The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 14, 1902, Page 2

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1902 HILADELPHIA, May surpris ith neath the surface of the I3. 2 False Report| Allays All | Fear. from the special correspondent of ‘ The Call and the New York Her- | ald, Copyright, 1902, by the New | York Herald Publishing Company. | ORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, | May 13—The transatiantic | steamer Canada has arrived | 5 refugees, twen- | de She of an g the disaster at St. Pierre, e strophe itself, as told | who were on the from Fort ielle: commission, presided over nor, M. Mouttet, assembled n 8 Pierre on May 7, the day before he cala for the purpose of studying | the phenomena of the volcanic disturb- Mont Pelee. It was agreed by this commission that s of the craters and debouc sea were the scie could affirm that of St. Pierre was compiete, ouncement was made to allay s of the frightened citizens. CAUSES AWFUL PANIC. The sun rose clear over St. Pierre at § o'clock on the morning of May 8.. Mont noking to the north and the ving westward. A few min- o'clock a great white st seemed to be steam and forth from an apparently 1 Mont Pelee, which seemed sut two hundred yards from the originz ter and which appeared to open up a deep rent from the top to the bottom of the mountain. This outbreak caused the utmost con- sternation ants of St and panic among the inhabit- Pierre, who fled toward the frightful screams, in tly of what was to fol- e Gabrielle observed a yacht leave St. Plerre at t 7 o’clock with the Gov- ers of a sclentific commis- he yacht steamed toward e groaning was heard from the t ten minutes before 8 o'clock and a moment later a gigantic mass of | | o kil Blunder Mad by Scien- tists. thick, impenetrable black smoke poured K3 out of the crater and fell with frightful In a very short rapidity upon the city. time the whole city was a mass of ruins. CRIES OF THE DOOMED. The waters of the harbor were violently agitated and everywhere was heard the sound of falling masts of the shipping and Is were seen to overturn and sink or burst into flames. The cries of the doomed beings on sheore and afloat lasted only a ves: few moments, when the stillness of death fell upon the city and the harbor. Only three vessels of all the shipping in the harbor withstood the terrible con- vuldion of nature. These were the little schooner Gabrielle, the Corena and the North American. One of the survivors who was brought here says he sprang overboard, and despite injuries received from the falling lava and ashes succeeded by diving and wimming for two hours in sustaining himse)f until he was picked up by the French warship Suchet. Although the volcano's flow had appa- rently diminished somewhat en_the Svchet Jeft, great blocks of lava Wwere still being vomited from the crater. Noth- ing remained of the city of St. Pierre ex- cept vast heaps of smoking ruins re- sembling-a great furnace. Here and there in open spaces large numbers of partly burned and asphyxiated bodies could be seen Iying on the ground. An_expedition carrying relief supplies left Trinidad for Martinique on Saturday and is expected to return within the next twenty-four hours. SAN JOSE, May 13.—Santa Clara County is to make an exveriment with oiled roads as soon as weather conditions will permit. Three miles of roadway is to be ofled in Supervisor Roil's district piano construction. Wlwlg You uy a Piano Don’t buy it because it's cheap, but because of its merits. Choose a piano as you would choose a wife, on its good qualities alone. Our lines of pianos constitute the greatest, best and most rellable makes—the most per- fect productions of the world’s greatest geniuses If you contemplate purchasing a planc call and seé us or write. The WILEY B. ALLEN CO. 9381 Market St., All Market-street cars BRANCH—%1 BROADWAY, OAKLAND. a2 in 8San Francisco. stop in front of our door. ST S s 3 - VoL LQUIS 1. AYIIE 1~ HALF A MILLION IS VOTED FOR RELIEF — Speaking of the disaster at St. Pierre, Professor. Angelo Heilprin, the noted geologist, says: “That part of Martinique which has been covered with flowing‘ lava will remain barren rock g’ar’ f'm;;ne;; 1 it will take almost as long for decay to start in the cinders which have been spread on other parts of the island. Until that shall happen there will be no soil on which the former luxuriant z.'egetatmn could take rool;' ¢ dm;, ¢ noi ing if the great overfloto of lava from the volcano left so great cavity underncath the crust that the volcano itself fell in and disappeared, or even the whole island itself sank out of sight beneath the sea. It was pushed up waler in the first place by volcanic dis[’ur'bmzcm, and then built up of lava and cinders by subsequent eruptions.” L VIEW OF ST. PIERRE, WITH