The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-02-14
The Gone OK
Of 81. Pierre

/ @F all the .'stories'' sent out from tn 2.
ill-fated island of Martinique sinc's>
the wicked Mont Pelee began its
awful work of destruction, there -
~ nothing more grewsome and nerve
racking, more uncanny or Poesque tha,.
the tale of '"The Lone OK Of St. Pierre,
| which was told in an off-hahd manner IN
| the news dispatches of the disaster. 1t is
not the narrative itself, but what 1t suE-
gests that produces the creepiness an
| arouses In the mind sense of indefnablc
fear such as is felt in reading THE Mur~
I ders in the Rue Morgue," and its sequel.
or other such tales. It evokes strange ana
! foreboding voices such the highly
imaginative or those afflicted with neuraf
disorders hear in the silences of solitude
There Is something sinister and porten-
tious about it. something wierd and spec
trail. Literally, it may be prosaically con
densed thus: After the catastrophe which
Econverted st. Pierre into a modern POn-
/ peii or Herculaneum, and while the ships
| were compelled to remain In the omns
some distance from shore in order TO
| avoid the squirting of hot mud and the
occasional shower Of stones, there was
seen coming down from the mountains
huge black OK. The beast walked leisure
ly to the surf, walked out some distance
| and around to where the d1scharge OF q
| small fresh water stream formed mln1a~
ture estuary and, after drinking its I'LL.
turned about and as leisurely walked
| away the same way 1t came and was lost
in the mountains. Under ordinary cir
cumstances there is nothing singular In
| an OK doing this.
| When we add the occasion ana inc
| surroundings and details, as great
painter with pen brush would do, there
| is much more to the picture. Instantly
| it becomes an epic. The fair city Of ST.
Pierre that has nestled so long under the
'IrIo T1ola ha DESTROYED.
| After giving out premOnlIory mutter1ngs
| for a few days, suddenly the cone of the
| mountain was truncated and simeon OK
| fame hot mud, rocks and other missiles
swept down upon the doomed city ana
| surrounding country. This was accom-
| panied by a mysterious swirl Of electricity
which did as it pleased and INDUCED in Hlf
manner Of caprices; here grinding SCI
rock into dust, there stripping the s.
Stof fe 1e dg9~ p S an WITH 90
visible marks Of injury; again denud1n2i
the entire body and gathering it to pieces,
or merely touch it with the finger or
death Buildings were RACED. The proud7
est piles lay in wreckage. Beautiful
plazas became wildernesses Of twisted
iron pillars mingled with rock and debris.
TIL. blackened and stark bodies OF 3o,VD
or 10000 people lay streWn about IN
heaps, or scattered, mute witnesses OF the
awful calamity, and over all this Infinite
desolation the mountain, as if moved by:
| remorse for the havoc which it had ere.
Eated had covered all from the sight OF the
sun with a mantle of ashes. Out or the
many thousands who inhabited the cit
but che life was spared and that the il1a
| Of a murderer, who was In an undery
| ground cell. No man or beast, or insect.
| or reptile Or. crawling thing escaped1
| Even the birds that persisted had no
I feathary mates to witness the tragedy
| because those who were outside of the
49, ,1oti q n
! dared. not adventure into the area upon
(which: the vengeance of heaven seemed to
| have wreaked it's worst. Silence brooded
ominously unless when pierced oy inc
i mutt erings of the mountain or the desui-
| tory fall of fresh voncanic matter. Brave
| men who hesitate not to go down to the
sea in ships and defy the fury of the
| ocean feared to approach the land where
not even tree or shrub remained or q
blade of grass was to be seem Out OF
| this wild waste and from the domains or
terror like a thing of evil, like the De
| hemoth of Job, emerged huge black OK
the only living thing-out, apparently,
from the very focal fires Of the earthly
hell. Leisurely, Indifferent alike to the
| threa Jennings of the volcano and to the
! desolation which it's anger had wrought,
and as though meandering through
| hoWery mead, emerged this animal TO
drink it's fill and to return, when sails
| fed, into the wilderness. Behold he
| drinlseth up a river and hasteth not; ne
| trust eth that he can draw up Jordan into
| his mouth" Slowly it returns, leaving
| the imprint of it's cloven hoofs in the SOFT
| ashes. the only evidence of life or that
life had ever BEEN
| The appearance Of any other amman
! would have been less n:eaningful. Inc
| OK is mathematical III man! ways but III
| the days of old he uoon whose FOOT the
! black OK tramrled Was sure to know sO!~
! row and adyersity. Verify the black OK
hath tramCied upon st. Pierre. was lhe'e
| and is there is pregnant meaning Nf
| those ancient signs and tokens at Whlci'
we la.gI so cammiseratingly to-day? was
| tne~e arv r. atty in the voices Of DE- lpht
~. I{r7e 'r'nc there q different man
IN; TO the sinister and dexter ii''reH:ei'
| of birds, and could the cntrails OF siailH
| animals reveal the secrets Of the futuret
Supt rstitions we say, but what "ohoer-
full vitality do they possess. The NUMBER
IL, starting on journey on Friday SPILL
! Ing salt, seeing new moon over Inc le1.
shoulder and thousand other things are
superstitions that yet obsess the strongest
minds.
The rich merchant Of whom the grand
yizier of King Shehriyar tells us In the
Arabian Nights understood the language
Of beasts, but dared not divulgc the fact
on pain of death. He is the only one OF
whom we know anything who was gifted
in this respect, end the gift came near
causing him to lose his life. If there is
any one who understands OK talk, VINO
can converse in bovine vernacu}ar. ana
who will interview this animal and OBTAIN:
! from It the full story of its escape from
| the calamity that made death and desc
| lation universal in certain area. nc VIII
| have something Of more news value than
is common We can account for the es-
cape of the condemned murderer; but
| how q huge OK could escape unscathed
from the storm center of annihilation.
how he could emerge from it ard return
| into it is inconceivable. Did he defy tnd'
| fury of the angry gods like successful
| Ajax, or was he IN some cyclopean cav
FERN Or Polyphemus which shielded him
| from danger? Prof. Heilprim no doubt
| will tell US many strange things about
| the catastrophe. but he can discover moth
! ing more seemingly miraculous or tnsoi-
| uble than the escape of the lone OK or ST..
| Pierre. ~ z.zs7| =.
| Unless, perhaps. It Is the animals maj
fate. Is the brute dead or will 1t ~" 70
| tread down the corn unruzzled? was u
| q real OK or a wraith?-Me!nphis Co.,m' r
| cial Appeal. S... }
Oldest Ship I'm the World.
what is stated to be the Oldest snip IN
! the world has recently been SOLO Atr
! Teneriffe to- be broken up Inls ~ p ~;
Italian ship Anita, registered at the f0rs
! 81 C.c,cn THE Anita, which reSemDle0