The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-09-04
ST PIERRE WILL
NOT BE REBUILT
SCENES IN THE TOWN THAT WAS
FRIGHTFULLY DEVASTATED.
Brooklyn Eagle.

DIOOhlyu Edgl0. II
While grim old Mt. Pelee, Of Mar
Unique, with it's fury iessened, but still
looks on and groWls, with now
nature is doing her best to hide, under
a mantle Of green, the remaining evl,
dence Of the volcanoes burst of anger
which destroyed 10000 people in a !
twinkling; And SO luxuriant is the
growth ct vegetation in this beautiful
rapidly succeeding. The buried city is
no longer swept by the clouds Of ex-
pIoslve and poisonous gases, deadly
alike to animal and vegetable life, shot
or by the volcano, which now are dis
charged to the northward, and the bet
ter SIDE OF nature is asserting itself:
Fertll1zed, perhaps by the uncounted
dead beneath it, the rich volcanic ash
grasses IN such profusion that little can
now be seen from the sea Of the crum-
ping fragments of walls that mark the
graves OF Pelee 9 victims. On the sur
rounding hills the sugar cane has
sprung up from the old roots, proving
that while the blast, which wiped out
ST. Pierre was so incalculably hot that
1t instantly consumed great trees it
passed 50 quickly that it did not ex-
tend below the surface of the ground.
With the passing Of the horrible pic
ture left by the eruption-the sickening
waste OF gray, with is blackened ruins
obliteratingg, the greatest tragedy of ma
ture IN history apparently is being for
gotten. The natives have recovered
from their fear and returned to the old
life. They do not talk Of the volcano,
and stranger arriving. at Fort de
france In Ignorance Of the disaster of
three years ago might be there long
the eruption is not talked about, the
dead are not. forgotten, and st. Pierre
is as much Stunned az it was a week
after 1t was destroyed No one is at
work there but. few legalized grave
robbers, who, with the permission Of the
government are digging in the buried
Jewels. st. Pierre was rich city. with
much gold in it's homes, in coin and or
naments, and there have been many val
liable finds in the little family vaults
or close to glistening skeletons. The
vast .sepulcher has been we'll picked over
and It soon Will be deserted even by the
eayations, who'll resembie PROSPECT neay ec
holes, cover the site Of the city and tive
1T at close range the appearance Of a
deserted mining camp.
Except for the grave-robbers and a
rev REatroi1ng gendaarmes, to protect the
unhallowed graves from unlicensed loot
ers, there is not sign of life in St.
Pierre. Rue Victor Hugo, the principal
street in the city, which was buried
under from two TO- five feet of volcanic
ash, was cleaned out by the government
for nearly a mile and the stones from
the fallen buildings piled up on each
side. A cross street was opened up in
the same way to- give plantation back
the work of restoration stopped there.
The government would like to see a new
city rise from the ashes of St. Pierre
and Victor Hugo street was opened up
in the hope that the people would 90 in
and rebuild the city But the natives
would ThayeYnone of it. Z To 4 them the
great graveyard is am accursed place,
and none but the, TREASURE hunters and
the police are brave enough to invade
it's solitude. Somea day, perhaps, if
Mount Pelee again Noes to Ssleep, St.
Pierre may be rebuilt, but not BY the
present generation or it's children. :, They
are firm in the belief that it was be-
cause GOD was angry with ST.. Pierre
that the town was destroyed and that
again his anger would be visited on the
third and fourth generations. But
Pelee stubbornlv refuses to show any
marked signs of approaching slumber.
1t smokes constantly and there are fire.
quent mild eruptions of red hot mud
and powders. Occasionally there is q
heavy eruption, accompanied by the
smoke filled with explosive gases. like
that which swept down over St. Pierre
and. the whole north end of the island
is shaken in the manner of three years
ago. The successive eruptions have eff
fected marked change in the contour
OF the ton of the mountain, around the
crater. The great cone which was built
Up in the crater to a height of 1900
feet in 1908 and stood like a sc.tine
guarding the volcano: has fallen in.
!: r The summit of the mountain, which
formerly was gracefully rounding, ha
disappeared with the giant cone an,
the top of the volcano now forms tn,
main crater, which is shaped like ;
bowl with serrated Sides One of, thu
points, near the place where the con
was raised, is 100, feet high, but tn
others are much smaller and of abou
uniform size. Inside of the bowl, bu
SO far down that, It cannot be plainl,
seen thru the sulphurous smoke, is
shaped cleft from which came the bias
that wiped out St. Pierre, and thr,
which the red-hot mud is poured whel
the volcano boils over, has shared i;
the changed contour of the summit
Formerly all of the discharges, whethe
gases or solids, were thrown in a south
westerly direction and directly over ST
Pierre. Now they are discharged t
the northwest and the ruined city e1
tirely escapes, as is proved by the II
:. turning vegetation. The line of fir,
or zone Of complete destruction, is a
! clearly defined as it was in the eruptio
eruptions Immediately following i
, The river Seche, running almost du
!, west from the volcano, is the dividin
. line. South Of the narrow .ravine thr
: which the Seche ran before it We
3 dried up by Pelee, and on down thu
/ st. Pierre, the grass is four feet hig
:, q and SO thickly interwoven with vine
: that walking thru it is a task. III
!, plateau between the rivers Seche an
e Blanche, which leads directly. to TT
: crater, and the country north OF
: round to line drawn straight mort
{. from the crater, within which regis
8 the volcano now exerts al ~ Ct Its ae eta
:, . nor solitary tree. On the ridge b
+ tween the two dried-up rivers the re
a hot mud thrown out by. Pelee in Il
!. smaller eruptions, which lack the for,
/ to scatter it broadcast, has worn q pal
n to the sea which looks like wage
q road to the crater.
y Government observatories, where tt
q volcano is watched and its activity +
~ corded, have been established at "A
81 sier. six miles east of the crater, al
at Morne Fume, seven miles sout