The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 12, 1902, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, \ MONDAY, MAY 12, 1902 SOUFRIERE 1S STILL BELCHING DEATH PITIFUL SCREAMS OF DYING : \ Officer of the Rod-| dam Describes the '| Horror. From the special correspondent of | | The Call and the New York Her- | | ald. Copyright, 1902, by the Now | | York Herald Publishing Company. | } ; oA Ll'(l‘ B. W. I, May 11. | | —An officer of the British | who, badly steamer Roddam, i and suffering intense- | being cared for here, to give the first co- he thrilling escape of estruction, when sev- the, harbor were of orning of May 8" hour or two anchored, the orth -an enormous ske, steam. mud and | | umbling preceded 2 fairly made our attled down all the oon and galley. The whirled. eddied and| | wall of lava swept side, over the town | | It struck us broad-| | overturned the Rod- id crew sought orecastle and the embers were blown| | <mrrr\v~g: and al- hough terribly | | way through the | ¢ fumes i3 om, ng | and the sea was lashed by hissing show- | nchor and got away. | . /y of pordava ] | | nes were not dam- ! neers, being belm«\ few who were| id it difficult to udder was jammed | and debris all r er SEA’S WATER BOILING HOT. “House after house was consumed like 2 match box. Many houses there | were built of coral and of course these | were not destroyed, and when excava- | tions are begun I have no doubt the bodies will be found in more or less well preserved condition, although | of 4 urs of hard . out of danger | ch-rred. I look for a repetition of the | 2 through the| scenes at Pompeii, described by Lord | Lytton. “I almost neglected to tell you of the fate of twenty poor negroes. We had brought\with us on the voyage twenty negroes as stevedores. Only six are now alive, many of them having jumped into the sea in their terror. Here they must have been literally boiled to death, e no signs of the other | e exception of the Ro-| y being rap- | e 2 for tt for the w hot as fire. Among . e red. | the dead are the Roddam’s first and b was sickening | second mates, the supefcargo and chief never again have | €ngineer.” oot g e g rdeal. We| ; O v GRAPHIC TALE a soon expired ¢ ne room to BY SURVIVOR remedies as OF RORAIMA The Call and the by s medicine chest eams were p al in New York the Herald ble to THE DECK. DEAD LYING ON T t. Lucia we pre- | OMINICA, B. W. L, May 11.—An offi- cer of the steamep fi';ralma, who has S e sicke: £ The dead d here to-day, told the story g and ving about pro- readful experienge in the har- ; overed and | Per of St. Plerre 2 | “We had been hearing for several days 8 s ost be-| that Pelee was rumbling, smoking and recogn ght have since | spitting occasional fire,” said he, “‘but we t no anxiety and were desirous of mak- | ing port, as we had just run through a | heavy thunderstorm. Our stevedores were | hustling the cargo when suddeniy | d in all and sev re P\;)?"\wl to die e corpse of a| busy he recastle peak. | there was a deafening explosion and the re 2 doubt half! earth trembled violently. We all looked | o e toward Pelee and I saw the most appal- | s Jing and terrifying sight of my life. a a soul escaped | thought the end of the world had come. The city| A great sheet of flame leaped from the | ceeme re from al] | mountain top, followed bY spurts of flame | and smoke alternately like the puffing of | a locomotive on a dark night. Then an- | other great sheet of flame leaped hun- as changed to inky lurid flames, 1, ng g Pelee crater like | dreds of feet into the air, followed by a rke g & ted the sky in | great lot of smoke and lava. It continued | I ctricken whites | to spout forth lava and smoke for appar- | ently a minute or two, though I suppose | actually it was only a few seconds. 11d be seen running wild- 1s kinds of im- e > < : «Then came the deluge of hot stuff shields over their heads in an | sweeping over the town, demolishing | enc d off the terrible show- | houses, trees and all vegetation. There | was a terrible hissing and roaring. could see the natives running aimle Wed incandescent rock ud and ashes. Mont of 8 about. Many of them ran for their houses ike a thousand mad|and others made it for the sea, trembled violently | where they were engulfed by the torrent | Josfoforfosfoctofosfectort | | of lava which swept over their heads. Many of them went under with pitiful screams; others tried to fight their w. to the vesegels, but before they had made any headway the terrible deluge was upon us, too. Hot stones and mud clattered and splashed upon the decks and rigging. The tarred ropes and our sails were soon blazing. “Then came a great tidal wave, which careened our saip. I thought sure we had gone clear over, but the Roralma balanced herself, and then settled back to rights with @ great lurcn. Our masts and funnel wers swept away. Only two lifeboats were left. 1 was almost killed by being dashed