THE VOLCANO OF MONT PELEE IN THE BACKGROUND. THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE THOSE OF THE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE AND HIS FAMILY, WHO PERISHED IN THE AWFUL DISASTER, AND THE UNITED STATES CONSUL TO GUADELOUPE. — ALL BUREAU, 1406 G STREET, N. W., WASHING- TON, May 13. — President Roosevelt's measure of relief for the stricken people of Mar- tinlque and St. Vincent will prevail. The Senate to-day passed another bill increasing the total appropriation to $500,000. This bill has now gone #o the House Committee on Ap- propriations, and Chalrman Cannon said to-night that if it was found to-morrow or the day following that this increase was necessary, the House would act | promptly. Meanwhile, at 4:40 this atferifoon Presi: dent Roosevelt signed the bill passed by ;| both branches of Congress yesterday ap- propriating $200,000 as a relief fund, and that sum is now available for immediate use. Senator Cullom, chairman ¢f the Com- mittee on Foreign Relations, to which was referrdd the President’s message urg- ing an appropriation of half a miillion | doliars, reported a bill to-day appropriat- ing $300,000 in addition to the $200,000 passed yesterday. This was the result of various conferences between the Presi- dent and Senator Cullom and other im- portant members of the Senate. PLEA OF THE PRESIDENT. The President told them that so far as official advices go they show that the dis- I aster in the islands of the Caribbean Sea was the greatest of modern times; that Special Dispatch to The Call. two islands had been practically wiped out of existence; that thousands of people had been already killed and thousands. of others were stfil in danger; that $100,000 had already been spent in hastening relief to the stricken people and that if the United States was to do its duty fully and promptly a larger sum was necessary than the $200,000 appropriated by Congress yesterday. Senators who talked with the President were impressed with his earnestness in the matter and the quick passage of the bill providing the additional sum was ac- complished in the Senate. It was said to-night by leading members of the House that it was doubtful if the bill would be passed by the House to-morrow. It now rests in the Committeé on Appropriations, and its members will confer with the President to-morrow, and find out if pos- sible if the additional sum is needed at once. Chairman Cannon said to-night that if the committee became convinced that $500,000 was needed, )t would quickly act. Meanwhile the bill passed vesterday is now a law and the sum provided is now being used. There is general criticism in Washing- ton to-day of the nine members of the House who voted against an appropria- tion for relief, with sugh® calamity oc- curring almost off the Araerican coast. PREPARING RATIONS. So comprehensively lald were the plans of the War Department yesterday, even before the passage of the joint resolution providing for the rellef of the voleano sufferers, that there was really very - tle remaining for-the officials to do to- day. The plans of the commissary de- N = President Causes Congress to Increase the Appropriation to Aid Sufferers of Island Volcanoes. partment, made after careful considera- tion of the news dispatches from the Antilles, contemplate the supply of 40,000 rations for fourteen days. The quarter- master's department is purchasing cloth- ing supplies for 40,000 people and the med- ical department is working in proportion Hood’s Sarsaparilla Has won_success far beyond the effect of advertising only. Its wonderful popularity is explained by its unapproachable Merit. ' Based upon a prescription which cured people considered incurable, Hood’s Sarsaparilla Unites the best-known vegetable rem- edies in such a way as to have curative power peculiar to itself. Its cures of scrofula, eczema, psori- asis, and every kind of humor, as well as catarrh and rheumatism—prove Hood’s Sarsaparilla the best blood purifier ever produced. Its cures of dyspepsia, loss of appe-/ tite and that tired feeling make it the greatest stomach tonic and strength- restorer the world has ever known. Begin to take it TO-DAY. E3 | r— . Prompt W,ork In Sending Stores. in_its purchases. * In the Navy Department the carefully planned relief measures were being car- ried forward systematically and rapidly. The Buffalo has been ordered to be put in readiness for immediate use as a food and supply transport in case it be decided to send more supplied than the Dixie will carry. Action_has not yvet been taken upon Admiral Bradford's suggestion that water-tenders® be sent to Martinlque relieve the pressing need for fresh water, The admiral is anticipating the acceptance of the plan and has accordingly tele- graphed to Pensacola and