The age-herald., 1902-05-14
Business Is Suspended in Ciy
 of fort de France,
PROVISIONS ARE NEEDED
 FOR 100000 SUFFERERS
Only Person Known to Have Survived the DeIuee of Fire Was Woman Found in Cellar, Where She
 Had Been Three Days.

Yort de France, lSlanu oL Mdtliliique' May 13.-Buslncss here Is suspended. The people of the city have assembled in the churches and the cathedral. where spe- cfal services are being held for the St. Pierre dead.
 The United States government tug Po- tomac leaves here tonight for the island of St. Vincent, where conditions are re- ported to be worse La Soufriere on St. Vincent, was in full eruption May 10. A stream of stone and mud half a mile wide was then issuing from the volcano. Stones two inches In diameter fell twelve miles away. At Kingston, the capital of the island, the. ashes were two inches deep. Seven hundred dead were reported May IL It is estimated that the total number of dead St. Vincent reaches 2OOO Most of the estates on the island have been burned to ashes, and 1t Is au- thentically reported that two earthquakes occurred there. It is believed the sub- marine cables in St. Vincent had been broken by the disturbances. The present volcanic eruption on St. Vincent is the first since 1872.
 Governor Hunt of Porto Rico has asked Louis H. Ayme, the United States consul at Guadeloupe, who is now here, what as- sistance he could render. Governors s Hunts offer has been communicated to the government which will gladly &C., cept it. The northeastern section of the island is depopuated.
 Provisions Needed for 100000.
 Provisions are needed here immediately for 1O0,0f@ people. A ship load of lime is also neeoGu at St. Pierre for sanitary pur- poses. The stench there from the dead bodies is overpowering. Mont Pelee was still erupting smoke and fire at a late hour last night
 The French cruiser Suchet is here and the city of Fort de France is quiet.
 It was reported here yesterday from the British island of Dominica that 300 Sur vivors of the St Pierre disaster had reached there in canoes.
 Many strange and incomprehensible in- cidents are recounted of St. Pierre. The charred remains of a woman with a silk handkerchief unburned and in perfect condition held to her lips, have been found there. The crisped bodies of young girls have been found but the shoeties worn were uninjured Every praise Is given United States Consul Ayme He has worked indefatigably to succor the sur vivors. He has bandaged the limbs of wounded and has worked without sleep and without food. He is now thoroughly exhausted
 In addition to the specie already se- cured jewels to the value of 100000 francs were secured from the bank of St. Pierre yesterday. The Italian consul at Barbadoes has recovered the body of his daughter who was visiting in St. Pierre at the time of the disaster.
 Nurse Tells Experience.
 Margaret Stokes. the 9-year-old daugh- ter of the late Clement Stokes of New York who with her mother, brother aged f. and a sister aged B. was the ill-fated British steamer Roraima, Is in the hospital here. The child is not ex- pected to live Her nurse. Clara King, says she was in her stateroom when the steward of the Roraima called out to her Look at Mont Pelee." She went on deck and saw vast mass of black clouds coming down from the volcano. The steward ordered her to return to the sa- loon, saying, it is coming" Miss King then rushed to the saloon. She says she experienced a feeling of suffocation, which was followed by intense heat
 The aft part of the Roraima broke out in flames. Ben Benson. carpenter of the Roraima, who Is now in the hospital here severely burned, assisted Miss King and Margaret Stokes to escape With the help of MT. Scott, the first mate of the Roraima he constructed a raft with life preservers. Upon this Miss King and Margaret were placed
 While this was being done Margaret's s little brother died. Shortly after the death of the little boy Mrs. Stokes suc- cLmbed. Margaret and Miss King event. ually got away on the raft and were picked up by the steamer Korona. Mate Scott also escaped. Miss King covered the face of Margaret with her dress but .till the child was probably burned.
 The only woman known to have sur vived the disaster at St. Pierre was a negress named Fillotte. She was found In a cellar Saturday afternoon where she had been for three days She was still alive but fearfully burned from head to toes She died in the hospital here.
 SCENES iN CITY OF ST. PIERRE
 JUST BEFORE THE ERUPTION. Boston. May 13.-Relatives and friends of Thomas T. Prentis, United States con- sul at St. Pierre, whose home is at Mel rosc are in grave fear that he and his family were among those who perished fin the lake of molten lava that swept over the city. With him were his wife and two daughters and no word has been received from them since the destruction of the island city.
 Friends of the family have not entirely abandoned nope IHdt they may nave eS- caped with their lives, arguing that the scyering of the cables and general demor- alization in Martinique and St. Vincent could easily account for the absence of news from Consul Prentis.
 Miss Alice Fry a sister of Mrs. Prem tis. who lives in Melrose. received a let ter from her on Friday. bearing the date of April 25. The letter was in part as fol- lows:
 "This morning the whole population of the city is on the alert and every eye is directed toward Mont Pelee, an extinct volcano Everybody is afraid that the volcano has taken into Its heart to burst forth and destroy the whole island.
 .tAll the inhabitants are going up to see It. There is not horse to be had on the island. those belonging to the natives being kept In readiness to leave at n moments notice. Last Wednesday, H which was April 23. I was in my room with little Christine. and we heard three