Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1902-05-23
NEWS IN BRIEF.
CLOUD OF FIRE ABOVE.

s..hng caldron Below as the Rod
dam Blindly Made Her Way Out of
e Pierre Harbor-six Survivors
Out Of ~ on Board.
rho Norton line steamer Etona from
- Riysr Plate which arrived at New
~ sunday. touched at st. Lucia May
can't Cantell, who went on board
Roidam. which escaped from the
-.-,tre eruption at Martinique, says that
\. vssssl was covered with a mass of
W. blui=h gray dust or ashes of cement
~. snpearance Nearly everything on
! u. pnrer part Of the vessel was burned
7. searched. but being made of iron the
4 o,55am escaped destruction.
4 cant Freeman of the Roddam. who is in
~. bosr'tal at St. Lucia horribly burned,
1 VII nrobably recover. The brave man
VA he was talking to the vessels agent
Sssr he saw what appeared TO be an
4 ,rmous black cloud, like a wall with
.,tches Of fire in it. approaching the sea
s,,r the land. With it came an immense
ai5I wave Of boiling water. accompanied
sra loud and terrible noise. He shouted
-,ts shelter to. the crew. Immediately
+ ~ steamer was caught and tossed over
~ her side. almost capsizing. Darkness
f en- like q pail and volumes of red hot
liter sh0wered down while the air was
4 ll,k with sulphurous fumes and dust.
The sea was a confused mass of boil
he mud. Fire soon broke out in differ
n rarts Of the ship. Screams, groans
. r-3 shouts Of agony from the injured
~'ple mingled with the terrible noise
boiling water and rushing air, and
Ne rain Of falling fire. caused a most
I'll.
AZ a few minutes. The captain of the
p,idam signaled to start the engines at
mi speed. 1t happened. fortunately
hat although the crew had been rung
= from duty at the engines, some of the
-rneers We're near by The terrific
HAL wave which had swept over the
/ R1diam had nearly capsized her, had
i ,srted the cable and the vessel was
drift When the engines started it was
hgnd that the steering gear had become
8sabled in some manner. and could not
~ worked For more than an hour the
poidams engines were worked backing
and going ahead, with the hope of bring
-r her head toward the sea and away
Ann the land Once she got dangerously
near the Roraima. Both vessels were
/, flames Some of those aboard jumped
/ r.o the boiling water some fell dying to
.sa deck All this time the red hot
natter was falling. and the water was
Kissing and steaming dense masses of
amor Smoke and dust filled the air.
4 and poisonous fumes spread about.
CHASTITY Scene on Board.
After some time the Roddam's steer
h. gear moved a little and enabled
Ne captain to head her out to sea, and
A With considerable difficulty he managed
70 steer her little distance from the
s-i As the air cleared the scene on
hard of the Inflated Roddam became
al the more CHASTITY. The ship steamed
on through thick. hot dust. The screams
ron the injured became more audible.
| SINE rushed frantically about with their
clothes on fire and large pieces of flesh
burned from their arms. others in their
agony laid writing in the red-hot dust.
In about two hours the air became
raduany clear. An investigation of
the casualties on board showed that be-
sides the captain. who was frightfully
Injured only two engineers. two sailors
and the boatswain were able to do duty.
Fire was still burning about the ship,
and the rigging was in flames. The
aptain decided to try to reach the island
| % St Lucia, As miles distant. This he
s1cceeded in doing by six o'clock in the
sv4nins of May g. In the time occupied
o. thlS terrible voyage the experience pl
The survivors was still worse than that
slraady gone through. The brave captain
and his few men fighting the fire, eX-
austed and scalded. struggled and
worked trying to do something to assist
| heir dying shipmates. Those working
| blow strove to keep up the steam. The
aptain, suffering the greatest agony,
succeeded in navigating his vessel safely
to the port of Castries, st. Lucia, with
i dead bodies lying on the deck. and
human limbs scattered about. a sailor
stood by constantly wiping the captains
Injured eyes.
When the steamer arrived at st. Lucia
and medical assistance was procured,
brave Capt. Freeman asked the doctors to
attend to the others first, and refused TO
Be treated until this was done.
When the Etona was a few miles from
Martinique second eruption of Mont Pc
les took place, and for two hours the
vessel made Roadway in a suffocating
smoke. Her decks were covered two
inches with blush mud which dried as
dust. Dust fell to the depth of several
inches on the British ship Horace when
It was l25 miles from Mont Pelee.