Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-07-10
DISSOLUTION AT ST. PIERRE
Scenes in the Town wiped on From
the Map by Mont
PeIee.

While grim old Mont Pelee OF Mar
Unique, with its fury lessened but still I'M
spent, looks on and growis, with now and
then a spiteful roar. remorseful nature Is
doing her best to hide, under a mantle of
green, the remaining evidence OF the vol
cano's burst OF anger which destroyed 40
900 people in a twinkling And so luxuriant
Is the growth OF vegetation in this beautiful
isle of the Returners," that she is rapidly
succeeding. The buried city is no longer
swept by the clouds OF explosive and poison
Gus gases, deadly alike to animal and veg
etable life, shot of by the volcano, which
now are discharged 10 the northward, and
the better side of nature is asserting itself.
Fertilized, perhaps by the uncounted dead
beneath It, the rich volcanic ash has pro-
duced tropical trees and tall grasses in such
profusion that little can now be seen from
the sea of the crumbling fragments OF walls
that mark the graves of Pelee's victims.
On the surrounding hills the sugarcane has
sprung up from the old roots. proving that
while the blast which wiped ,ut St. Pierre
was so intellectually hot that i instantly
consumed great trees il passed so quickly
that II did not extend below the surface of
the ground.
With the passing of the horrible picture
| left by the eruption-the sickening waste
Of gray, with its blackened ruins-which the
| growth of green now is obliterating, the
greatest tragedy of nature in history ap-
| parently is being forgotten. The natives
have recovered from their fear and returned
30 the old life They do not talk of the
| volcano, and a stranger arriving at Fort
| de France In ignorance of the disaster OF
three years ago might be there a long
while before he learned of 2. But, II the
/ eruption is not talked about the dead are
not forgotten, and st. Pierre is as much
Stunned as 1t was a week after It was de-
stroyed. No one is at work there but a
| few legalized grave robbers, who with the
permission Of the government, are digging
in the buried homes of their relatives for
money and jewels. St. Pierre was a rich
city, with much gold in its homes, in coin
and ornaments. and there have been many
valuable finds in the little family vaults oil
close to glistening skeletons. The vast
sepulcher has been well picked over, ant
it soon win be deserted even by the ghoul,
of surviving relatives. Their excavations
which resemble prospect holes, cover the
site of the city and give it at close rang,
the appearance of a deserted mining Camp
Except for the grave robbers and a few
patrolling gendarmes, to protect the unhal
lowed graves from unlicensed looters Their
is not sign of life in st. Pierre. Rue Vic
tor Hugo. the principal street in the city
which was buried under from two to fiv
feet OF volcanic ash, was cleaned out b
the government for nearly a mile and tn
stones from the fallen buildings piled up o.
each side. A cross street was opened up 4
the same way to give plantation back O
the town an outlet to the sea, but the wor
of restoration stopped there The govern
ment would like to see a new city rise fror
the ashes of St Pierre and Victor Hug
street was opened up in the hope that til
people would go in and rebuild the city
But the natives would have none Of It. T
them the great graveyard Is An acourse
place, and none but the treasure hunter
and the police are brave enough to invad
its solitude. Some day, perhaps, II Nor
Pelee again goes to sleep, st. Pierre may /
rebuilt, but not by the present generatio
or It's children. They are firm in the belle
that 1t was because God was angry with s
Pierre that the town was DESTROYED an
that II there was any attempt to build
up again His anger would be visited on III
third and fourth generations. But Pele
stubbornly refuses to show any narke
signs of approaching slumber II smoke
! constantly and there are frequent mil
l eruptions OF red-hot mud and bowlder
Occasionally there is heavy eruption. a,
companied by the discharge Of an enormou
cloud OF black smoke filled with explosiy
gases, like that which swept down over s
Pierre, and the whole north end of III
island Is shaken in the manner Of thre
years ago. The successive eruptions hay
effected a marked change in the contour {
the top of the mountain, around the crate
The great cone which was built up in Il
crater TO height of 1900 feet in 1903 an
stood like sentinel guarding the volcano
has fallen in.--Brooklyn Eagle