against a stanchion. Tt was several seconds before I could real- ize anything. Some stevedores were bending over me, and rocks and ashes were raining dotn on the deck all about me. I was then hauled into the steerage. Many sailors, who had sought safety there, were uttering agonizing shrieks with the pain of burns. They were roll- ing about, one on top of another. When a stevedore finally came to help me to a better place several corpses were piled on top of me. “I insisted on going on deck, for I be- lieved 1 was not much hurt, only stunned and burned about the face and hands. The captain had been badly scorched. -His face was hardly , recognizable and his clothes were agh-covered and charred, but I knew him by his Jumbering gait. He | cried out for a boat to be lowered, but this was impogsible, for the only ones left had big holes burned in their bot- toms. .v. GEORGETOWN, ONE OF THE ST. | VINCENT ISLAND TOWNS THAT } IS ALSO THREATENED. | “The sea was fossédl into great billows and the lava hissed "Hike a thousand snakes. Blinding steam arose on all sides of the vessel. 1 could nowhere see a sign of any other vessel and believe all but the Roraima went down. I always said she could outweather any craft in the Atlantic. “When we looked for Captain Muggah he was nowhere to be found, but a native stevedore, who spoke English imperfectly, gave us to understand that he had jumped overboard and swam toward a raft with stones and lava showering all about him. They say he succeeded in reaching the raft, but must have per- ished, as we have heard nothing from him. “When, finally, the fury of Pelee had somewhat subsided I looked landward. Nothing was visible through the mist of smoke and ashes but a desolate stretck. of gray lava, with patches of fire. Burned trectops stuck out above the lava and piles of ashes. Not a house could be seen or a native alive. Many corpses were floating in the water, burned horribly about the face. “Finally, after hours of terrible suffer- ing and suspense, we saw a vessel pick- ing her way cautiously through the sea to us, and blowing blasts of encouragement. She was the French man-of-war Suchet. All of the Roraima’s men were dead but sixteen and one died while he was being transferred to the Suchet. ““The surgeons in the hospital held out hope for recovery of the rest of our men, but several of them are terribly injured and will be maimed and disfigured for life. “It was a living hell on earth and enough to make lunatics of us all. I fear that at least one man in the hospital is a raving maniac. He is a native of Porto Rico, speaks little English and his rav- ings are unintelligible, but he appears to be bereft of his senses, and _cries_ con- stantly, ‘El Terre Moto, El Terre Moto.’ As for poor Captain Muggah, God grant that he Is at least out of all the suffering of this world.” PERISHED ON THE RORAIMA. NEW YORX, May 11.—In the office of the British Consul in this city is a list of 3 L 0 i %+ | the men of the crew of the Roraima, as! taken from the ship's articles. Some of | the boat's crew were shipped at Barba- | does on the vessel's last run out, so that .change may be made eventually, but as it | stands the men believed to have died are: James. Adams, waiter, Brooklyn; Andre Andrano, fireman; Juna Augum, trimmer, Manhattan; Micelle Arzillo: Emanuel Beluardo, Brooklyn; Francis Benet, fire- m: Edwin Bowman, istant cook; Eugene S. Brown, purser; Juan Calo, fire- man; Francisco Donaldo, seaman, Brook- lyn; D. Francisco, Brooklyn; Andres Buo; Giovanni Galero, Brooklyn: Peles Garme, trimmer; M. G. Galego, fireman; Aleffi Gulanne: M. Mabeal, waiter, Hobo- ken; W. Houston; M. Julien, Brooklyn; Gustave Landon, quartermaster, Manhat- tan; George T. Muggah; James M. Tear, chief engineer, Newark; John Morris, fourth engineer, Brooklyn: Emanuel Nor- digo, able seaman, Brooklyn; Rafael Pe- rez, fireman; Antonio Salareo, fireman; Giuseppe Salonico; Arello Salverterre; M. | Sanchez, fireman; W. Souchey, chief | steward, BrooKlyn; Santo Vindegren, | Brooklyn; Charles Wilhelmi, waiter, Man- hattan. ———————— DESTRUCTION OF ST. PIERRE INSTANTANEOUS [ ONDON, says that St. Plerre was destroyed Times from St. in the twinkling of an eye and that not May 12.—A dispatch to t*~ forty of the inhabitants of the city es- caped. Some of the outlying parishes of the | island of Martinique have been inundated. The whole northern portion of the island is burning. It has been denuded of vege- tation and is a rocky wilderness. The latest news received here from St. Vincent, continues the correspondent, says the number of dead there is sup- posed to reach 500, the majority of whom have not been buried. 