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Newspaper
Corydon Democrat
Location
Corydon, Indiana, United States of America
Date
May 21, 1902
Page
2
The St Pierre disaster unfolds as Mount Pelee erupts with a rain of lava and ash, destroying the town and sinking eight vessels from the Roraima. survivors report days of earthquakes and a deadly sea surge. Dozens perish, with fires igniting across four miles of coast and ships sinking in the bay.
A dramatic obituary style account portrays the Mount Pelee eruption as wiping out St Pierre and threatening Dominica and St Vincent. The piece estimates 40 000 to 50 000 lives lost and compares the catastrophe to Sodom and Gomorrah in its suddenness and scale.
The text chronicles a string of volcanic and earthquake disasters starting in Guatemala with severe tremors and heavy property damage, then Mount Pelee’s catastrophic eruption at St Pierre in Martinique, destroying the city and sinking several ships. Survivors and wreckage are described amid a wider Caribbean alarm.
The Senate quickly approved a bill providing 100000 dollars for relief to Martinique sufferers. The measure authorizes the President to purchase provisions clothing medicines and other necessaries and deliver them to the French government in the name of the United States. The War Secretary may deploy vessels to speed transportation.
Reports from the British island south of Martinique describe a violent eruption. The northern half of St Vincent is devastated and cut off by lava flows. More than 500 people are feared dead, streams dry, famine looming, and all plantations destroyed as ash blankets the area.
Inhabitants of the West Indies panic as earthquakes rattle islands. Mont Pelee in Martinique, believed extinct for fifty years, sparks fear of further eruptions. Grief and terror rise with quakes and volcanic fears. deaths in fifty families reported at St. Thomas.
President Loubet contributes 2300 francs to the Paris relief effort and the French cabinet adds 5500 francs to aid victims of the St Pierre disaster. The money will support disaster relief in Paris.
A volcano eruption on May 8 devastated St. Pierre Martinique destroying the port and all shipping. The population of about 40 000 perished including the Governor and his wife. The steamer Roraima and cable ship Rappler were lost with all on board, while Roddam barely escaped to St. Inez with the captain badly burned. Most officers and crew perished as vegetation and rivers were blocked with ash.
Vice captain of the cruiser Suchet reports St Pierre is a city of smoking ruins. Exploring parties say the decomposing remains of about 30 000 people are emitting strong odors near sulfur flames, signaling a looming epidemic of disease.
On the island, surviving black residents live in terror at the disaster at St. Pierre. many believe the world is ending.
A compact tally of major earthquakes and their carnage across centuries, listing locations such as Naples Calabra Lima Catania and Lisbon with dates and estimated deaths. The record spans from 1450 to 1868, noting towns cities and regions wiped out or heavily damaged by seismic events.
Martinique has changed hands between Britain and France four times in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was seized in 1762 1781 1794 and 1809 and restored in 1814 after French appeals. Since then the island has flown the tricolor and gained fame through a historic figure admired by a nation.
St Vincent, seventeen miles by ten with 50 000 people, includes Kingston 8200 residents and a vast volcanic crater Soufrere. The 1812 eruption lasted three days, destroyed estates, killed thousands, and sent ashes to Barbados ninety five miles away.
Martinique’s chief port St. Pierre contrasted with Fort de France once the island’s leading entry. St. Pierre famed for yellow homes blue shutters red tiled roofs set against tropical greenery. The town’s business paused daily from nine to three during the intense tropical heat.
Harvard's Prof Shaler says volcanic outbreaks are steam released under high pressure in rocks buried underground. Heat causes pent up energy to break rock walls into dust. Barbados dispatches report dust and ash showers lasting hours near St. Vincent.
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