The age-herald., 1902-05-13
posal of the authorities are much too in adequate to cope with the distress.
 Tells He E~nA rinncA

posal of the authorities are much too in- adequate to cope with the distress.
 Tells His Experience.
 c. c. Evans of Montreal and John G. Morris of New York; who are now at the military hospital at Fort de France, say the steamer Roraima arrived at six. As eight bells was struck a frightful ex- plosion was heard up the mountain. A cloud of fire, toppling and roaring, swept with lightning speed down the mountain side and over the town and bay. The Roraima was nearly sunk and caught fire at once.
 Ben Benson, carpenter of the Roraima, said
 'T was on deck amidship when I heard an explosion. The captain ordered me to up anchor. I got to the windlass. but when the fire came I went to the forecastle and got my 'duds'. When came out talked with Captain Muggah, Mir. Scott, the first officer, and others. They had been on the bridge. The captain was horribly burned. He had inhaled flames and wanted to jump into the sea. I tried to make him take like preserver. The captain, who was undressed, jumped overheard and hung onto a line for a while. Then he disappeared"
 Louis Prudent, saved from the Italian ship Tersea Lovic, says there was first an awful noise of explosion and then, right away, a cyclone of fire and smoke, but such was the poisonous, choking nature of the smoke that 1t 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 afterwards came a wave of fire bigger than the smoke cloud.
 Burned Everywhere at Once.
 'The fire burned the city everywhere at once," said Prudent. Near me l saw only one dead man, but on shore I saw women and men rushing back and forth amid the flames for an hour They would run along; then would come the choking smoke, and they would drop like dead flies"
 'The village of Irrene, south of St. Pierre, was almost entirely burned and almost all the inhabitants were killed. The cable-repair ship Grappler was lost with all on board, as was the French ves- sel Tamaya. There was IS or 20 vessels In the Roadstead at the time of the disaster. Many persons tried to reach the Roddam but in vain. The United States vice con- sul at St. Pierre, Amedee Testart. reached the deck of the Roddam only to fall back into the sea dead.
 Three hours exploration of the ruins of St. Pierre resulted in the finding of no trace of the American consul. Consul Thomas T. Prentiss, his wife and two daughters are undoubtedly dead.
 Covered With Mud and Ashes.
 The coast villages near St. Pierre were destroyed simultaneously with that town. The entire island up to within a few miles of Fort de France is covered with mud and ashes. The cattle of the island are either all dead or dying. The streams have dried up and are polluted. Famine impends unless relief comes.
 The steamer Solent brought awful news from the British island of St. Vincent. May and g volcano there, the Sou friere, broke into violent eruption. Mud, ashes, stone and fire were hurled into Kingston the capital of the island, and over the country. From the meager re- ports obtainable here it is known that 500 deaths had occurred in St. Vincent up to Friday night and that the volcano there was still active at that time. The volcanic detonations were distinctly heard in Barbadoes, a hundred miles away, and the fall of ashes there was so heavy that it resulted in intense darkness for several hours during the afternoon.