1t is reported that. Fort de France, Isl- 3 T St. Vincent’s Dead Are Interred in Long Trenches. IVINGSTON, Island of St. Vingent, B. W. I, May 10— After numerous earthquakes, during the . preceding fort- night, accompanied by sub-| terranean noises in the direction of La | Soufriere volcano, on the northwest | part of the island, a loud explosion from the crater occurred on Monday | last, and the water in the crater lake | ascended in a stupendous cloud of | steam and exploded heavily. The noises grew louder continually until Wednesday morning, when the old crater, three mile$ in circumference. and the new crater, formed by the las eruption, belched smoke and stone: forcing the residents of Richmond Val- ley, beneath the volcano, to flee to Cha- teau Belair for refuge. The thunderous noises, continually increasing, neighboring islands, which were | were heard in 200 miles away. SCENE AWES BEHOLDERS. At midday the craters ejected enor- | mous clouds of steamy vapor, rising majestically eight miles high and ex- | panding into wonderful shapes, resem- bling enormous cauliflowers, gigantic | wheels and beautiful flower formations, streaked up, down and crosswise with | vivid flashes of lightning, awing the! beholder. The mountain labored to rid | itself of a mass of molten lava,| which later flowed over. in six streams, down the side of the vol- cano and the greater noises fol-| lowing united in one continuous roar all evening, through the night to Thurs- day morning, accompanied by black rain and falling dust. | On the morning of Friday there was a fresh eruption and ejections of fiery matter, more dust covering the island, in some places two feet deep. The crater is still active as this dis- patch is sent and great loss of life is be- lieved to have occurred FAMINE NOW THREATENS The lava destroyed several districts, with their livestock; pedple are fleeing to this town; streams are dried up and | and: of Martinique, is threatened, con- &ludes. the correspondent, and there 14| and in many places a food and water | mghtrul tension everywhere. famine is threatened. The Government | 0 ool +'!+r>m—l—l B 2 ““3 death to every lving thing. | of St. Vincent. 'S | phere. KINGSTON THUS FAR ESCAPES 1Loss of Life on St Vincent Increases Hourly. ASTRIES, St. Lucia, W. L, May 11.—St.. Vincent is still threatened. with the destruc- tion which fell upon St. Pierre. . La Soufriere is still in violent eruption. Terrific detona- tions-follow one another so ¢losely that they form one incessant rumble. Great columns of steam, smoke and ashes | shoot into the air so high that no eye can see where they break. These are lighted up by tongues of flame that fre- quently spread over the country, carry- For many miles to the southward of La Soufriere the country is under constant bombardment. Large stones fall from the darkened skies, adding to the de- struction worked by the heat and the clouds of ashes. It is impossible to estimate the loss of life, but it is already so great as to be appalling and the death list is constant- ly increasing. Early reports placed the loss of life on St. Vincent at more than 400, and that estimate must now be far below the real total. Flames are lit- erally sweeping the entire northern end A great area has been isolated by a flow of lava, which has reached across the island. - The clouds of smoke overcast the skies in every di- rection and ships dare not venture near the coast. Kingston was reported as’safe this morning by a steamer that has just ar- rived hére. The city does not seem to be threatened with destruction, though pebbles and ashes fall without ceasing. keeping the inhabitants within doors. Cinders, still burning, fall upon Kings- ton after each more violent eruption of La Soufriere. The inhabitants are panic-stricken and are prevented fleeing from the city-only by the fact that they have. no, place to go to. A great' waterspout was seen this morning about seven miles off the west coast of St. Lucia and on a line between St. Vincent and St. Lucia. The surface of the sea is gray with the ashes that continue to sift from the skies. For the first time in four days the sky here to- day was clear and the sun shone. The sulphur springs and the semi-extinct | volcanoes of this island are boiling in a normal manner, but they are being anxiously watched by those living near * them. The first display of unwonted activity would be followed by a panic. BOILING LAKE ON DOMINICA SPOUTS STEAM T. THOMAS, D. W. I, May 11.