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32 PAGES
PAGES 1 TO 8
VOL. XXI. NO. 19.
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 11, 1902.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
How City of St. Pierre
Was Destroyed.
ISLANO A N1A8S OF FLAMES
AH Lffe in the Vicinity of the
Volcano Perished..
THE SEA FRONT IS ABLAZE
Scorching Heat Burned the Tovrn
and the Shipping The Streets
Arc a Mass of Charred
Remains.
Later Dartlculars from the scene of
the West Indian catastrophe do not
lessen the estimate of the loss of life,
and it Is still bel!eed that -40,000 per
sons perished on Martinique.
The captain of the St. Thomas relief
boat, on its return to San Juan, Porto
Rico, from Martinique, stated that he
was unable to approach the island. Ap
parentl the whole island was in flames
and coered with ashes. No slsn of
life was -visible. Seven steamers and
30 calllnc -vessels were In the harbor
of St. Pierre -when tho flames descended
on the doomed city. They were all dc
strojed. It has developed that the
catastrophe in Martinique occurred on
the worst possible day, namelj, the day
of the arrival of the French and the
departure of the English mall steamers
In consequence of this fact, many busi
ness men were in the City of St.
Pierre, instead of at their countrj
places.
CASTRIES, St. Iucla, British "West In
dies, May 10 Mont Pelee, a volcanic
mountain some 10 miles north of St. Pierre,
the commerclaf capital of Martinique, is
the mountain -which made a faint show of.
eruption 50 ears ago.
May 3 last it commenced to throw out
dense clouds. -of sroekc. TAt midnight the
same day, flames, accompanied by rum
bling noises, lighted the sky over an Im
mense area, causing -widespread terror.
May 4 hot ashes covered the -whole city
quarter of St. Pierre an inch thick; and
made Mont Pelee invisible.
Florr of Lava Began.
At noon. May 5, a stream of burning
lava rushed 4400 feet down the mountain
side, following the dry bed of a torrent
and reaching the sea, five miles from the
mountain, in three minutes. In its rush
the fiery flood swept from its path planta
tions, buildings, factories, cattle and hu
man beings over a breadth of about half a
mile.
At the rear of the mouth of the Riviere
Blanche stood the large Guerln sugar fac
tory, one of the finest in the island. It is
now completely entombed in lava. The
tall chimney alone is visible. One hun
dred and fifty persons are estimated to
have perished there, including the owner's
eon.
As the lava rushed into the sea, the lat
ter receded 300 feet all along the "west
coast. Returning -with greater strength, a
big wave covered the "whole sea front of
St. Pierre, but did little damage ashore or
afloat
Terror "Seized the Inhabitants.
Terrible detonations, heard hundreds of
miles northward, followed at short, ir
regular Intervals and continued at night.
In the intense darkness the electric lights
failed, but the town -was lit up by lurid
flashes of flame from the mountain. The
terror-stricken inhabitants rushed for the
hills In their night clothes, screaming,
shouting and -walling, mad -with terror.
The Pllssono family escaped to St. Lucia
in a small steamer. Thlrty-flve persons,
mostly women and children, arrived here
in the forenoon of the 6th and furnished
the above details. The men remained In
Martinique.
The same afternoon, later, telegraphio
communication "was Interrupted with both
the Islands of Martinique and St. Vincent.
During the afternoon of the 8th the Brit
ish steamer Roddam, -which had left St.
Lucia at midnight on the 7th for Mar
tinique, crawled slowly Into Castries Har
bar, unrecognizable, gray -with ashes, her
rigging dismantled and sheets and awn
ings hanging about torn and charred.
A Rain of Fire.
Captain Whatter reported that, having
Just cast anchor off St. Pierre at S P. M.,
in fine weather succeeding an awful thun
drr storm during the night, he was talking
to the ship's agent, Joseph Pllssono, who
was in a boat alongside, when he saw a
tremendous cloud of smoke and glowing
cinders rushing with terrific rapidity over
the town and port, completely and in an
Instant enveloping the former in a sheet
of flame and raining Are on board. The
agent had just time to climb on board
when his beat disappeared. Several of the
cr w of the Roddam were quickly scorched
to death. By superhuman efforts, having
steam up, the cable was slipped and the
steamer backed away from, the shore, and
nine hours later managed to reach Cas
tries. Ten of the Roddam's men were
lying dead, contorted 'and burned out of
human semblance, owing to the black cin
ders which covered the ship's decks to a
depth of six inches. Two more of the
crew have since died.
