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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 1902)
' X J ..",MH T 1. Thirty Thousand Are I r . " w it mr." . m w - .t .. 44. icom ! Ban, of fort - OBFFiflNCe. V ,jf&ftii vl v3 MAP OF ISLAND OF MARTINIQUE. (Mount Poloo ;vnd town of St. Pierre, scono of recent volcanic dis aster, shown on northwest end of island.) This Is tho first authentic account of tho fearful disaster on the Island of Martinique. It was sent by cable to Paris from Fort do Fiance: I visited St. Pierre yesterday after noon with tho first party that hns lnndod at the site of the destroyed city slnco Thursday morning's catas trophe. Tho streets and all the neighbor hood around what a few days ago was the largest and most prosperous city In Martinique were found Incumbered with heaps upon heapa of dead bodies In all directions. All tho dead seen were stark naked, their clothing apparently having burned from their bodies like so much tinder, while they thcnihuiws weio roasted to death. In tho vast majority of Instances fires seem to have been the sole cause of death. Great numbers of tho bodies have been burst asunder by tho ter rific heat and llo disemboweled. In many instances the faces of tho victims are quite calm, as though they were stricken down instantly where they stood, without n moment's warn ing or with hardly time to appreciate for an Instant the deadly peril they were In. Others have stamped on their faces an expression of indescribable terror. The ontlro city and the neighbor hood all about reeks with a horrible odor of burned flesh. In one instance an entirely family of nine persons was found, all tightly locked in each oth ers' arms, and the bodies in a honlblo stato of decomposition. Almost tho first thing dono was to make preparations for the cremation of tho dead. Fatigue parties of sol diers built enormous pyres ol wood and branches of trees' upon which they heaped the dead bodies by scores and burned them as rapidly as possible. Tho total number of dead Is now estimated at fully sn.uoo. The disas ter Itself took place within thirty sec onds, and in that half minute tho vast majority of all these people were killed. It Is supposed, for there Is nobody living apparently to tell tho exact facts, that there was suddenly shot down from tho mountain a great sheet of Maine, accompanied by a terriblo gaseous whirlwind and (lashes of lightning, precisely stub ns aro re ported as playing about tho summit of La Soufrlore, on tho Island of St. Vin cent. What horrible revelations of tho havoc wrought to human lifo which those grim mounds aro yet to reveal can hardly be Imagined. In these two quarters of tho city not a trace of tho streets that oxlsted there can bo seen. Thoy aro burled as completely out of sight as wero those of Pompeii. Along tho water front there nro a VOLCANIC PEAKS ' ' J!Z- Dead in Martinique WWVLfl J7PZSSAUH few walls standing and the ruins of tho custom-house were found. Curiously enough, the face and hands of the clock on the hospital were not destroyed, nnd they furnish an important record Iti tho history of this terrible catastrophe. Tho hands of the clock hail stopped at precisely ton minutes to S, showing that It was at that moment that tho city was over whelmed and all these thousands of people within it, and in Its environs, were destroyed. The wotk of exploring tho ruins for tho treasure buried beneath them was going on at tlie same time witli the incineration of the dead. Tho vaults of the bank of Martinique were opened and all the securities, notes and cash were found intact. They were all so cured, anil together with other treas ure have been brought to Fort do France. As much help as possible has boon sent to the surviving people in tho vicinity of the city. .Steamers loaded with half-crazed men. women nnd chil dren from districts in the neighbor hood of St. Pierre aro constantly nr rivng here. Steamers also are going back ns rap idly as possible to the scene of tho disaster, carrying with them provi sions and clothing. The 150 peoplo brought here by the cable ship Pouyer Quortior were from the neighborhood of tho village of I.o Pieheur. Thoy were entirely without shelter when found, but none