THE CARIBBEAN DISASTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 4960, 17 May 1902, Page 1

THE CARIBBEAN DISASTER.

New Yobk, May 13. One thousand refugees have arrived at Le Carbet and Casepiiote.

The French cruiser Sachet and the Danish Cruiser Yalkyre rescued 4000 at Le Precheur.

The American Consul at Guadaloupe confirms the report that 30,000 persons had lost their lives, and that 50,000 had been rendered homeless.

The exploring parties are cremating the dead at St. Pierre. Many children were found, locked in .one, another's arms. Apparently .many victims were overwhelmed betore they were conscious of their danger. Numbers were foand naked, their clothes having been torn off in vain efforts to protect their faces from the fire. Supplies are exhausted, and the inhabitants are dependent on outside aid. It is feared that thousands are starving in the country districts. The cable ship Pouyer Quertier, at great risk, . rescued 1300 Le Precbeur women. A servant employed in St. Pierre stated that she heard a loud report on the Bth inst., and fainted. On recovering Bhe found herself horribly burned. She saw two others of the family alive, but they were dead before aid arrived. The servant, apparently the only survivor, died withonb throwing any light/ on the catastrophe, A wnirlwiocl of volcanic gas. awept the .ftowt; wjbile the town was overwhelmed with cinders. The vaults of the British Bank W/ere intact.

I The late. Governor of LJllarj^jgue, on the seventh. day before the catastrophe, seat troops to stop a general exodus* i The centre of the town and the fort are buried under ashes' to a depth of sevqral yards. It.ia.jdifficult.to trace the\4taßQ.W Over 2,ooo^porpses Nftere ,fou|ral u.^he streets, mpftljglyrag Vfaql t ,d<j,fb^rds. ; i The bodies houses Sppeat asif they hatr Been «stiti^k' fcy-llghtning, lying, sitting) or^tecpning in curiously diverse attitudes.* TKb iron bedsteads in the hospitals are , aIL twisted, and everything is rent and scattered as if a tornado of poisonous smoke killed the people like flies. Numbers of sharks are visible | fighting over the corpses in the harbor. The cable was found at a depth of 1,234* metres instead of the previous depth of

'thceecme^ret., fEh^.negroM afe {$•& with hunger, and there ia dlfficahy in re«r«ining theib- front lootitfgiFort dtpFn&S** Upwrdo of, 7Qor,4e»dTt»y^Jb»ffli dl* covered in St. Vincent. St. Jjucia reports.. th»t 1^)00 j)«r»oiHi perished on St. Vincent. flusM devaßtated4he-irholei6f)the northern dfctricts^, A deep m»ntle ofdait o^ven th« whole iaiand. tJnceaiing » showara of pebbles iindca«h«»ke«p th« tth»bltauU of 'B;iog»ton (qn.the BouthaW/est side of th« iaUnd^, indpprs. , empty oanoM have been found drifting along the eoMt. The heat continues 'intern* «t the islands of Bacbadoesand GranadtH.lnd Mh«s «• constantly, fallings Soufriare's, detona* tiona were heard hundred's of miles away, like a distant canon. The sulphur apriuga in Jamacia are becoming, cx t remedy hot. A boiling lake in the Taland of Dominica has disappeared, and the 4ake bed is now vomiting steam. Mount Tarooma, iq thM Qaspaxle Range, Washington Territory, the only Toloano in the United States, it smoking.- Settlers in the vicinity are leaving. Some American newspapers favor the Panama Canal route, as the Niearagaan route is within the area of the volpauie disturbances. Provisions were sent by British and others to the Martinique survivors soffi* oient for the immediate necessities. The American Senate voted an additional 300,000d01. A national subscription is .proposed in France. Paris, May- 14. Sir £. J. Monson inforaaed M^fDeN caase, the -French Miniater for,. Foreign Affairs, that all- British resources aod ships in the vicinity of /Martinique wen placed at the disposatof- France. London, May iL In the House of Common* Mr Balfonff stated that the Governments were considering the matter of giving monetary assistance to the sufferers in Martinique, though there were no precedents for suoh a step. Melbourne, May 14. Lord Hopetoun hem c.»bld to tb* French President the Commonwealth's deepest sympathy over the Martinique calamity.