Two of the survivors of the crew were
loud in their praise of the heroic conduct
of the captain in steering their vessel
away from destruction with his own
hands, which were badly burned by the
rain of Are which'kept falling on the ship
for miles after sho got under way. Be ond
burns all over his body, the captain is
safe, as is also the ship's agent, though
he is badly scorched.
One Snrvi-vor of Forty Thonsand.
M. Plissino is believed here to be the
one survivor of the 40,000 inhabitants of
the town, and all tho shipping of the port
has been utterly destroyed, the "West In
dian & Panama Telegraph Company's re
pairing vessel going first, then the Quebec
liner Roralma. Captain Muggah, of the
latter, waved his hand In farewell to the
Roddam as his vessel sank with a terrific
explosion. ,
The British Royal Mall steamer Esk,
which called off Martinique at 10 o'clock
last night, reported standing off shore five
miles, sounding her whistle and sending up
rockets. She received no answer. The
whole sea front was blazing for miles.
Tho Esk sent a boat ashore, but it could
not land on account of the terrific fire,
which was accompanied by loud explo
sions. Not a living soul appeared ashore
after the boat had waited for two hours.
Fire and ashes fell all over the steamer.
In the aftenioon a French coasting
steamer arrived here from Fort de France
seeking assistance, as all the countrj was
burned up, tho stock was djlng, all the
plantations were charred, the country peo
ple were flocking Into the towns, and
famine was feared. The steamer was
loaded with food of all sorts and was sent
back to Martinique at 7 P. M. The cap
tain of this -vessel reported that some 30
persons left St. Plerro by the 6 o'clock
boat Thursday morning for Fort de
France, and consequently were 6aved.
Streets Strerrn With. Charred Bodies.
All attempts to get to St. Pierre are
barred by fire. The closest possible obser
vation showed houses still blazing and
streets strewn with charred bodies. It is
certain that .the whole town and neigh
boring country for miles is utterly de
stroyed, and it is feared here that few, If
any, of the Inhabitants escaped.
The volcano of the Island of St. Vincent
has burst out in sympathetic eruption. A
steamer which returned from there last
night reports that the northern third of
the island was in flames and cut off from
assistance by a continuous stream of burn
ing lava, ashes falling In heavy showers
as far as 150 miles away. Kingston, the
capital of St- Vincent, ia rafe, but people
here are very -anxious as to tho fete of.,
ine resL oi max. ismnu.
Dominica and" St. Lucia have very active
geysers, but they show nb departure from
normal, conditions. Foodstuffs of all kinds
are urgently awaited.
WILL SEND RELIEF
Government DispatchesBoats
to Martinique.
ARE ORDERED TO INVESTIGATE
AS SEEN TROar SHIPBOARD.
Ship Officer Describes the Destruc
tion of St. Pierre.
POINTE-A-PITRE. Guadeloupe. May 10.
(Concluded on Second Page.
Cincinnati, Potomac and Dixie
Pressed Into Service Consul at
Guadeloupe Called On tor
a Report
WASHINGTON, May 10 The United
States Government is willing and anxious
to do anything within Its power to aid
the survivors of the terrible calamity on
the Island of Martinique. The difficulty is
to ascertain just what can be done and
the needs. Secretary Moody already has
sent to the Commandant at San Juan au
thorization to dispatch the United States
ship Potomac to Martinique in his dis
cretion, and Secretary Hay has charged
Assistant Secretary Hill with the duty of
conferring with the Navy Department to
devise other plans of relief. The Potomac
is nothing more than a large sea-going
tug of -very limited carrying capacity,
either in passengers or freight. About the
only useful purpose she would serye, in
the opinion of naval officers, is to make a
quick trip to Martinique, or to the near
est approachablo point, and ascertain
from personal inspection the precise needs
of the survivors, which may afterward
be satisfied by supplies dispatched on
merchant .vessels.
