The Volcanic Eruptions.

Manawatu Herald, 20 May 1902, Page 2

The Volcanic Eruptions.

ST. VINCENT IN FLAMES

At Mr Chamberlain’s request the Lord Mayor of London has opened a fund in aid of the sufferers by the eruptions in St. Vincent; Mr Vanderbilt, Mr Gould, and other millionaires are sending their yachts with provisions to the distressed districts. The Paris newspaper “ Lo Temps ” states that a hundred thousand persons in Martinique are in need of help. The vote from the United Slates Congress includes help for St, Vincent. The Canadian Parliament has voted 50,000 dollars (£10,000) for Martinique and St. Vincent. The whole of the northern part of St. Vincent is a mass of travelling fire. It is impossible to reach it by land or sea. The volcano is invisible. Immense balls of coloured fires issued from the crater. The town clock of St. Pierre was found intact. It had stopped at 7.50 on the evening of the disaster. It is believed that among the victims of the Martinique disaster was Behanzin, es-King of Dahomey, who was banished to the island after his capture by the French in 1891. MEASURES FOR PROVIDING . RELIEF. The eruption of Mount Sonfriere, the volcano in St. Vinheat, is by far the most esteßsiye. lake at the.

summit has disappeared, and the sea in the vicinity is transformed into a boiling cauldron. The lava has polluted the streams and the water is undrinkable. Many persons are dying of thirst and starvation. Countless bodies are floating on the sea. It is impossible to approach within eight miles of Soufriere. St. Vincent is covered with a peculiar mist, and the noxious vapours are causing much illness. . There is a terrible stench in the Garib country, where a tribe has been annihilated. Great darkness prevails in the British island of St. Kitts, 200 miles north-north-west of Martinique, though the extinct volcano there is quiescent. The Governor of Martinique and his family and large numbers of other residents of St. Pierre were attending thanksgiving service at the Cathedral when they were . overwhelmed. Huge pyres, fed by petroleum and tar are being utilised in cremating thousands of dead bodies. Men employed in searching among the cinders stepped upon what ap : peared to be a pillar of stone. It turns out to be a charred corpse. A negro murderer, who was imprisoned underground, escaped the poisonous gases and the flames. When rescued, after being five days entombed, he fled to the woods. The troops have received orders to shoot all robbers dead.

In tha 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 (Sir R. B. Llewelyn) was authorised to expend in relief whatever was necessary. The Bank of England has subscribed £IOOO to the St. Vincent fund, the King £4OO and the London Corporation £525. The military are guarding the town of St. Pierre to deter pirates from the neighbouring islands visiting it. Three luminous points on the lower slopes of Mont Pelee presage a further calamity. Forty thousand pounds’ worth of jewellery has been recovered from the St Pierre Bank. Five creoles and a white man were arrested with the pockets full of coins, and jewellery stolen from the dead.

The Co onial Secretary of Jamaica thinks that Britain should deport the population of St. Vincent and abandon the island, LATEST PARTICULARS.

A fresh crater has opened on Mont Pelee, making the seventh. Worshippers at St. Pierre ware asphyxiated in attitudes of devotion. The bodies were found undisturbed with books in the hands. Guns were found in the hands of sentries.

A large ridge has risen on Richmond estate, in St. Vincent, presaging another eruption. Fifty looters at St. Pierre—one of them was in possession of ten thousand francs in gold—have each been sentenced to live years’ imprisonment. Mont Pelee’s enormous flashes were visible at Fort de France last Thursday, and on the night following. Yesterday the volcano was covered by thick clouds, glowing red, and interspersed with flashes of fire. Showers of cinders fell. There are now ample supplies of provisions and disinfectants. Three thousand persons are receiving relief. The eruption is decreasing. RELIEF FUNDS. Out of £14,000 already received, the Lord Mayor of London has cabled a first remittance of £IO,OOO to ; St. Vincent. The Queen ‘ subscribed £SOO, and sent a letter expressing deep sympathy. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool has opened a list. Jamaica has voted £IOOO to the Martinique and St. Vincent funds. The Bank of England has added £SOO to the Bank of France Martinique list. The latter bank subscribed £IOOO.