The National tribune., 1902-10-02
ETERNAL SEAL UPON ST. PIERRE.
An Eyewitness Graphically Describes the
Great Catastrophe.

An eyewitness Gr1ph1cAuy DESCRIBES the
Great catastrophe.
Rev. Father Louis Leininger, a mem-
Der Of the Order Of the Holy Ghost, who
for eight years was a teacher in the Col
lego Of ST. Aloysius, st. Pierre. and an
eyewitness of the cataclysm in Marti-
niQue, has arrived in the United States,
en- route to st. Mary's College, Detroit,
Mich.
"The ashes Of Mont Pelee have placed
the eternal seal upon the tomb of st.
Pierre" declared Father Leininger. ages
after the mountains fever shall have
ceased the fields of ashes that were hurled
from its gaping crater will stretch away
to the sea a solitary desert-a silent me-
mortal to the 10000 souls that were dis
embodied in that awful moment of old
Pelee's anger. Man and beast dread alike
that ashen-cOvered burial plot. Where
once was a gay metropolis ships sail by
as if fearful to intrude upon the scene
OF deaths dread work. The sullen thun-
der of the mountain and the plaintive Sob
bling of the tide alone disturb the silence
that will reign there forever.
early in April it was apparent that
the volcano had been aroused from its
long slumber. DetonatiOns were heard
at frequent intervals and at night vivid
flashes of lightning illuminated the lips
of the crater. A number of priests visited
the mountain on April &c and narrowly
escaped being asphyxiated by the sulphur
ous smoke that was emitted from the pit
of boiling lava.
SIGNS OF ERUPTION.
"On May began a rain of ashes which
increased to such extent on the following
day that the students in the school were
dismissed. At this time the sky was over
cast BY dark clouds like those we see dur
ing heavy fall of snow, and an object 30
yards distant was scarcely visible. The
black pail i'm the heavens was rent by
darting lightning and the roll of thunder
shook the earth.
ION May conditions became worse.
Above the noise of the thunder we could
hear sound like that of the boiling of
an immense cauldron. the bnbbling of the
seething lava pot being distinctly heard.
That night l was summoned from the city
to assist at the services on the following
Sunday. MOrne Rouge is situated in
position where its lofty altitude gives
wide survey of Mont Pelee and st. Pierre
on the plain below.
''At midnight the populace was alarmed
bv the renewed activity of the volcano.
Shortly before dawn. however. all was
calm and the people sought their beds.
MOUNTAIN OF FLAME.
"At $50 o'clock the detonations were
SluOht dSleS were
seen to enshroud the mountain top. held
mass in the church as usual and went to
the parish house for breakfast
1T was n few minutes before s o'clock
and had just taken my seat at the table.
Suddenly came an awful shock. A roar
like 10000 Niagaras filed my ears. 1
staggered to a window. 1t appeared that
half the mountain had been lifted from
its base. l saw n sheet of red fame. acres
of boiling mud. rocks and ashes spread
out fan-like and sink with a crash into
the valley. This whole scene of horror
was enacted in n few brief seconds. MOrne
Rouge has escaped. but st. Pierre-of its
21.OOO people only one was left to tell the
story of it's fate.
1t seemed as if Providence again spared
me. for in the eruption on May 20. Morne
Rouge. too, was almost destroyed and the
priest whom / had gone to assist and 10
nuns in the convent were counted among
the victims.
''The second volley from Pelee's crater,
however, must be regarded as providential
II killed the ghouls. who had been rObbing
the dead. and buried forever the decom-
posed bodies, breeding pestilence on the
island that would have been little less ter
rible than the power of death that lurked
in the volcano.
'Mr. Prentiss, the American Consul at
st. Pierre, was close friend of mine. and
his eldest daughter, beautiful and ac-
complished girl, was one of the bellies Of
the Englsh-American colony on the is
land. / met her at concert but short
time before she shared the fate of her
family when the city was destroyed.
When l left Martinique the volcano
still showed signs of activity but no mat
ter how long it slumbered again. never
expected to see the city inhabited and ST.
Pierre will forever be classed with Her
culeaneum and Pompeii"