THE CATASTROPHE IN THE WEST INDIES

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue XXI, 24 May 1902, Page 1015

THE CATASTROPHE IN THE WEST INDIES

A thousand refugees have arrived at Lecarbet and Case Pilote. The French cruiser Suchet and the Danish cruiser- Valkyrie rescued four thousand people at Leprecheur. The American Consul at Guadaloupe confirms the news that thirty thousand people their lives. Fifty thousand are rendered homeless. The French Government has informed President Roosevelt that the whole of Martinique is still menaced, and has requested assistance to remove the survivors. Exploring parties are cremating the dead at St. Pierre. Many children were found locked in one another’s arms. Apparently many victims were overwhelmed before they were conscious of their danger. Numbers were found naked, their clothes having been torn off in their efforts to protect their faces from the fire. Food supplies are exhausted and the inhabitants are" dependant on outside aid. I,t is feared that thousands are starving in the country districts. King Edward has cabled his sympathy with the sufferers at St. Vincent. The damage is confined to the northern districts of the island.

The Souffriere volcano shot out columns of vapour eight miles high. The volcano poured out six streams of lava, keeping up a continuous roar for two days. This was accompanied by a rain of dust and scoria. Several districts were covered with fiery matter and dust to a depth of two feet. People with their live stock are flocking into the towns. The late Governor of Martinique, on the seventh day before the catastrophe, sent troops to stop the general exodus. In the centre of the town the fort was buried under ashes to a depth of several yards. It is difficult to trace the streets. Over two thousand corpses have been foi nd in the streets, mostly ly*ing face downwards. Bodies found in the houses appear as if they had been struck by lightning, lying, sitting, and reclining in curiously diverse attitudes. The iron bedsteads in the hospitals are all twisted, and everything is rent and scattered as If by a tornado. Poisonous smoke killed the people like flies. A whirlwind of volcanic gas swept the coast, while the town was overwhelmed with cinders. Numbers of sharks are visible fighting over the corpses in the harbour. The cable was found at a depth of 1234 metres, instead of the previous depth of 300 metres. The mgroes. are mad wtth hunger, and it is difficult to restrain them from >o< ting at Fort Le France. A woman servant employed at St. Pierre stated that she heard a loud report and then fainted. On recovering she found herself horribly burned, and saw two others of the family alive, but they died before aid arrived. This servant, apparently the only survivor, died without throwing any light on the catastrophe. Provisions have been went by the British others sufficient for the Immediate necessities of the survivors. The American Senate has voted an additional 300,000 dollars. Sir E. Monson, the British Ambassador, lias informed M. Delcasse. the Trench Minister for Foreign Affairs, that nil British resources and ships in the vicinity of Martinique are placed at the disposal of France. In th? House of Commons Mr. Balfour stated that the Government were considering the question of giving monetary assistance to sufferers at Martinique, though there was no precedent for such a step. Flames are devastating the whole of the northern districts, and a deep mantle of dust covers the whole island. Unceasing showers of pebbles and ashes keep the inhabitants of Kingston, on the south-west side of the'"island, indoors. At the islands of Barbados and Grenada ashes are constantly falling. Mount Soufriere’s detonations are heard hundreds of miles ar a» like distant cannon. The sulphur Springs of Jamaica are becoming extremely hot. A boiling lake in the island of Dominica has disappeared, and steam is now being vomited from the lake bed. Mount, Tacoma, in the Cascade Range, in Washington Territory, the only volcano in the LTnited States, is smoking, and settlers in the vicinity are leaving. Professor Heilprin. New York, suggests that Hie islands are likely to e fllapse if the eruptions continue. America is sending rations sufficient for forty thousand people for a fortnight, also quantities of cloth - and medical comforts. The rain of fire ceased 200 yards short of Lecarbet. There are 2000 dead at St. Vincent, mostly C’aribi. A stream of stones and mud half-a-mile wide is issuing from Soufriere volcano. On the 10th two earthquake shocks were experienced. There have been several shocks at S. Thomas. The fugitives from St. to eight o'clock on Thursday morning were alone saved. The Governor of Barbadoes comparer, Mount Pelee’s erupted matter with boiling sealing wax. It destroy-