of them was burned. ICvery ship in the haibor at tho time of the disaster, with the slnglo excep tion of the Knglish steamer Hoddam, wan burned witli all on board lost, ex cepting one captain, who was saved. In relating his escape ho says that the only way In which he managed to save his lite was by repeatedly diving. Ho was an expert swimmer and wns able to remain under water for a con siderable length of time. Ho returned again and again to tho surface, barely exposing his face for a moment or two to tho terrific heat and thus getting enough breath for nnother long dive. Kver since the 23d of April last tho volcano Mont Pelee, which finally wrought all the havoc, has been maul- festlng disquieting symptoms. A great 'olumn of smoke kept mounting from It, and there wero from tlmo to tlino showers of ashes nnd cinders falling. Finally, on the nth of Mny, there was a terrific eruption, which hurled Into tho air vast volumes of mud, which completely swallowed up tho Guerln sugar factory, which stood near tho River Blanche. The first that was known hero nt Fort do Franco of tho disaster was at 8 o'clock In tho morning of tho 8th day of May. At that hour thoro sud denly spread over the town of Fort do Franco a thick cloud of smoko, cln- NEAR ST. LUCIA. K$f i jns h. -JU-j L - An. TJlUiVSU t7 dors and ashes, which came from the direction of St. Pierre. The cloud swept over the city with terrifying swiftness, turning bright daylight Into tho darkness of night, with hardly a moment's warning. From this cloud n rain of rocks poured upon the town and throw tho entire population Into tho wildest panic. Tho sea suddenly swept back In a great wave for a distance of between fifty and sixty feet and vessels fas tened to tho wharves were set crash ing ngalnst each other with great force. Twice the great wave swept In and out from the shore, and finally the waters settled down to their nor mal level. As quickly as possible In the con fusion the government authorities and the mayor of the city, realizing what need there was, began to organize some system for carrying help to those known to be In dire distress. Tho French ciulser Suchet. whlcb happened to be lying in the harbor, became Instantly alive with activity. It was made ready for sea as quickly as possible and started away at full speed up along the coast in tho direc tion of St. Plene and the great col umn of smoke and fire. Theie were several boats that had arrived nt Fort de France that same morning, and they, too, made Instant preparations to return. Troops and provisions were hurried nbonrd of them, and they started nway In tho wake of tho Suchet. They had not been gone over two hours when they returned, bringing back tho tid ings that St. Pierre was utterly do stioyed and that tho entire seashore from the suburb of I.o Corbet as far as tho Village of I.o Precheur was on fire, and that It was Impossible to laud at any point on account of the intense heat. Along the shore the spectacle was appalling. It looked as though the whole of tho northern part of tho Island was one mass of llame. The cruiser Suchet got back to Fort de Frnnce some time nfter tho other boats which had followed In tho effort to i each tho scene of the disaster. On board the Suchet wero thirty sur vivors, who were picked up in the St. Pierre submit of I.o Corbet. All of them weio frightfully burned and wounded, and nine of them died on board tho cruiser before It reached this port. Kvery preparation has been mado In the hospital at Fort do Franco to tnko en io of ns many wounded as possible. The work of rendering aid has boon put on an organized basis, provisions have been requisitioned nnd the prin cipal stores, banks, and even tho bak eries, aro guarded by boldlcrs. THE WORLD'S GREATEST DISASTERS lCiirtifiiiike, FlouiU anil IluttliM Unit llntn Main iliulr 1 liounaiulK. This Is the third time the Island of Martinique has sulfered disasters of volcanic origin. In 17(17 there was a great earthquake which cost the lives of inoio than 1.000 persons. That was tho greatest disaster in tlto history of tho island pievlous to this now report ed. There wus an earthquake In 1839 which destioyed nearly half of Port Royal, the present capital of tho Is land, mid