The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-04-27
THE NTERMoUNTAN AND COLORADO CATHOLIC APRIL 27 1907

rains, the winds, and may be tidal wave, ha
swent it clean in places and left exposed walls tha
had been hidden by volcanic ash and the torrent
of boiling mud that on the Goth day of August ha
overwhelmed the unhappy city for the SEE
ond time Many of the streets in til
Mouillage quarter which had been filled u
to the second story of the houses had returned t
their normal levels which permitted easier acces
! and for those of who knew the city in Othe
! and happier days, helped to recognize the sites 0
familiar buildings In some places the street pave
ments had been washed clean exposing the rails o
the tramway Washngs from the mountain ha
deposited fertile soil amid the ruins and already
luXuriant vegetation appearing Vines an
creepers were coiling themselves around blackene
! fragments and grass and weeds were growing il
| exposed places. In company With Mr.. Joseph Bon
adie of the st. Vincent Times, and Mr.. Sproot o
the kingstown Sentry [ was struggling through th
street of Victor Hugo making for the cathedral
where three priests and LOO whites, blacks and NH
| latos persisted the eventful morning of MAY 5
when the Esk's guns signalled her shore passenger
| to return. Almost at the same moment, and as /
! by concerted signal jet of white vapor escape,
] from the crater almost at the base of the cone
! Then without further warning the mountain opere,
! with that reverberated through the ruined
city and was heard far out at sea, From the WON'T
of the restless hill there discharged high il
air, monstrous accumulation of incandescent
sand ashes, seoria and burning rocks which, fall
ing, apparently fused together, and like pillows of
cotton wool gathering height and depth rolled
tossed and tumbled down the side Of the mountain.
| On first issuing from the crater the great thing
was lurid, but as it raced downwards the dominant
color white, changing as it cooled to ashe1
gray Westward to the sea rolled the mighty mass
Between it and the ocean lay four miles of land
stripped to the skin and III three minutes from
the moment the moutainous flow began it plunged
into the waters. Two miles from its mouth it en-
tered the deep, dry bed OF the Riyiere Blanche and
when it hit the sea, hugh column OF steam reared
itself aloft and the waters hlzzed III their agony
Then there rose up to prodigious height an enor-
NOUS globular and surging mass and as it rose it
robed itself in black and almost quenched the light
of the sun. For few moments of agonizing sus-
pense, the terrific body hung motioness A slight
inclination southwark it may have been delusion
of ours, parayzed our faculties for, if it moved
toward u.s. it would be for all of US blast of death
as appallingly destructive as that which had ami
hilated the city whose ruins surrounded U.S. A pro
vidential and merciful gust of wind decided the
course of the hesitating monster and the great
cloud sailed slowly to the northwest darkening the
sky around it, Then it stopped again. as if directed
by human will. hung like a mighty shroud over
the sea, then opened and discharged upon the wa
tiers an enormous load of dust and ashes. Unlike
the phenomenon which followed the avalanche of
incandescent sand hurled against ST. Pierre in
May there was no aerial explosion within the cloud
nor any destructive forces developed
AWFUL RESULTS OF CLOUD EXPLOSION.
On that fateful morning two clouds erupted al
most simultaneously from the mountain one fol
lowing the other as if in chase The first of these
came from the open fue of the mountain chimney
and foated southwark toward Horne Vert 1t con-
tanned within itself all the chemical ingredients for
the production of a violent electric storm. The
second came from lower down the mountain at
spot known l. Etang See, an ancient vent or vol
canic cavern long ago clogged up by an accumula
ton of old material and sulphurous gases. The
two clouds in their for the city tOuched then
from the higher body there passed into the lower
host of electric sparks which flashing into the roll
ing mass of superheated gases produced 'explo
sion the report of which startled communities $50
miles away. 1t did something more. By atmos
pheric conclusion it rang the church bells of Bar
BADGES, ninety miles away; 1t struck dead the birds
of the air and the sheep and cattle in the fields; 1t
overturned and wrecked three sailing ships their
course to Rosseaau, Island of Dominica; it pois-
oned the air in ST. Pierre and asphixiated those
who escaped the hurricane of burning sand
If cloud charged with electricity had followed
and touched the aerial that terrified the pas
sengers of the Esk on that particular Sunday after
noon, this description would not appear next week
in your paper, nor would there be any one left alive
to tell how the Esk disappeared and her people per-
shed.
From the disappearing cloud and falling sand
we turned to look again upon the mountain. Its
summit had cleared and the whole of the north
western spur CLEANED white with deposit of erupz
ted matter The cone had altered its outlines, it
was reduced in height and large fragment had
been blown from It's eastern side
Of the fear and horrible expectation of death
which possessed and held the men and women
around me I say nothing. I familiar with the
texts of the New Testament portending the disso-
luton of the world the darkenng sun. the waneing
moon. and the stars dropping from their settings
had often tried to imagine the nervous condition
and horror of the souls of the men, whitening
away with fear and expectation" left upon the
earth when these awful calamities were at hand
and nv imagination would not respond to my ex-
afternoon | knew it all, the memory of it is with
me now and, like second soul, will be mine till
for me "time shall be no more"
~, sDJ III au,Aula