Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-24
TRAGEDY OF ST. PIERRE
AWFUL STORY RETOLD BY MR..
GEORGE KEENAN,.
Mt. Pelee's Horrible Blast Wipes Out
Entire Population-The Lee
ture illustrated.

The tragedy of St. Pierre was reproduced
in word and picture last night at National
Rifles Armory, by Mr.. George KEENAN,, I'M
der the auspices of the National Geographic
Society. The lecture was given to an audi
ence which taxed the armory to it's utmost
capacity, and those present were intensely
interested and heartily demonstrative of
the production of scenery and the data fur
nished by Mr.. KEENAN,. The lecture last
night was the third that has been delivered
on the Martinique disaster under the aus
pices of the society. The first was by Rob-
ert T. Hill and the second by Israel c. Rus
sell.
At the outset Mr.. KEENAN, stated that
since the destruction of the city of Lisbon
in 1855, no catastrophe due entirely to nat
ural causes had given the civilized world
a greater or more painful shock than did
the complete humiliation of the French
city of St Pierre, Martinique, by the vol
cano Mt. Pelee. the Sth of last May. The
suddenness of the disaster was it's most
appalling feature. Thousands of houses
were completely destroyed by the force of
the volcanic blast and 10000 people were
killed almost suddenly as if they had
been struck simultaneously by lightning.
Extraordinary Loss of Life.
ct was this extraordinary loss Of Ife,''
said Mr.. KEENAN,. land the suddenness of
1t that made the St. Pierre catastrophe. an
absolutely unprecedented and unique event
in the history of the world
The news sent abroad of the disaster was
referred to in the lecture and the immediate
steps taken by officials of this government
to aid in the relief, and the cruiser Dixie
was the first picture thrown upon the
screen as illustrating the relief sent Mr..
KEENAN, was ordered aboard the Dixie for
the voyage, by the editor of the Outlook Of
New York, and he sailed the 14th of May.
Mr.. KEENAN, devoted the remainder of his
lecture to narrating what he saw and what
tured the Island OF Martinique and illus
trated his subject by maps and photo
graphs. He pictured the climb made by
himself and companions to the very mouth
OF the volcano and the excitement and dam
ger Of that expedition.
speaking of the force and heat of the
blast from the volcano, Mr.. KEENAN, said
that the velocity must have been at least
100 miles an hour. 1t was hot enough to
Kill all human beings and animals exposed
to it, ana to set fire to infiammable build
ings, but it was not hot enough nor did
not last long enough, to kill the roots Of
potted plants, neither had the blast and
heat been strong enough to destroy all
forms Of insect life. A living tarantuIa
had been found in house where every
thing else had persisted, and in more than
a dozen places in ST. Pierre colonies of
ants had worked their way up and were
volcanic ashes around their holes. Bubble
walls three feet thick had been torn to
pieces as if made of dominoes, and a steel
frame building was completely demolished.
A colossal statue of the Virgin Mary.
weighing two or three tons was hurled
fifty feet from its pedestal.
Bark Captains Alarm.
When the volcano became threatening,
the 7th of May. there was an Italian bark
the Orsolina, loading with sugar for Havre
at st. Pierre. Her captain, Marine Lebaffe,
became alarmed and reported to the ship
pers that he did not regard the roadstead
as safe place to be- and that he had
decided to stop loading and sail for Havre
This was vigorously protested against, as
| only half load was aboard the ship
Mount Pelee they said was not dangerous.
even II 1t did smoke.
II don't know anything about Mount