The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-05-24
HORROR FOLLOWS = :.
UPON DISASTER
VINCENT SHARES THE
AWFUL FATE OF
MARTINIQUE.
INHABITANTS OF WEST INDIES
DWELL IN TERROR.
Pestilence and Famine Follow Hard
Upon Sudden Death-Ghouls Rob the
Unburied Dead

Following hard upon the heels of the
| terrible cataclysm at Martinique where
! thousands of unburied corpses lie de-
composing amid the fire scorched, ash
covered ruins of ST. Pierre, the modern
Pompeii comes the news of a similar
disaster less terrible. only in its eX-
tent. On May s, La Souffriere, a SOM
nolent volcano on the English Island of
st. Vincent quiescent now for ninety
years and believed by the inhabitants,
Ike those of Herculaneum to have
buried it's fires too deeply for reuter-
ance, broke forth into spontaneous
el upton. From six different points
the lava and fires broke from the
mountain rending the cone asunder.
The terror stricken inhabitants were
too late to flee to safety. Confident in
the diminished power of the volcano,
they watched it's mighty conlagra ton
until the wrath of the internal flood di-
TCcted the fires towards the city. Now
the northern part of the island lies
desolate and destroyed. Seventeen hum
dred corpses lie unburied amid the
ruins of the city and the plantations.
blistering in the tropical sun and
threatening the advent of plague. Five
! thousand more are in danger of per-
siding from destitutiOn, although by
now the relief ships have reached the
sufferers.
! Communication, which was cut off,
has been regained, but at the latest
news, the thunders and lightnings of
| the volcano still played amid the cloud
or smoke and ashes hanging over the
cone of the mountain, the very shape of
which has been changed and twisted
| by the belching fires. Besides the white
races who have lived amid the tropic
splendors of st. Vincent and carried on
commerce beneath he shadow of the
| apparently sheltering mountains, the
Carib Indians, original inhabitants
found by Sir Walter Raleigh and the
earlier explorers of the Western End
have perished by the fires which they
wOrshipped, The race is extinct and
the ruins of their primitive huts lie
broadcast over the land each with it's
complement of charreG humanity
The town of Kingston, capital of the
island, lies covered with mud, stones
and ashes, While the surrounding coun-
! try is rent with chasms where earth
quakes split the ground with thunder
Gus reports Great Britain mourns the
| loss of hundreds of her sons. AS at
Martinique, the stupendous nature of
the disaster and the need for immedi-
ate burial of the dead and the guard
ing of their property has hitherto pre-
/,
| ing published. Many who perished
will never come to light and unfortun-
lately the directories and census statis-
ties of the dead cities seem likely at
present to furnish the most complete
| muster.
Were there transportation sufficient,
there would be but few souls left on
the island and the effects have extend
ed to the other islands. The throes of
nature have apparently shaken the col
onial power of England in the West In
dies and there is general exodus from
the hunting fear of a terrible death.
Even when the mountain fires have
eased and the SCARED land resumer
a greener aspect, it is estimated that
the importance of st. Vincent has been
practically terminated. The sugar
plantations may again be started with
new managers and spread across the
land as the vineyards again nestle on
the slopes of Vesuvius, but it will be
years before commercial activity ever
approaches it's former aspect.
The report of the scientists, publish
eC the day before the eruption in the
daily press of Martinique, that there
was no danger of an eruption, has de-
stroyed public confidence in the possi-
bility of foreseeing such calamity and
the blind fear which still animates the
living at every reverberaton from the
yet burning mountains Will be fal
reaching in its effects.
At ST. Pierre Martinique, the hor-
rors subsequent on the first dread no
locaust multiply. The living are mourn
ing for the dead, unable to recognize
their loved ones in the charred bodies
even could they find them. Relief par
ties struggling TO bury the dead thal
a. n a
their endeaVor by the foetid gasse'
emanating from the thousands of corp
ses. The inhabitants of the neighbor
hood have fled from the threatened
plague and live horror stricken, fam
ishing and hardly feeling their pang!
under the consciousness and agony o.
. the shock and disaster
Those who have braved the sights
and dangers of the buried city brinl
tales of heart-rending sights. MasseC
around the entrance to the cathedra
where the tower clock, stopped with ii
hands pointing to ten minutes to eigh
stands a mute witness of the fata
hour, lies piles of dead choked, scorch
ed by the fiery breath of Pelee Will,
struggling to find sanctuary in tn
cathedral wall and refuge before tn
altar from the pitiless forces of Nature
The city Is a charnel house, a might!
A graveyard where ghOuls, like human
} hyenas prowl among the ruins seeking
profit from disaster tearing rings from
charred and senseless fingers, robbinl
their pockets and loOting the residen
ces, banks and stores.
I Summary justice is meted out t
these when they have been discovered
) city. Two of the looting spoilers hav
city Two of the looster spoilers hav
been shot in the act and many other
arrested. The burial parties struggl
with their ceaseless task while tn
J heat waves from the still active vol
Il (continued to page eiEht) !,