The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 15, 1902, Page 13

13 RRORS OF MARTINIQUE THE SUNDAY CALL. Nor are the views of the scientists calculated to quiet these fears. With wise looks and ominous shakings of heads they will only_say, “No man knoweth what a day may bring forth.” = Plainly enough they believe that, In view of repeated heavy eruptions from both Pelee and Soufriere, separated by intervals of weeks, together with the fact that both volcanoes are yet smoking and steaming furi- ously, throwing ashes, smoke and steam from new figsures, there may be recurrent explosions more far-reaching than any that have yet occurred. Professors Hovey, Jaggar and Russell considered the sea bubbles most significant. In advance of more critical examinations and analyses ashore, they were reluctant about making any definite prognosis. Professor Hovey, however, said frankly, though gententiously, “‘Pelee i5 not done yet.” The views of Professor Jaggar of Harvard, however, expressed in non-technical terms, will doubtless best appeal to popular understanding. ‘Aboard the steamer Wear, while cruising along the west coast of St. Vincent Island, near the volcano Sou- friere, I had an interesting talk with him. In the party were also Professors Russell of Michigan University, Pro- fessor E. O. Hovey of the Museum of Natural History New York, and Protessor Borchgrevink, an Arctic ex plorer of note and member of the Royal Geographical clety. The Wear is the little vessel that was caught in a hurricane of hot ashes and rock near Chateau Belair and fought her way through blinding smoke to Fort de Fraxce. Chateau Belair is about two hours’ sail from Kings town, on the west coast of St. Vincent, and is_immediately opposite Georgetown, on the east or Windward coast. The volcano Soufriere is situated about midway between the two towns, and the avalanche of ashes and lava has flowed down the mountain slope to the sea on both sides, cutting the island completely in_two parts, the northern part, o cupled chiefly by Carib Indians, being almost entirely de- vastated. Chateau Belair escaped miraculously, for only a few yards from this town t path of fu was easily seen by us from the Wear's deck. demarcation between living and ched vegetation was as clearly defined as if it had been predetermined and eX= ecuted by design. North of Chateau Belair we steamed in very close to the shore. Giant clouds of steam were being thrown from Soufriere to immense height, coming out in continuous huge rolls and billows and reaching sky- ward in columns of great altitude. Ominous rumblings, ounding like surf beating agalnst cliffs, were first heard ndistinetly and then broke forth in an alarming roar, eon= uous, like Niagara, but at times punctuated with loud ashes’ like thunder reverberating through the mountains. When a particularly heavy roar and crash came and Sou- friere sent up great billows and columns of steam moun- tain high the comm £ the Wear hastily gave orders to put about and the vessel steamed rapidly seaward. Then when the fury of the no had somewhat abated the little steamer a for shore and poked her nese As far as the eye could reach ed but the ash-covered blackened and blasted g over the sea. Be- e numerous fissures, from cragged, nd the cliff ju tween the sea and S which steam poured The volcano c accompanied by the them the li ward, then c 1 . spasmodic outbreaks, 2ous roaring, and after each of 1 turn about and retreat sea- r way ar shore again. The heavy rain spoiling further observation, and the Wea 1 homeward. The ly been greatly interested in what they consuited with each other weeks had no was yet and made interv 1 since the uch on and ree dangerou prediet what mi; or Jaggar if he expect: from either Soufriers or Pelee. He said of the fact that there have been s ons since the first omes by both Pelee t appen is beyond at ma human conjec yond the realms of science to pr v rergy stored in these great subterra n storehou: has not been exhausted. and, to my mind, the bubbles from the sea off St. Lueia, on a direct line between Pelee and So cant. Then, too, the first eruption of 7, followed on late P Clearly there is a stween the two, separated than one hundred miles. to hazard & re most signifi- ere was on May 2 dists nditions, w > the cause of vance of critical of the ejected 2 eory that steam in n unten- 7, howeve rth volcanoes ompanying these erup~ of the world's Che horizontal not new. A of fire fi ir eruption occurred in Japan in 188 the hori= 1 plane of fire at Pelee i mind, the most in- feature of the eruption he popular notion is Plerre lay at the base of Pelee and was buried in ashes and rock, when, as a matter of fact, the cit cupied a re land and high cliffs not t Pelee’s base, but five or six miles distant. The fire path F took a horizontal fon, like the discharge n mounteN horizontally. To make it clearer to . T will compare it with the wind and flame 1se ‘blowpipe.’ The matter thrown upward a very great alt 4 lerable spec gravity, descended with the velocity of anotner htning, especially as it neared the crater again. Here oor box” of it encountered the matter ascending with great veloeity taken many from the crater, and the result was a tremendous draft 5 5 t the junction. This blew the flame in a horizontal direc- nd the ships in the roadstead were he heat from a blowpipe, so every- In this case it was intense enough rre and immediately destroyed all . Plerre a n its path. is intens in St. P e in its path. history record any volcano eruption more vio- more violent,” , when we cal he replied, “but scarcely more ate the loss of human life. The no thick- the force Huge slands of he loss of life, for there was ettled com or large city adjacent, but the explosion was felt for hundreds of mil dal waves were rolled up that destroyed life in rneo and Sumatra.” s it true that the sea depth in St. Pierre roadstead : 00 feet?” or Jaggar. “Captain Berry assures made at St. Plerre show no material You might aiso correct the popular be- reduced two-thirds the eye, there has been no remain in the volcanic region for a careful observation and rs Hovey and R national s to give warnt conducted bureau s them. viewed the h 11 belleve there should be seismic observatories estab- npending disturbances. They r similar to our signal and telegraphic communication n yuld oc wrought on the wt tern coast Vincent, our party set out for Georgetown, on the Windward side, about twenty-two miles distant from Some were in coveréd wagons, others horse- Kingstown The town was found full to overflowing with refugees, were being »d_with food and clothing from a e. Two big hospital tents were full of injured, cians and a corps of nurses being in attendance. nts of the town and refugees from surrounding d bordering on consternation n about the streets in in hysterics and chil- al totally de- of ashes and pping ce, about five e ahave Cleon point the immense Por- ter sugar factory and all hands_perished. All dwelling houses were razed to the ground. The party rcluded to pus | farther on toward the base of La e v ed men and women Between Kings re crossed, now two miles from Kings e ere, a terrible scene of ati was witn The houses \d the few that were not com- oned. The volcano of steam continued a distrac stroyed, uprooted t omen were which wa hills. They beckoned wildly to A little farther on we discovered the The dry river beds that we had were filled with swiftly flowing hot ck con ncy. In color it was, as arning. of their alarm. | w would express it, like cafe au lait— , coffee with milk in'it. It was hot and be and not more than ankle deep on the horses’ T waded through the stuff without apparent in- however, belleved that these streama were s of an avalanche of mud and ran { Kings Hill and all the ¥ to Georgetown, ¢ ng for the ; Their fears were groundless people to save them however, for upon arriv al at Kingstown late in the after Continued on Page Fourteen. e e ST PIERRE WATERFRONT pe . Jag- world » the su ' it m ted with - . > of the H flamir v ited the . of ex- cltes priests. Of B t will forever 3 While these exaggerated e P pot ek more Intelligent of Wes| Indian people that throughout the en- tire ’ P both Windward and Lee- wa ¢ f fe; tu become All Photos Copyrighted by New York Herald, 1902.