Arrival of the Frisco Mail.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7318, 11 June 1902, Page 4

Arrival of the Frisco Mail.

(Per Press Association.) Auckland, June 10, The Ventura arrived this afternoon from 'Friscj, with the English mail. Sho brings 060 eighth sacks ; 90,985 quarter sucks, 401(3 half sacks, and 27; i barrels of Hour, San Francisco, May 22. Tho Asnociated Press stoamor, chartered at Guadaloupo, reached Martinique at 6-UO on Sunday morning. The loftyhilled island was hid behind a huge veil of violet ami leaden-lvued haze. Enormous quantities of wreckage of ships or buildings wore oncountorcd. Huge trees and bodios ot human beings woiv> floating hero and there. From behind tho volcanic veil came blasts of hot wind, mingled with others that woro ice-cold, At Lo Prechour, five miles north of St Pierrie, men and women in canoes bogged [iiteou3ly to bo rescued. Tho whole north end of tho island was covered with a silver-grey earning of ashes, resembling dirty snow. Furious biases of fire, ashes, and mud swept over tho steamer,

Bt Pierrio was then reached. The city stretched nearly two miles along tho water Irout and half n mile back to the cliff fit the bass of tho volcano. The houses of tho richor French families were built of slonc, and tho ruins were still burning in places, and frightful odors filled tho air. Not ono house was left intact, and streets could hardly bo traced. Hero and ih«e were heats of corpses among tho ruins. Through tho middle of Blace Bortin ran a tiuy stream, tho remains of the river Goyavo. Great trees with roots upward, and scorched by live, woro strewn about. Not a human being wm.h found alivo in the town, and not « bin! or animal was seen. Jagged walls, tho remains of tho theatre, banks, and old stone Custom house, woro found, and an old clock tower still stood, hands of clock still pointing to 7.50, tho hour when tho lire and ilood descended on tho town.

A ooatiug of ashes from ouo to several foot- thick covered everything. On the Jovelled spaco surrounding the cathedral of St. Pierro lay hundreds of dead. Firewood and quicklitno brought from l'ort do France woro used in burning tho bodies of tho dead. Disinfectants were scattered through the streets as fast as the searchers cleared them of bodks. It wus impossible to tell whether many had escaped from tho town.

Hundreds wero found at Le Carbufe and Cnso Pelote, villages near the city.

Over one thousand had died since tho eruption from burns and injuries re ceived. Not a drop of water could bo secured at St. Pierre.

The vaults of tho Bank of Martinique wero tound intact. They contained •100,000 dollars in specie, which was scoured for safo keeping.

Tho dearth of provisions is beginning to bo felt throughout tho island, and tho means at the disposal of tho authorities arc inadequate.

Communication is practically cut off with tho surrounding islands except by stray vessels, which are seized by the inhabitanis to escape fiom Martinique.

Careful inspection showed tho stream which destroyed St. Pierre must have been composed of poisonous gnses which instantly suffocated everyone who inhaled them, and other gases burning furiously, for nearly all the victims had their hands covering their mouths, or were in some other attitudo showing they had sought relief lrom suffocation. All tho bodies wero carbonized.

A despatch from St. Thomas, May 10th, says that as fuller reports of thn Martinique disaster arrive, the catastrophe grows in horror. It now appears tho immediate, cause of tho terrilic explosion that blow off Ibo top of Mi. Pclee crator was duo to tho presence of a laigo lake in tho heart of tho old crr.ter. Tho intense and sudden rise in tho temperature converted tho irmss of water into stoam, with the rosuit that tho wholo of tho top of tho mountain was torn away.

It is now estimated tho loss of life ii: Martinique is 60,000.

A steamer from St. Yineent gives a graphic account of Iho :icone. Tho steamer left St. "Vincent hurriedly on Wednesday because of the threatening state of affairs there. The vessel steamrd to within a mile of St. Pierre, and witnessed tho torrille explosion of Thursday morning. Tho explosion seoninl to lift the top of the mountain entirely off. At the same timo tho land heaved and swr-llcd, and terrible convulsions took place. At bca tho waters roso in a hugo threatening mas?, as though thoj wou'd engulf every living thing on tho ocean. Then amass of fire descended upon tho city, and a ball of smoko covered everything from sight.

News regarding tho disaster at St. Vincent was received in a later despatch from Fort do Franco, dated Slay 3-lth, as follows :—

St. Vincent passed through a veritable baptism ot lire, and results aro only less teiriblo than those which followed tho eruption of Mount Poleo, destroying St. Pierro and environs. La Soufriere has been tictivo for nino days, and tlie victims aro numbered by thousands. A lino drawn from Chateau Bolairo to Georgetown would divide the island of St. Vincent into halves. There aro probably no human beings alive north of it from St. Lucia. Tho eruption of La ■Soufricre was visible during tho night of May 7 and following night.

The steamship Wear, of tho ltoynl m.iil service, in attempting to force her way to Kingstown, ran into a floating bank of ashes. For three hours the ship was practically helpless in a cloud of smoko and sulphurous ashes denser than that which flowed down from Mount Peleo. When the steamer finally arrived at Kingstown at daybreak it was found panic stricken.. The streets were covored two inches deep with ashes and stones that had fallen during tho night. Kingstown is fifteen miles from the crater which ejected it, yet tho rain of missiles was almost incessant for threo days.

From Chateau P.elairo word camo that distress thoro was great.

Down tlio sides of La Soufriore there wr-ro flowing hundreds of streams of lava, which united and separated and formed a network from which there was no escape for any living being caught within its grasp.

Already 1,000 bodies have been recovered, and it is known that uiuny hundreds lie buried under tho ashes. The Carib Indians aro exterminated, nnd it is believed 2,000 lives have gone out of existence.

'L'be following cablegrams vividly ilcscrihu tho pivKiMit tcrnhk- comlilioii of tin- stricken island :—

Fort <le Franco, island of Martinique, May 20.—I\font• Pcloe is in active eruption, its outburst exceeding that which caused the ruin of St. Pierre. The display is awful in its grandeur. A severe inundation at Basse Pointe, on the uoriheast coast of this island, nt 2 o'clock this morning, swept away 20 houses and SO other buildings were damaged hy ilowin" lava, which has swept over \r:iilcy de La Kiviere, There was no ftirIlicr 10.-s of life, H.-isse Pointe liiiviu^ been abandoned several days ago. Access Io the ruins uf Hi A'ienv j s ' still im-l'-siblc.