ed everything over an area of ten miles by six. it is estimated that two milion tons of dual fell ut Barbadoes. When distinterred from the cinders the corpses were black and shiny as if they had been plunged in boiling pitch. The northern and eastern districts of St. Vincent have been devastated, and all within the district between Cha lean elair and Georgetown have been killed, .ill the best estates are ruined, and nothing green is visible. Four feet of ashes cover the ground, and the rivers are dry. A thousand corpses have been interred, inch ding many whites. '1 lie military guarding the town ut St. Pierre detit pinites visiti g tint place from the ir ighhniiring isl nd-. Forty thousand pounds' v.o.th ot jewellery has In n recovered from the St. Pierre bank. l ive Cre .fi s and a white man weie arrested with their pockets full of coins and jewellery stolen from the dead. The Colonial Secretary of Ji ie.t thinks Great Britain should d port, the population of St. Vincent to one of the neighbouring British islands, and abandon the island. It is believed that the victims at Martinique include Bel’.anzen, the exiting ot Dahomey, who was depot ted some years ago from French Dahomey, West Africa. At .Mr Chamberlain’s request the Lord Mayor of London has opened a fund in aid of the St. Vincent sufferers. Mr. A auderbilt, Mr. Gould and other millionaires are sending their steam yachts to the West Indies with provisions for the sufferers. The Paris newspaper “Temps" states that a hundred thousand people in Martinique need help. The American Cungress vote includes help for the sufferers in St. Vincent. The Canadian I arhament has voted £ 10,000 towards a relief fund for the benefit of the distressed people in Martinique and St. A uiiM-ni. The whole of the northern part of the island of St. Vineent is described as a mass of travelling fire. It is impossible to reach that part, of the coast by land or sea. The Soufriere volcano is invisible. Immense balls of coloured fires were seen recently to issue from tlie crater. A terrific thunderstorm is raging round Mount Pelee. in Martinique. The ejection of lava continues. Tho overflowing of the rivers, caused by their blocking with debris, has submerged much of the northern districts in Martinique. New channels are opening in many directions. Almost total darkness continues. King Edward has sent £lOOO, and the ’Kaiser 10.000 marks for the sufferers in Martinique. The American Admiralty is sending provisions in warships. Congress has voted 200.000 dollars, and large private subscriptions are also announced. The Governor of Martinique and his family*, together with large numbers of other residents of St. Pierre, were attending a thanksgiving service in tb» cathedral when they were overwhelmed. Huge pyres, fed with petroleum and tar. are utilised in cremating thousands of the dead. Some of the men employed in searching amongst the cinders have on several occasions stepped on what, appears a pillar of stone, but have discovered it to be a charred corpse. A negro murderer, who was imprisoned underground, escaped the poisonous gases and flames. When rescued after four days he fled to the woods. The troops have received orders to shoot all robbers of the dead. The eruption of Mt. Soufriere, in the island of St. Vincent, has vastly changed the mountain. The extensive lake at the summit has disappeared, and the sea in the vicinity has been transformed into a boiling cauldron. Lava has polluted the streams, rendering the water undrinkable, and many dying of thirst and starvation . Countless bodies arc floating in tho sea. It is impossible to approach within eight miles of Soufriere. St. Vincent is covered with a peculiar mist, and noxious vapours are causing much illness.

There is a terrible stench in the Carib country in St. Vincent, where a tribe has been annihilated. Great darkness prevails in the island of St. Kitt's, though the extinct volcano there is quiescent. In the House of Commons Mr Balfour gratefully acknowledged President Roosevelt’s offer to share in the work, of aiding and rescuing the victims at St. Vincent. He stated that the Governor of the Windward Islands had been authorised to expend whatever was necessary on relief.

The Bank of England has subscribed £ 1000 to the St. Vincent fund, the King £4OO, and the London Corporation £525.

A fresh erater has opened at Mount I’elee, Martinique, making the seventh.

A large ridge has risen on the Richmond estate, St. Vincent, presaging another eruption.

The worshippers at the St. Pierre Cathedral were asphyxiated and their attitudes were not disturbed. The books remained in their hands and the guns were found in the hands of the sentries.

Fifty looters at St. Pierre, one being in possession of 10,000 francs in gold, were sentenced each to five years’ imprisonment. Mount. Pelee’s enormous flashes were visible at Fort de France last Thursday and the night following. Yesterday the mountain was covered with thick clouds, glowing red and interspersed with flashes and showers of cinders.

There are now ample supplies of provisions and disinfectants. Three thousand are receiving relief. The St. Vincent eruption is decreas-

Out of £14,000 already received the Lord Mayor of London has cabled the first remittance of £ 10,000 to St. Vincent.

The Queen subscribed £5OO, accompanied by a letter expressing deep sympathy. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool has opened a list. Jamaica has voted £ 1000 for the St. Vincent and Martinique funds, and Seychelles £2OO to the St. Vincent fund. <

The Bank of England lias added £ 500 sterling to the Bank of France’s Martinique list. The latter bank subscribed £lOOO.

There are fifty thousand people homeless on St. Vincent.

The Lord Mayor’s relief fund now totals £22,000, including £lOOO given by Mr Carnegie. The Prince and Princess of Wales gave £250. Those injured at St. Vincent number 3000. The destitution is appalling. Fifteen-violent detonations, with vivid lightning, occurred at Martinique early on Saturday. The eruptions are becoming worse and new craters have appeared in the neighbourhood of Leprecheur. The Mayor of Trinite declares that the wall of flame on the Bth was so sharply defined that’ a bull grazing on the edge of its track was roasted on one side and not a hair singed on the other. The northern residents of the island who took refuge on the southern part are returning to their homes, notwithstanding the danger. Internal rumblings were heard at Fort de France on Saturday.

Mr Chamberlain, speaking at Birmingham, referring to the foreign commercial policy of competition, and the new conditions arising from the creation of trusts, strongly urged the duty of seizing the opportunities of closer union offered by the colonies.