The Cincinnati has Just arrived at Santo
Domingo City, and the Secretary of the
Navy found, after consultation with As
sistant Secretary Hill, that it would be
safe to take her away from there. The
reason for this belief was the following
cablegram received from Consul Maxwell,
at Santo Domingo City:
"The situation in Santo Domingo Is im
proving. The provisional government has
taken charge at tho seaports, and for
the most part In the Interior. All execu
tive affairs are under the provisional gov
ernment, and Vasqucz Is the provisional
president"
It is possible that the Potomac has al
ready left San Juan for Martinique, but
there is doubt on this point, because the
Navy Department has not jet been able
to scycure a response to an Inquiry on this
point sent by cable this morning to" the
Commandant of the naval station at San
Juan.
As a f urtlier precautionary measure Sec
retary Moody sent the following telegram
to the Commandant of the Brooklyn navy
yard: "Order Dixie to prepare for sea as soon
as practicable. Report when she can be
made ready.'"
The Dixie-is-a -ship of-conslderablc car-
&& ""v- " "nmu w Werner ui
teo than any of the .regular naval .-hlpa
" a; fcw !U unique WILU TCliei BUp-
plles, which can probably be obtained more
readily at New Tork than at any of the
"West Indian Islands.
As a still further measure of help, the
State Department today cabled to United
States Consul Ayme, at Guadeloupe, to
proceed at once to Martinique, to report
upon the conditions there and Inform the
United State's Government what help Is
needed. The Consul had previously re
ported that a French ship, supposed to be
the rCrul3er Suchet, was about to leave
Guadeloupe for the wrecked Island, and
It Is assumed that he was willing and
even anxious to go along.
FRENCH RELIEF PROMPT.
Colonial OfHce Sends an Agent "With
Half & Million Francs.
PARIS, May 10. At a meeting of the
French Cabinet this morning the Minister
of Finance, M. Caillalux, was authorized
to expend all the money necessary to suc
cor the sufferers of the Martinique dis
aster. An official of the Colonial Office
sailed from Brest for Martinique U1I3
morning, with 500,000 francs (1100,000) In
cash.
The Cabinet further decided to order the
half-masting of flags over all public build
ings for three days, and the Minister of
the Colonics, M. de Crals, was Instructed
to telegraph to the Governor of Marti
nique the condolences of France.
St. Pierre's Trade.
NEW TORK, May 10. St. Pierre; Mar
tinique, Just destroyed by a volcanic erup
tion, had a large commercial trade with
this city. Four or five large houses car
ried on a business of at least $500,000 an
nually. One of these houses. It Is known,
had $100,000 actually Invested in and about
VICTIMS OF PELEE
Some of the People Who Lost
Lives in the Eruption,
MANY ARE KNOWN AT NEW YORK
Business Houses "With Connections in
Martinique Vessels Supposedtto
Have Perished in the Gen.
eral Destruction.
NEW YORK, May lO.yW. P. Lough, a
member of the New York Produce -Exchange
and E. F. Darrelln&. Co.,. about
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St. Pierre, while the exports of flour and
provisions on SO days credit are large. It
is estimated that the losses of tho flour
trade alone are $75,000, and the provision
trade as much more.
Earthquakes Have Ceased.
FORT DE FRANCE, Martinique. May
10 (X'Ad P. M.) The earthquakes have t
ccaseu, uui me volcanic erupuons continue.
whom great anxiety was felt, and who
was supposed to be on the steamship
Roddam, ha3 been heard from. His firm
received the following message from 111m
this afternoon, dated Dominica:
"Fire has consumed everything on the
Roralmi. Think It advisable to duplicate
orders."
Mr. Darrell said he did not regard It as
unlikely that this message was sent from
St. Lucia by boat to Dominica, and from
there forwarded to this city.
