Perth Amboy evening news., 1903-08-15

Thousands at Port Antonio
Homeless and Starving.
FEW BUILDINGS SURVIVED THE STORM
Sole supply of Food Is Unripe
Bananas Cooked In the Open.
Railroad Sheds Filled
with Refugees.

KINGSTON, Jamaica. Aug. 10
There are heartrending scenes all over
the eastern and northern portions of
the island of Jamaica. At Port Anto-
Mo thousands of homeless and starving
people have sought shelter i'll the old
prison and the few other buildings
which survived the hurricane. Those
who could not be thus accommodated
are covering in the lee of ruined walls
and dismantled piazzas.
The railroad sheds and waiting
looms are filled with women and chill
dren. The merchants of the place are
feeding the hungry TO the best of their
ability, but the majority are depend
ing upon green, unripe bananas knock
ed down by the storm. The bananas
are boiled in kerosene tins over open
fires made from the debris of destroy
ed buildings.
This is their sole food supply, and it
will be exhausted in nine or ten days.
Similar conditions prevail at Annotta
Bay, Buff Bay, Orange Bay, Port Ma
ria, Manchioneal, Morant Bay, Bowden
iIu OlutI SlIldllcI StdltOI 10. III III III
terror the distress is equally acute.
Scarcely a peasants home is standing.
Even the dwellings OF the planters
which are built of substantial stone
have been unroofed with few eXcep-
tons.
The misery of the peasants families
is in~describable. Their homes and be-
longings have been literally blown
away, and they are cOntriving rude
shelters from fallen trees, palm boughs
and banana leaves. Owing to the cOn-
tinued unsettled weather, with occa-
sional torrential rains. these shelters
afford practically no protection. Eff
forts are being made at Kingston to re-
lieve the immediate wants of some To-
calities by subscriptions of food and
clothing, but the local efforts at best
are totally inadequate. Unless immedi-
ate shipments of foodstutfs come from
America deaths by starvation are in
evitable.
The local hospitals in the wind swept
districts are croWtled with injured, and
the death list is increasing. One man
was beheaded at Port Antonio by a fly
ing sheet of galvanized roofing. Many
were seriously wounded by falling
houses, trees and walls. Several houses
located on the banks of the streams
were carried away by the floods. The
fate of their inmates is unknown. but
it is feared that there have been many
deaths from this cause.
The bulk of the Blue mountain cof-
fee has been ruined. and the pimento
groves, which stood for centuries, have
been obliterated. 1t is now estimated
that the loss on the island will reach
$50, 900, 900.
Many villages on the island of Marti-
nique suffered severely. Houses were
crops ruined. At Mornevert the bar
racks of the gendarmerie collapsed,
wounding two men. In this neighbour
hood the plantations were entirely de-
stroyed. At Tivoli, which appears to
have been the center of the greatest
destruction, houses were blown over.
The greater portion of the dwellings at
st. Joseph were demolished or unroof-
ed. The orphan asylum, the municipal
building and the barracks of the gen
darmerie were greatly damaged. Here
also the church was ruined. At Ches-
morne many houses We're also unrOofed
and six persons were wounded. Beau
Sejour. was severely damaged. At Tri-
mite several hundred houses We're de-
stroyed or unrOofed and six schooners
killed.