Evening star., 1936-01-05

life and from which he still suffers.
Stationed in his little shack on Morne
Lenard one evening Just following
the dead calm of the approaching
night, a slight sound took him to his
cabin door. The whole mass had
fallen from the volcano, leaving scar
on the dome from which poured forth
an ash cloud of inky blackness ex-
panding upward as it rushed down the
slope.
He states: "I shall not attempt to
describe the sensation felt nor the
thoughts that swept through my mind
at that moment. My first thought was
of instant fight. With distance Of
rs kilometers between me and the
crater it might be four minutes be-
fore the clouds reached me but mo-
ment's reflection indicated that this
would not be enough to escape the
wide path of the cloud. I decided TO
risk the protection Of the frail shack.
Doors, windows, cracks and holes were
hastily closed and the onset awaited.
My former experiences helped to al
lay my fears, still there was a feeling
Of helplessness and overpowering iso-
Ation"
T luckily the track Of the ava
lanche lay away from his posi-
ton, the chief danger being from heat
and gas from the clouds. A moment
was left. He peered out from the
rear of the station. He continues:
"a sublime spectacle! Two pillars
of cloud q thousand feet in height
apparently gaining in speed every in
slant and headed straight for my
shack! AS I dashed in the blow was
upon me-not a terrific shock as one
might think-but a swirling of ash
blown, laden wind bringing a patch Of
darkness that might, indeed, be felt.
The dusty air entering every crevice Of
the shack was hot but not scorching.
felt the gases burning and scorching
my throat, then came feeling Of
weakness-carbon monoxide. 1t all
lasted half hour. but nearly an hour
before the suffocation was relieved by
q kindly wind"
Painful though 1t was it offered q
rare opportunity to study volcanoism.
Strange as it may seem. Mr.. Perret
states, there was a condition Of abso-
lutte silence, broken only by an oc-
casional slide Of old lava blocks. Then
there came swiftly and silently train
Of lava and ash blocks, probably Is
wide and high, sweeping down the
yards wide and high, sweeping down
the course as if turned out by some
gigantic piece Of machinery.
The gendarmes at st. Pierre, OBJ
serving the phenomenon, were in a
high state Of alarm and started out
with q rescue squad. The friendly
signal Of q lantern hung out from the
volcanologist's shack helped to re-
lieve their anxiety but did not deter
them in their effort to reach the spot
as quickly as possible.
CUFFERING from weakness Prof.
~ Perret was taken to st. Pierre and
then to Fort de France TO receive
treatment for q badly irritated throat
and nose. And, believe 1t or not. with
the soul Of the true scientist, he be-
means the fact that he had no
vacuum tubes or water-filled bottles
for the collection Of gases from the
cloud, ETC."
So stepped was the world in its own
troubles that this major event Of vol
canic history went by practically un-
noticed beginning September 16, 1929,
and lasting to the close Of 1882. In
comparison with the 1901 cataclysm,
while the individual phenomenon was
Of much weaker character. the amount
Of extruded material was equally
great.
Mr.. Perret belives the embryonic
station on Morne Lenard. near neigh
Dor to Pelee, could and ough to be de-
veloped into the worlds most inter
esting station for volcanic investiga-
ton. II has been demonstrated In
his 80 years Of intensive study
of volcanology that the volcano it
self is indispensable In the furthering
Of this important subject.