Norfolk to have the tenders at those places made ready for immediate service. The admiral also has tendered the use of his coal navy as food and passenger transports. The equip- ment bureau, of which he is the head. has’ a small but excellent fleet of large colliers and the admiral has suggested to Secretary Moody that these ships are val- uable by virtue of thefr great carrying capacity, excellently adapted to relief work. Each of the ships carries from two to three thousand toms of supplies. MANY GENEROUS OFFERS. There are no lack of spontaneous offer- ings from all parts of the country. To- day a telegram was received from the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce asking the State Department if private contribu- tions would be received and how they should be addressed. Similar messages came from other points. The department has as yet made no response. An original suggestion came from a New York commercial house in the shape of a letter proffering 1,000,000 pounds of rice at cost price and duty free to the Government. The owners explained that they were able to make this offer by rea- :ondo( the fact that the rice is still in ond. It appeared by noon that so rapidly had the Government's agents worked that al- ready the War Department alone had :‘ent over $100,000 of the relfef appropria- on. It appears that that part of the joint resolution adopted yesterday requesting the President to ascertain to what extent our aid would be acceptable to France had been anticipated by the French Gov- ernment. The President's statement that that, Government had requested that ships be supplied to carry away the survivors of the catastrophe in Martinique was at. first supposed to be based upon the state- ment of the Governor of Martinique to United States Consul Ayme. It appears, however, that the request came directly from the French Government through Embassador Cambon, who personalily pre- sented the matter to the President. The War and Navy departments have decided to divide the work of relief be- tween them, so as to give the navy full charge of the general subiect of transpor- tation and intrust to the War Department the accumulation of the supplies. Of the little fleet of naval colliers which was placed at the disposal of the relief work- ers the Leonidas, which is now discharg- ing her cargo of coal at Port Royal, has been selected \for dispatch to Martinique and negotiations have gone forward to lead her with suppiies and get her under Way as soon as possible. The executive committee of the Red Continued on Page Five 3 o | Residents Are Kept Within Town. From the special correspondent of The Call and the New York Her- ald. Copyright, 1902, by the New York Herald Publishing Company. ARBADOES, May 13.—When I left St. Pierre yesterday the city was a heap of smoldering ruins.. Thousands of corpses were strewn on every side, | having been destroyed by the great volcanic bemb. The cathedral clock was standing at 10 min- utes after 7 o'clock In a solitary towe This shows the time when the awful ra of fire began. It rained fire for twenty minutes, when every part of the city was ablaze, and the shipping in the harbor sunk. The Government, thinking all danger-over after the eruption of lava to a height of 120 feet on May 5, formed a cordon of soldiers around the city to pre- vent residents from leaving. To further allay excitement the Governor took up his residence with several scientists in St. Pierre. Not a single person in St. Pierre when Mcnt Pelee exploded escaped. It will take thousands to dig out and bury the dead. The smell of burning flesh is per- ceptible three miles from shore. Tha Roraima was still burning yesterday, aud the ruins of the city will burn for weeks longer. Food for the survivors has been sent from St. Thomas and Barbadoes for }2,000 refugees, who are in outlying vil- ages. Putch Aid Rescue Work. THE HAGUE, May 13.—The ‘Govern- ment of The Netherlands has ordered the Dutch warship Koningen Regentes to pro= ceed from the Island of Curacao, Dut West Indies, to the Island of Martinique, at full speed, in order to assist the suffepe ers in the Mont Pelee outbreak. Both chambers of the States General have passed resolutions expressing sym- pathy with France. Disturbance Is Not Shown. BALTIMORE, May 13.—The seismo- graph at the Johns Hopkins University shows no record of any disturbance of tha earth’s crust here concurrent with the volcanic outbursts which are devastating and remodeling the West Indies. The M- strumept was opened and inspected to- ATTENTION, VOTERS! Register at Once. All citizens must, register to vote at any Election of 1902. Office open from 8:30a.m. to 5 p- m, and WEDNESDAY EVENING from 8 to 9. By order of the Board of Elec- tion Commissioners. THOMAS J. WALSH, Registrar of Voters.