Rocky Ford enterprise., 1902-05-16

Castrles, 81. Lucia, British West In
dies, May 11.-Mont Pelee. n volcanic
mountain some ten miles north OF 81.
Pierre. the commercial capital OF Mar
Unique. Is the mountain which mada
faint show OF eruption fifty years ago.
May 3rd last II began To throw out
dense clouds OF smoke. At mIdni,ht
the same day flames, accompanied
with rumbilng noises. lighted the sky
over an immense area. causing wide
spread terror. May iih hot ashes COW
cred the whole city quarter OF 81.
Pierre an inch thick and made Mont
Pclce invisible.
Al noon May 9th a stream OF burg
Ing lava rushed I.iO0 feet down .lr,
mountain side. following the dry bed
Of n torrent, and reaching the sea. five
miles from the mountain In three min
utes. In Its rush the fiery flood swept
from Its path plantations. buildings,
factories, cattle and human beings
over breadth OF about hiilf mile.
n; the rear OF the mouth OF the III
Were Blanche stood the large Gucrln
sugar factory, one OF the finest In the
Island. II Is now completely cniombe-l
in lava. The tall chimney alone Is viz
iblc. One hundred and iifiy persons
nre estimated tn have pcrisbcd there.
As the lava rushed Into the sea. the
latter rccc,lcd so feet all along the
west coast: returning with greater
strength. big wave covered the whole
sen front OF 81. Pierre. but did little
damage ashore or nff1a,.
T"rribl. i.tonntions. heard hundreds
OF miles nar;hwnr,i. followed at shors.
Irregular Intervals and continued nj
night. In the intense darkness the
electric lights failed bu, the Town wn-
II, up by iurii flashes OF flame from
the mountain. The tcrror'sirlcE.n in
habitnnis rushed for the hills in their
night clothing. screaming. shouting
and waiiins-mni with trTtur.
The rllssono family cscapd To 81.
Turu In small steamer, ThiFty.fVc
persons. mostly women and children.
arrived her, In III" forenoon of the 9TH
and furnished the ahoy- details. The
men remained nt Martinique.
The same afternoon. later. telegraph.
ic communication was Interrupted with
both shc islands of Martinique ani 81.
Vincent.
During the afternoon Of the s,h the
British steamer l,o,iinm. which had
i-fs Ss. Lucia nt midnight ou the 1th
for Martinique crnwi,i slowly into
the Castri-~ hnrbsr nnrcosnlsahl-
gray with ashes. her rigging dis
fnnntir'i nns sheets ani awnings hang
Ing about. torn AMI chnrr-,i.
Captain Waiter r,'i-ortr,i that. havin.
jus, cast anchor on si. Pierre at ; n.
M. Ia nn- weather succcs-iins mn aws
fni thunder storm during the nisi;. he
was talking 10 the ship. agent. Joseph
rii..ana. who wa. IN iaa, alongside.
when he saw q tremendous cloud .f
NsH
with terrific rnpli,iy over the town ani
port. completely. in an instant. -uv-i.
opins the former In shcv, Of flame
and raining fiT- on brar,i. The axrn,
had jus, iiinc to climb al,oarl when his
boat disappeared. Several of III, crew
w-rv quickly sc1rchci To- death.
By suprrhumnn efforts. having
steam up. the cable was sIipI--i aud
the steamer backed away from the
shor,. aud nine hours later manaECi to
reach Castri-s. T-n Of the iioi,iom's
men were lying dead. conioTt-i ani
burned out Of human s-mblanc-. ow.
Ing To the black cindcrs which covered
the ships decks 10 depth of siS
inches. Two narc Of the crew have
since died. Two Of the survivors Of
the crrw wcrr loud in their praise OF
the heroic conduct of shc captain in
steering their vessel away from de.
structicn with his own hands. which
wcrc badly burned ty the rain OF firc
which kept falling ON the ship for
miles after she got under way. IL.
yond burns over his body the captain
!. safe. as is also the ships agent.
though he IL badly scurchc,i.
Mr. I'iissino Is believed here TO b.
the sole survivor Of the 1000 inhabi.
ian's Of the town. aud all the shipping
In the port has hccn utterly destroyed.
the wcs, Indian 4 Panama Telegraph
CompaBy's repairing vessel going
first. then the guchcc liner Itoraiiua.
Captain MueTah Of the latter waved
his hand in farewell to the Rodtnm
ns his vessel sank with terrific cx.
plosioB.