Show louis H ayme united states con GUI at guadeloupe sends the follow ing cable to the chicago tribune from port de france island of martinique I 1 have just returned from st alerre the desolation ot the ruins of the city blasted by the fire and sulphurous from the angry crater of mont belee pelee can only be inadequately pic aured not a half 0 the horrors to be seen there have been told I 1 left the island of guadeloupe in a chartered steamer saturday night we approached the site of the once fair tropical city soon after 6 clock in the morning the island with its lofty hills was hidden behind a leaden colored haze enormous quantities of the wreckage pt large and small ships and houses strewed the surface of the sea huge trees and too often bodies with flocks of sea gulls soaring above and hideous sharks fighting about them were float ing here and there from behind the As the steamer felt its way down the west coast of the island we could see that the whole north end of the island was covered with a silver gray coating of ashes resembling snow fu rious blasts ot fire ashes and mud swept over the steamer but finacy st alerre was reached or rather the spot where st pierre stood before that aw ful three minutes for two miles along the water front and tor a halt a mile back aiom shore to the foothills at the base of the vol cano stretched the heaps of smoking ruins streets there were none one could scarcely distinguish the sites of the large buildings that had been des troyed under the rain of alre lava mud and ashes the still smoking volcano towered above the ash covered hills the ruins were burning in many places and frightful odors of burned flesh filled the air with great difficulty a landing was from the new york herald volcanic veil came blasts of hot wind mingled with others ice cold at le five miles north of st alerre men and women frantic to get away begged tor a passage on the little etaamer we had room tor none but managed to pick up twenty eight hall dead men women and child ren who were so badly burned that they to be lifted over the steamer s side of abe twenty eight sixteen died on th boat before we reached port de france only three or tour of the others are likely to live the condition of these is no worse than thousands of refugees in the hills about le hun deeds of them will die before relief can reach them thousands need med leal care food clothing and above all water affected not one house was left in tact viscid heaps of mud of brighter ashes or piles of volcanic stones were seen on every side here and there amid the ruins were heaps of corpses almost all the faces were downward as it the unhappy victims had rushed into the streets when the first shock of the catastrophe aroused them only to meet a sudden and awful death that smote them to the earth as they ran so many piles of corpses were to be seen that Is Is difficult to describe any in particular detail in one corner twenty two bodies of men women and children were mingled in one awful mass arms and legs protruding as the hapless beings tell in the last agles of death from under one large stone the arm of a white woman pro traded most notable was the utter MONT ST VINCENTS DEATH DEALER the eruption of the volcano on st vincent s which already hs covered portion of the asland with molten end killed hundreds continues and the to escape ere stricken silence and the awful overpowering stench from the thousands of dead the fiery stream which so completely destroyed st pierre must have been composed of poisonous gases which in scantly suffocated every one who in haled them and of other gases burn ing furiously for nearly all the vie tims had their hands covering their mouths or were in some other attitude showing that they had sought relief from suffocation all the bodies were carbonized or roasted through the middle of the old place berlin ran a tiny stream the remains of the river gayane great trees with roots upward and scorched by fire were strewn in every direction huge blocks and still ho stones were scattered about the completeness of the catastrophe is evident when it Is stated that so tar as known at the present time no one save a handful of survivors picked up from the wrecked vessels in the harbor by the french cruiser escaped even they are unable to tell what actually happened so crazed are they from the experiences they passed brough it Is certain however that the disaster came suddenly on the morning of the disaster the inhabitants of the city awoke to fand heavy clouds shrouding the mont pe lee crater all the previous day loud detonations from the volcano had been heard so loud that the reverberations echoed from st thomas on the north to barbadoes on the south the fear ful crashing sound ceased and there be gan a shower of fine ashes which fell like rain over the city the inhabitants became alarmed but gov mounted who arrived at st alerre the evening before did everything possible to al lay the panic they partly succeeded but scarcely had the tears of the peo pie been allayed when there came the explosion and in an instant st pierre its people its houses had been blotted out of existence after a search of three hours in the ruins I 1 found no trace of the american consulate consul thomas prentis his wife and two daughters are un dead that quarter of the city is still a vast mass of blazing ruins nor has any trace of james japp the british consul been found mr japp had a large family at st pierre from everything I 1 saw I 1 feel conal dent that Is not too great an estimate of the oss of life every one in the city perished and suburban towns added thousands to the number of victims plantations and small villages have been devastated by the ceaseless rain of ashes and fire which has poured from mont belee pelee these survivors have taken refuge in the hills away from the danger of the lava flow in the valleys but still menaced by the showers of fire they must be relieved taken to places of safety fed and clothed the work must be done quickly hundreds and even thousands of them must perish as it Is before help can reach them the work of exploring the ruins of st pierre of bringing away the cretu gees in the hills in the northern part of the island and of burning the bodies of the victims Is progressing pio as rapidly as circumstances will permit fort de ranee Is crowded with cretu gees and food Is already so scarce that alarm is felt that it will