—A dispatch just received here from ths island of Dominica, D. W. I, says that a man who has just returned | from the boiling lake district of that isi- and went within a hundred yards of the lake and found that the water had d appeared and that from a vent ten feet in diameter in the center was a column | of steam that rose to a height of thirty | feet before spreading into the atmos- That district otherwise was ap- parently unchanged, but the sulphur gases wers very strong. @ it il @ | is feeding numbers of sufferers from the | outbreak. Great physical changes have taken place in the neighborhood of La Soufriere. Several districts have not yet been heard from, and the scene of the erup- tion is unapproachable. Every hour brings sadder news. The nurses and doctors are overworked. It is impossible to give full details at present. As a result of the disaster\on this island all business has been sus pended for_three days. The public mind is still unsettled. fearing further | disaster. Among the deaths are whole families whose ccrpses are in several places still lying unburied. The dead will be in- terred in trenches. For A&dit;o;d_-xnrdnique News See Page Four. FIRST PARTY T0 LAND AT ST. PIERRE FINDS BODIES ENCUMBERING THE STREETS Continued From Page One. guard by the soldiegs. housands are starving. ut from Fort de France. . e sent DEAD ENCUMBER STREETS AND BYWAYS IN ALL PARTS OF DESTROYED ST. PIERRE FORT DE FRANCE, Martinique, May begun. e havoc wrought can be ascertained, enough has been learned cate that the very worst anticipations are more than realized. Those who have come back here from the city report that the streets and the neighborhood arotind are now incumbered in all directions by heaps Most of the dead bodies thus far seen were naked; their cloth- ing apparently having been burned from their bodies like so much tinder, while In the vast majority of instancesfires 1l of bodies. themselves were roasted to death. to have been the sole cause of death. The city reeks with a horrible odor of burned flesh. they seem ‘In one an entire family of nine persons were found, all tightly locked in each other’s arms. In the country there is no food and it is believed that As soon as food can be obtained, relief parties will 11.—A landing has been suc- e at St. Pierre and the work of exploring the ruins ot the devas- Although it will be several days before the full extent to indi- burned them as rapidly as possible. reveal can hardly be imagined. of the streets that existed there can be seen. Almost the first thing done was to make preparations for the crema- tion of the dead. Fatigue parties of soldiers built enormous pyres of wood and branches of trees, upon which they heaped the bodies by scores® and To facilitate the combustion and to de- stroy as far as possible the awful odor of burning flesh which camefromthem, the impromptu crematories were heavily soaked with coal tar and petroleum. The total number of dead is now estimated at fully 25,000. The disaster itself took place within thirty seconds, and.in that half-minute the vast ma- jority of all these people were killed. The entire quarters of the fort and of the Carbet are completely leveled to the ground, forming nothing but heaps of ruins, covered thickly over with ashes, cinders and masses of mud and lava commingled. What horrible reve- lations of the havoe wrought to human life which these mounds are yet to In these two quarters of the city not a trace They are out of sight, as were those of Pompeii. Clock’s Hands Supply an lmportaut Record. Along the water front there are a few walls standing and the ruins of the Custom-house were found. The face and hands of the clock on the hospital were not destroyed and and they furnish an important record in the history of this terrible catastrophe. instance The hands of the clock had stoped at precisely ten minutes to 8 o’clock, showing that it was at that moment that the qty was overwhelmed and all the thousand')f people within it and in its environs were destroyed. France. cinity of the city. At the last accounts from St. Pierre the work of exploring the ruins for the treasure buried beneath them was going on at the same time with the in- cineration of the dead. The vaults of the Bank of Martinique had been opened and all the securities, notes and cash were found intact. cured, and, together with other treasure, have been brought here to Fort de They were all se- As much help as possible has been sent to the surviving people in the vi- Steamers loaded with half-crazed men, women and ckildren from districts in the neighborhood of St. Pierre are constantly arrive ing here. buried completely but none \ long dive. of the village of Precheur: of them were burmed or injured. Hurrying Provisions to the Sufferers. Steamers are also going back as rapidly as possible to the scene of the disaster, carrying, with them provisions and clothing. brought here by the cable ship Pouyer Quertier were from the neighborhood They were entirely without shelter when found, The 450 persons Every ship in the harbor at the time of the disaster, with the single ex- ception of the Efiglish steamer Roddam, was burned, and all on board were lost, excepting one captain. In relating his escape, this captain says that the only way in which he managed to save his life was by repeatedly diving. He was an expert swim- mer and was able to remain under water for a considerable length of time. He returned again and again to the surface, barely exposing his face for a mo- ment or two to the terrific heat and thus getting enough breath for another e 5