The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-05-26
INCOMPATIBLE ACCOUNTS.

contradictory. Details are given one
day only to be contradicted the next,
and the most incredible statements are
made apparently upon so-called infor-
nation furnished by ignorant and su-
herent account of the affair has been
furnished by the captain of the Rod
dam, as far as st. Pierre is concerned.
As for the st. Vincent disaster the ac-
counts of it are all up in the air We
know that as far as area is concerned
the st. Vincent disaster was more wide
spread, but the loss of life was very
much smaller. because it was an agri-
cultural country and not a city which
was destroyed. But. of the actual facts
OF the disaster our accounts are very
meager.
OF contradictory accounts about St
Pierre We are told in one telegram that
one striking regularity was that
though the bodies were charred, the
clothes though of the lightest and finn
sIest materials remained unframed,
and this was supported by the state
ment that the Italian Consul for one of
the other Indian Islands, who went to
seek for his daughters body, she hav-
ing unfortunately gone to st. Pierre on
a visit, was unable to identify the
corpse because it was so charred, but
readily recognized the clothing which
was comparatively intact. Another
telegram stated that the clothes of the
bodies were burned and charred be-
yCnd recognition. Again in describing
that bodies were not decomposed, but
seem to have been hardened. and gave
forth slight metallic ring when struck
with a stick On the other hand there
are awful descriptions of the decaying
bodies, and the awful stencil which
comes from them.
The carefully thought out and sifted
accounts of these catastrophes will
come later. Besides the Roddam there
must have been people on shore with
out the zone of fire who can give de-
scriptions of what took place, for even
ill periods of panic there are always
sCme cool heads The difficulty at first
is to find these people, and compare
their accounts. But this will be done,
though we may have to wait several
months before we get the true story of
the eruption.
As far as we can gather thus far. the
destruction of life and even Of build
ings in st. Pierre was due not to lava
but to a hot and heavy gas, which set
OE fire all wood work that it came
across and asphyXiated every living
creature with its baleful breath. 1t was
this blast which struck the Roddam
and killed the majority of her crew
How her captain was saved seems little
short of a miracle. With a very few
exceptions nearly every soul in the
harbor was burned or choked by this
hot blast. The showers of ashes fol-
lowed, but these We're nothing to that
sudden rush of fire-laden gas.
Some correspondent in writing of this
eruption points out that it was unlike
that OF Pompeii and Herculaneum, IN
that those cities were overwhelmed
with lava. Now this is just what they
were not. They We're buried under vol
canic ash. Had they been oyerwhelm-
eu ~ iava we should not now be eX-
cavaulng among the ruins and discov-
ering bread in the ovens, wine in the
jars, wooden utensils, wooden and met
al bird cages, ornaments, of many
metal mirrors, and the stucco- pictures
on the walls. The buried ciues OF Italy
"a ,i
tale to tell eighteen centuries after
had laYa played any strong part in
their destruction.
The eruption al st. Pierre had some
points OF similarity with that OF Nesu-
vius in the year - A. ID. Many were
killed by no&ious gases, bur Inere was
no sweep of noXious gas over the whole
city as at st. Pierre. The fail of ash
was very much greater the ships ana
boats in the harDor, however were un-
harmed, ana large numbers VINO maze
tneir way TO the sedsnure louuu a ready
means OF escape, The loss of life in
DoUh Pompeii and Herculaneum was
not nearly so great as that at ST.
Pierre.
OF the eruption of Nesuvius we have
ar excellent account in a letter written
by the younger Pliny who certainly
kept his wits about him He saved the
life Of his mother by his GOODNESS and
judgment, for when the great rush
from the city took place he turned
aside and let the crowd pass. The
constant fall of ashes he describes and
even says they become burdensome. He
saw fire. doubtless from lava, but it
stopped at a distance from where he
was He mentions moreover the fantic
rumors which spread from mouth to
mouth which gave an eXaggeration
that was even ludicrOus to the calami-
ties of themselves and of their friends"
IL looks very much as if the same ex-