The Volcanic Expositions

Manawatu Herald, 29 May 1902, Page 2

The Volcanic Expositions

j __—. * MONT PELEE STILL ACTIVE. Many women and children are im* I prisoned-by lava streams at Grands I Riviere. They ara seen pleading for I deliverance, but the rendering of aid jis impossible. Their death by starva* | tion or the overwhelming lava seems 5 almost certain. . * ) A great glimmer of light was seen in ■ the direction of Martinique on Thurs- | day night, accompanied by a gunlike ■explosion. A steamer fifty miles away " was covered with ashes, i It is believed that a new crater has i formed on Mont Pelee, with a cinder * cone a hundred ftet high ejecting steam, mud, gases and ashes. A torrent of lava from Mont Pelea on Saturday destroyed the remainder of the town of Basse Pointe, on the north-east coast of Martinique. A fissure a thousand yards long splits the peak of Mont Pelee to the base. Three days after St Pierre was over whelmed, a family of five, was discovered alive in the ruins of their houses. They were horribly burnt, y and have since died. , •/ It is feared that many others, taking refuge in their houses, were buried be- ’ neath the ashes who might have escaped if help had been available earlier. The Czar has given £io,ooo- to the Martinique Fund.