ruined plan
tations was thickly settled and in some
of the more densely populated districts
there were villages in which thousands
Of natives lived. Most of these viii
lagos are covered with stones and
ashes TO a depth Of from five to seven
feet
MANY refugees who were fleeing
from the scene of destruction, have
been killed by the bands of robbers
who now infest every trail. Men who
had reached the seaport from the dis
trict about the base of the mountain,
said they had passed numerous corpses
that had been the victims of these
murderous bands of robbers. Those
who have been murdered were those
who were fleeing from the ruined dis
trict with what provisions and little
money they had saved. Houses that
had been deserted at the first break
of the volcano. and to which the own
ers had a few days later returned
were found to have been looted by
these robbers"