Another firm, which was greatly con
cerned about the real condltiqn of things
in St. Pierre was the American Trading
Company. Henry C. Demeduil, who man
ages tho French West Indies business of
this firm, has a sister and a brother in
the city, and he made vigorous efforts to
gat news from them and from the busi
ness houses of St. Pierre, in whose wel
fare he was especially interested. It be
ing Impossible to obtain Information from
St. Pierre or Fort de France, cablegrams
were sent to France. In response to an
Inquiry" cabled to Bordeaux, this message
was received today:
"Successive cables announce that sev
eral families that took refuge at Morne
Rouge are safe. They announce also the
deaths of Caminades and Louis Hayot."
The Caminade brothers were members
of one of the oldest and most Important
families In Martinique. Their names were
Gaston and Rappael. They owned large
stores in St. Pierre, a bakery, se eral dis
tilleries and sugar plantations. The firm
of Middleton & Co., of this city, also was
very much Interested in the fate of these
two brothers, and a message was sent to
Paris today inquiring about them, to
which came the brief reply: rtAH dead."
Charles Testart, of 81 New street, this
city, is a son of the United States Vlce
Consul at St. Pierre, Amedee , Testart.
Young Mr. Testart also has a sister In
that city, Madame De Messini. He said
today that from reports which had
reached the city he feared that the mem
bers of his family there had been killed.
A report reached this city today, pur
porting to have come by cable from Fort
de France, that General Manager Jell
aradrt, of the French Cable Company, at
St. Pierre, had been burned to death.
At the office of Foulke 5b Co., tho own
ers of the barkentlne L. W. Norton,
which Is supposed to have gone down In
the harbor of St. Pierre, it was said to
day that not one word of the ship had
been heard. The ship was chartered by
the American Trading Company and had
a cargo of about $30,000 In value.
Membera of the firm of L. W. & P.
Armstrong said they had heard nothing
of their ship, the Talisman. They were
still under the belief, however, that the
vessel was at Barbadoes and that she
had escaped the fury of Mount Felee.
EFFECT OX ISLAND'S CROPS.
Agriculture Confined Principally to
The Sonthern Part.
LONDON, May 10. It Is apparent from
cable dispatches received that the erup
tion of the voleano of Mount Pelee will
not do much damage to the Summer crop,
which is usually confined to the south
ern part of the Island, and the gather
ing of which Is now two-thirds over.
However, the wiping out of the moneyed
population centered at St. Pierre Is bound
to produce the most serious commercial
effect. Not one of the business houses
In London has heard a word from Its
agents In Martinique. A partner of the
principal English firm dealing in Mar
tinique said to a representative of the
Associated Press:
"I suppose all our agents are dead. Not
much business Is transacted between Eng
land and Martinique. Almost everything
thence Is shipped direct to Bordeaux,
which suffers the most. I know Mar
tinique well. Tho last time I was there.
a few years ago, there were only two
Engllsfimen and no Americans resident
at St. Pierre, though that town did a good
business with America In the way of food
stuffs. "A large proportion of the white popu
lation belongs to the old French families,
who prefer St. Pierre to any other part
of the Island. We never for a moment
dreamed that Mount Pelee would prove
dangerous Fifty years ago some smoke
and steam issued from Its crevices, but
no attention was paid to it. Unless the
lava overran the whole Island, which is
not likely, the disaster may not turn out
to be as great as It at present seems to
be."
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Cause of Explosion oi
Mount Pelee.
WATER IN THE CRATER
Entire Cap of the Mountain
Was Lifted Off.
TERRIBLE CONVULSION AT SEA
Waters Rose In a Huge Threatening;
Mass, Then Fire Descended
on the Doomed City
of St. Pierre.
ST. THOMAS, D. W. I., May 10.as
fuller reports of the Martinique disaster
arrive, the catastrophe grows in horror.
It now appears that the immediate causa
of the terrific explosion that blow off the
top of the Mount Pelee crater and over
whelmed tho town of St. Pierre in fiery
ruin was the presence of a large lake in
the heart of the old crater. The intense
and sudden rise of temperature converted
the mass of water into steam, with the
result that tho whole top of the mountain
vsas blown away. It 13 now estimated,
that the loss of life In Martinique is 40,600.