killed 700 persons. Tho damage resulting from that shock ex tended all over the island. History's pages aro full of disasters which have befallen tho human race, but no calamity of its kind in recent years can even approxlmnto tho ter rible loss of life which has mado nota ble the destruction of St. Pierre on the islam! of Martinique. Of events which have shocked tho world by tho enormity of the destruction which fol lowed In their wake, none but tho bat tle of Gettysburg can approach tho recent disinter for loss of life. iu. stances wheio whole towns and com munities have been wiped out aro comparatively few, but nil have boon terrific In their consequences. St. Pi erre has been no exception. Among the calamities which aro most notable, tho destruction of Pom peii and Herculanouin in tho year 79 stands ns the most ancient of which there Is n coinploto account extant Strangoly enough, tho destruction of these cltleB Is tho nenrest approach In history to the disaster which befell the Ill-fated St. Pierre, Tho work of Vesuvius on this occasion was as slow as It was complete. Hcrculnneura was literally swept from tho earth by a stream of molten lava, whllo Pom peii was suffocated by tho cinders and ashes. Tho eruption lasted for days and covered tho two cities to a dopth of from eighteen to twenty feet, and so changed tho topography of tho country that It was ccnturlos boforo topographers wero ablo to locate tho lost cities. The loss of life on this occasion was never known, but It must have reached far Into tho thousands. Not until 1735 was tho world ngaln shocked by a catastropho of similar proportions, although thoro woro many throughout Italy, Sicily, South Amor lea and tho Orient where tho loss of lifo has boon estimated at much high er figures, which were Impossible of verification. The great earthquake and tidal wavo of Lisbon In 1755 was one of tho most far-reaching and de structive phenomena of naturo which has coino down In history. It was a festal day in tho city nnd all Portugal was there. Lato In tho nftornoon a giant wave swept ovor tho doomed city, nnd In eight minutes, when tho wavo had recoiled, It carried with It 00,000 peoplo Into the soa. Tho survivors crowded tho stono wharves along tho water front, mauy only to he carried away by the tremendous swell which followed the movement of the first gigantic mnss of water. Tho disturbance reached tho shores of Spain, Morocco, Mndelra, and ninny other Islands In the nrehlpolngo, carry lug death and destruction with It wherever It went. The shock of the earthquake was felt over a territory D.000 tulles long. About tho beginning of the seven teenth century Central America was visited by mi oaithquuko which killed 10,000 peoplo, scatteieil over a wide territory Naples at the same time be gan to feel u series of earthquake shocks which continued Intcimlttontly for seventy-five ycais and eventually amassed a total of 1 1 1 .000 people1 sinin. Not until the battle of Gettysburg was reached, however, has such a tre mendous list of casualties occurred In such a limited space or time and terri tory ns at St. Plene. In tho three days' fighting borore. Gettysburg, In July. 1M'.;. the I'nlon loss wns 23,190, of whom 2.3M were kllied and 13,713 wounded. Tho Confederate loss for tho mime engagement has never been olllclally Mated, but was approximate ed aii.imo. of whom fi.iitiu wero killed and 23.oim wounded. Hy far the worst of recent seismic shocks. howoor. occuned in the le gion of the Malay archipelago in 1SS3 It accompanied the explosive erup tions of the olcnno Krakatoa. on the Island of the same name, In the strait of Sundu. between .lun nnd Sumntra. The eruption, which began In Mny, continued for nearly four months. Nearly tho entlio Island was de stroyed. The wonderful phenomena which , followed this disturbance are still well reniembeicd. The ashes and dust weie thrown so high ns to mark the upper air currents and lie carried completely around the globe, producing a peculiar effect In tho air, like a twilight glow, MONT I'la.Kl" IN that continued for many months. Tho sound of tho explosions of old Kraka toa was heard at a dlstanco of 2,250 miles, nnd It was estimated that tho air waves traveled four