New-York tribune., 1902-05-12
RESCUING THE LIVING.
FIVE THOUSAND REFUGEES ON THE
HILLS AROUND MONT PELEE.
Paris. May IA dispatch received here to-
day from Fort de France. Martinique, says:

Paris. May IA dispatch received here to-
day from Fort de France Martinique. says
All the hills surrounding lie Carbet and LIE
Precheur. near St. Pierre. are covered with
refugees. TO the number Of about five thousand.
who are being taken away gradually. In the
mean while, provisions are being conveyed TO
them.
OF the thirty persons who were originally res
Cued by the French cruiser SuChet. the ma ajority
were fearfully burned and nine died while on
their way TO the hospital
The corpses which are heaped in the ruins Of
ST. Pierre are not only completely naked. but
are frightfully mutilated.
Fort de France, Martinique. May 11.-Advices
received here to-day from the vicinity OF St
Pierre, ten miles from here. contain further de-
tails OF the terrible volcanic upheavaI which re-
suited in the utter destruction of that town and
the death Of nearly all its inhabitants.
The crater of Mont Pelee had been wearing its
smoke cap" since May g. but there was nothing
until last Monday to indicate that there was
the slightest danger. on that day a stream of
boiling lava burst through the top of the crater
plunged into the valley of the river Blanche.
ing twenty-three workpeople and the son of the
propriej
A commission was appointed by the Governor
10 investigate the outbreak and it returned a
reassuring response on Wednesday evening But
about o'clock Thursday morning shower
of fire rushed down ST Pierre and the coas;
from lie Carbet (Which had a population of six
thousand) to lie Precheur (Which had a popula-
ton of four thousand), burning up everything
in its path
Throughout Thursday the heat in the vicinity
of St. Pierre was so intense and the. stream of
flowing lava was so unremitting that it was i'm
possible to approach the town during the early
part Of the day. AS evening approached, the
French cruiser Suchet, after a heroic battle
with the heat. sufocaton and sulphur fumes.
succeeded in making a dash toward the shore.
nearing the land close enough to enable her TO
take off thirty survivors of the disaster, all of
whom were horribly burned and mutilated
st. Pierre at that time was an absolute smok-
ing waste, concealing thirty thousand corpses.
whose rapid decomposition made it desirable in
stantly to complete their cremation, which was
only partially accomplished by the lava
The Inhabitants of Fort de France were panic
stricken the morning of the disaster. when the
SKY suddenly blackened until it was as dark as
at midnight The shrank back thirty yards.
hot rain began to fall, while gravel the size of
walnuts poured down on the town. This lasted
about fifteen minutes. and then the town began
to resume it's normal aspect.
The $50 survivors who were brought here yes
terday from the vicinity of St. Pierre by tho
French cable repair ship Pouyer Guertier came
from the town of lie Precheur, where surround
ed on all sides by flowing lava, they were nearly
roasted to death. and expected momentarily to
be engufed.
The work OF relief is going on here on the
most extensive scale possible. but in anticipa-
tion of disturbances the Treasury building and
the warehouses guarded by troops.
The latest reports received here showed tha.
lava continues to pour down the slopes of the
mountain. slowly engulhng the whole north side
of the island while fresh crevasses are continu-
ally opening.