The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-25
VOLCANO POISONED STREAMS.
ODD DEATH or SOME OF THE
GUATEMALA VICTIMS.

Found Beside Pools where They Had
stopped 10 Drink After EscapinE
From the Rain Of Ashes-RefuGees
Now Say That $500 Persons Perished.
NEW ORLEANS, La, Nov 2.-The steamer
Breakwater arrived to-day from Puerto
Barrios, Guatemala, with a large number
Of passengers aboard. some Of them refugees
from the Guatemala volcanic eruption.
Among the PASSENGERS are II. c. Keith,
manager of the United Fruit Company:
James Mcknight. president Of the Guate-
mala Central Railroad: Sehor Francisco
de Ojeda. Consul Of Salvador at the port
Of New Orleans.
Sohor de Ojeda, whose brother lives
within three miles Of Santa Maria volcano
says that his brother fixed the loss of life
at about $500, mainly Indian laborers.
The Guatemalan authorities now admit
that there was loss OF life. but they assert
that the loss was greatly exaggerated
in the American press Most Of the dead
are natives or Indians who were asphyxiated
or poisoned by the gases from the volcano,
hut some planters and men OF prominence
in the big coffee plantations near the volcano
also lost their lives
At Colombo. the volc anic eruption was
preceded on Oct. % by a violent earth
quake. When the eruption began it be-
came As dark as night and for three days
the sun was invisible in consequence of the
rain Of sand and ashes When the dark
ness was somewhat less, rescue parties
started for the various sugar and coffee
plantations. They found most Of them con-
verted into sterile deserts and buried under
several feet of sand
large number OF dead were found
Most OF them were natives. but al the plan
tation house Of Don Antonio Suerez. a
large coffee planter were found the bodies
OF himself, his brother. Don Arsenic Suerez;
the Mayor OF Colombo, Don Francisco
Flores; Michael Suffer. an American, and
the bookkeepers, agent. ma mayer, ware
housemen and other employ ees OF Suerez,
thirteen in all. They had sought refuge
IN the house, the roof of which had caved
in under the weight of sand piled on it.
and they had all been buried in the sand or
killed by the falling beams.
The relief party found the bodies Of
nineteen dead persons at the bridge Of
disclosed the fact that they had been
| among the first 10 fee upon the eruption.
and had apparently escaped the volcano
They stopped at the bridge to get some
water, having become very thirsty be-
cause of tn heat and the lack of water
throughout the devastated territory
There Is a small lake or pond called Chicabal
there, and they drank of its water. I'm
fortunately, the water was poisoned 10y
the lead, antimony and arsenic which the
volcano elected In great quantities, and
the natives. after drinking, died in CON
WILSON'S. Similar disasters are reported
from many parts Of the republic. the
streams being poisoned by the powder
from the volcano.
The obliteration of the roads by. the
falling sand. the destruction of the bridges
the damming up OF the streams so as to
cause them to overflow and the great dark
ness prevented the escape Of the natives.
Many Of the native herders were found
lying dead alongside of their dead herds
which accompanied the eruption