be exhausted before supplies can reach here As a result of the relief work the people who had fled to the hills be hind the village of le nearly 4 in number have been brought here they are in a most pitiable condl tion hundreds of them are frightful ly burned and in most urgent need of medical care all the doctors and nurses in fort de france are working night and day among the injured and they are assisted by scores of volunteer nurses many women of the wealthiest families of fort de france giving their services A bumbel of steamers including the government vessel rubis started from here tor st pierre they carried gov delegates a number of gend armes a detachment of regular in and several priests the vessels also carried a quantity of fire wood petroleum and quicklime for use in the cremation of the bodies of the victims of the terrible volcanic outbreak large quantities of bisin fec tants and stocks of clothing for the refugees were also shipped to st pierre the refugees had as a rule assem bled at le carbet and case pelote not tar from st pierre and it Is reported over a thousand of them have died since the tearful stream of lava poured down mont belee pelee the sea tor miles round was covered with the wreckage of the vessels sunk off st pierre at the time of the dis aster and ashore only a few trees all bent seaward by the force of the vol canic shower were left standing when nearing st pierre the rubis met a number of tugs towing lighters filled with refugees the heat from the smoking lava covered ruins at st pierre was sut to cating and the stench from the corpse strewn streets was awful only a few walls were standing the re port that the hospital clock was found intact with its hands stopped at 7 30 was confirmed as was the statement that the offices of the cable company had entirely disappeared on alt sides were found portions of corpses which were gathered up by the soldiers and gendarmes and burned on one of the public squares not a drop of water was procurable ashore the darkness caused by the and were brought here As a result of his inspection the commander of the reports that crevices and valleys are constantly forming in the northern portion ot the island where the land Is in a state ot perpetual change fortunately that part ot the country was evacuated in good time by the inhabitants who fled to fort de france lava continues to stream down the mountain side accompanied by terrific thunder and lightning the stories ot the survivors added to the awful details ot the particularly harrowing account of the loss ot the british steamer horalia evans ot montreal and john G morris ot new york who are now at the military hospital ot fort de france say the vessel arrived at 6 As THE CABLE STEAMER OF HAVRE WHICH BROUGHT SURVIVORS TO PORTE DE FRANCE clouds of volcanic dust shrouded the town and continuous subterranean rumbling added to the horror of the scene the tort and central quarter ol 01 the town were razed to the ground and were replaced by beds of hot cinders the iron grill work gate ot the gov eminent offices alone was standing there was no trace ol 01 the streets huge heaps ot wn oking ashes were to be seen on all sides at the landing place some burned and ruined walls indicated the spot where the custom house had formerly stood and traces of the larger shops could be seen in that neighborhood hundreds of corpses were found lying in all kinds of attitudes showing that the victims met their death as if by a lightning stroke every vestige of clothing a as burned away from the charred bodies and in many cases the abdomens had been burst open by the intense heat curiously enough the features of the dead were generally calm and reposeful although in some cases terrible fright and agony were depicted grim piles of bodies were stacked everywhere showing that death bad stricken them while the crowds were vainly seeking escape from the fiery deluge on one spot a group of nine children were found locked in each others arms the vaults of the bank of martin ique at the head of what had been the rue de I 1 hospital were found intact they contained 2 francs eight belle was struck a frightful ex was heard up the mountain A cloud ot fire toppling and roaring swept with lightning speed down the mountain side and over the town and bay the rozalma was nearly sunk and caught fire at once the steamer rozalma had reached st alerre that day with ten passengers among whom were mrs stokes and her three child ren and mrs H J ince they say they were watching the rain of ashes when with a rightful roar and ter rifle electrical discharge a cyclone 0 alre mud and steam swept down the crater over the town and bay sweeping all before it and destroying the fleet of vessels at anchor off the shore there the accounts of the catastrophe so tar obtainable cease I 1 never can forget the horrid fiery choking whirlwind which enveloped me said mr evans mr morris and I 1 rushed below we are not badly burned not so badly as most ot them when the alre came we were going to out posts we are engineers to weigh anchor and get out when we came up we found the ship afire aft and fought it forward until 3 clock when the came to our rescue we were then building a raft ben benson the carpenter ol 01 the rozalma said I 1 was on deck amid ships when I 1 heard an explosion the captain ordered me to up anchor I 1 got the windlass but when the alre came I 1 went into the forecastle and got my duds when I 1 came out I 1 HOW A VOLCANIC EXPLOSION IS A study of the above picture will show how a molten ms in the mountain interior me he water and how the steam generated thereby following the line of least resistance blew off the top of the volcano in specie and other securities which were sent here for sate keeping the vaults ol 01 the government treas ury are now being searched in the hope that a large amount of money and other valuables deposited by the principal merchants of the city may be saved nearly 4 of the refugees from the vicinity of the village of le a suburban village were rescued bv the french cruiser and the cable talked with captain mr scott the first officer and others they had been on the bridge the captain was horribly burned lie had inhaled flames and wanted to jump into the sea I 1 tried to make him take a life preserver the cap tain who was undressed jumped over board and hung on to a line tor a while then he disappeared all Is not lost that Is in danger |