A schooner from the island of St. Vin
cent, which reached Dominica today,
gives a graphic report of the scene. The
schooner left St. Vincent hurriedly "Wed
nesday because of the threatening state
of matters there. A heavy fall of sand
from the volcano on that island covered
the vessel's decks an inch deep. Steaming
to within a mile of St Pierre, the crew
of the St. Vincent vessel witnessed, on
Thursday morning, at 8 o'clock, a terrific
explosion from Mount Pelee. The ex
plosion seemed to lift the cap of the
mountain completely off. At the same
time the land heaed and swelled and a
terrible convulsion took place at sea. The
waters rose in a huge, threatening mass,
as though they would engulf every living
thing on the ocean. Then a mass of fire
descended on the doomed city and a pall
of smoke covered the catastrophe from
sight.
The eruption still continues. Cable com
1 munlcatlon Is broken, and It is feared tho
relief sent to the survivors may not ba
able to reach them.
Fenrs for Massachusetts Schooner.
"SVAKEFIEID, Mass. May 10. It la
feared that Captain Parks, of the schooner
T. "W. Norton, whose home Is In this city,
and his son lost their lives at St. Pierre.
The Norton Is supposed to have been at
St. Pierre this week, and from reports
at hand it is believed she must have been
lost.
LrVES IOST BY EARTHQUAKES
AND ERUPTIONS.
Since the beginning: of the world It
has been estimated that over 13,000,000
people have been killed by earthquakes.
An elaborated catalogue of earthquakes
from 1000 B. C. to A. D. 1842, by K.
and J. "W. Mallet, was published by the
British Association in 1853.
In the course of 75 years, from 1783
to 1857, the Kingdom of Naples lost at
least. 111.000 Inhabitants by the ef
fects of earthquakes, or more than an
average of 1500 per jear, out of an
average population of 0,000.000.
The following table gives the names,
dates and number of persons perishing
in the principal earthquakes that have
been recorded. Besides these mentioned
In tho table are thousands of other
earthquakes, most ot them with the
loss of life considerably smaller than
those given in the table:
No.
people
killed.
10.000
2.000
250.000
20.000
3.000
300.000
180.000
20.000
10.000
50.000
15.000
100.000
20.000
10.000
00,000
CO.000
20.000
30.000
10.000
70,000
10,000
S0.000
3.000
100,000
200.000
15.000
2.000
100.00O
18.000
40,000
60.000
40,000
20.000
l.GOO
30.000
20.000
40.000
12.000
20.000
6.000
6.000
10 00O
3,000
700
15.000
4.00O
14.000
12.000
3.000
40.000
5.000
12.000
30,000
20.000
14 000
50.000
Location. Tear.
Judea 31 B. C.
Pompeii 70 A. D.
Antloch 520
Constantinople 557
Antloch 5S7
Syria 742
India 893
Georgia 804
Irak . 1007
Tablz 1030
Catania 1137 '
Grausasa 1130
Syria 1158
Calabria 1180
Clllcla 1268
Naples 1450
Constantinople ... .1509
Lisbon 1531
Java 1580
Naples 1626
Calabria 1633
Schamaki 1607
Jamaica 1692
Sicily 1693
Yeddo 1703
Abruzzi 1700
Algiers 1710
Pekln 1731
Lima 1740
Grand Cairo 1754
Lisbon 1755
Karschan l5o
..1759
...1765
..17S0
...1783
,..1797
..1812
..1822
..1829
.1S30
Baalbec
Martinique
TaurU
Messina
Qutto
Caracas
Alleppo
Spain
Kesliar. Clrcaasla
Canton isau
West Indies 1831
Martinique 1839
TunatI 1840
Guadeloupe 1S43
Melfl 1851
Schlras 1853
San Salvador ..1S54
Calabria 1857
Quito 1S39
Mendora 1801
Peru. Ecuador 1868
Kara Elssa 1875
Colctnbla 1875
"Western Java 1SS3
Total 2,298,300
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A