and a half times around tho enrth. Between 30, 000 and 37,000 lives wero lost, and 160 villagos wero destroyed. Two years later the first earthquake In tho United States of world-wldo Im portance occurred In Charleston. On tho night of August 31 nn earthquake shock was foil along tho ontlro Atlan tic coast of tho United tSates, and several hundred miles into tho lntorlor especially in tho southern states. Bo foro morning It was known that Char leston had suffered an unusual visita tion, and when tho final nows wns known It wns found that forty-ono lives had boon lost In the fulling walls of tho city nnd proporty to tho amount of 15,000,000 had been destroyed. In Mnreh, 1889, tho groat storm In tho harbor of Apia, Samoa, electrified tho world with Its appalling loss of life. Tho Gorman gunboats Olga, Ebor nnd Adlnr, and tho United States men- of-war NIpslc, Tronton and Vandalla j went to pieces on mo reeis, anu m- teen merchant vessels either wont to the bottom or stranded. One hundred and forty two men fcom the warship In the harbor were tost, Jnpnn has proven Itself a vorltnblo home of earthqunkes, tho latest gigan tic loss of life occurring In 1891, and resulted In a loss of 4,000 lives, 5.000 injured, and 50.000 homes destroyed. The great Johnstown flood wns tho first of two great dlsasteis In recent years which has come homo to tho people of the United Stated with crush ing force On May 21). 1SS0, by tho bursting of the dnm of the Cotiomaugh tlver, Johnstown mid surrounding towns were HWept out of existence, and a loss of life approximating 10,000 souls took place In tho twinkling of an eye. i The calamity which befell Galveston on the Slh of September, 1000, ranks with Johnstown ns the most appalling within the memory of present genera tions. Beginning with a storm of mod erate proportions, the Increasing wind rolled the waves higher and higher upon the beach, until, after a sudden shift of winds near nightfall, the Is land city was completely submerged, ami gieat waves from the sea rolled over the town site. It was a night of the most tenibto suffering and mis ery, in which nearly 50,000 souls In and near Galveston expected every moment to die. Between 8,000 and 10.000 people lost their lives in tho storm, mid millions of, dollars worth of property was destroyed. The visitation of tire from neigh billing volcanoes has wrought a de struction of life and property upon St, Plerio which Is yet to bo definitely de termined, but promises to be one of the greatest In the world'a history. The islands off tho China coast, nnd tho Malay Hortas, being of volcanic origin, hao been especially subject to earthquakes It used to be said of tho Philippines that shocks wore constant theie, and It is true that tho ncodlu TIIK DISTANCK. in tho seismograph In tho Jesuit ob servatory In Manila Is always writing. But thoro hns boon no cxtromoly dis astrous disturbances, nnd nouo seri ous slnco 1884, whon tho tower of tho great cathedral was thrown down and many lives woro lost. O'Connor' Opinion of G'enll Ilhnitat, Summarizing his judgmout of Cecil Rhodes in Kvorybody's Magazine T. P. O'Connor says: "His faco was a contradiction. Masslvo, strong, re markable In some respects; In others It wns weak, common, undistinguish ed. You didn't know whether you could call It Imperial, Hko tho faco of Caesar, or common nnd coarse, Hko that of tho popular prize fighter. And such tho man wns: impurlal, lofty, a dreamer of great dreams, nnd, at the t-aino time, somewhat squalid, some what common, somewhat silly; one of those amalgams of contradictions which naturo makes In an hour of wanton guyety and malice, and which create among mankind tho cross-pur-pouos, tho commingling of good and evil, that aro tho tragedies of human history." NAMFS HIS AIDES Prosidont Eloct Pnlma Se!oct3 Members of Hie Cabinot. t Alt AR MM Of HIGH STANDING lliinililrl Oltrn In 11, i, Mir of llovrrnnf Up ivriil Wooil Ojirn AVi'i'k of IV- lltllli'4 Willed I'ri-ri'iln ,, M. aiiKiinil nn May yotli. A Havana Cuba, dispatch of May 17 huvh. Kenor Tomns list radii Pa! inn last night announced the mimes of tho members or his cabinet, ns follows: nlego Tntnayo (tuitlounllst), secre tary of government, a new portfolio. Senor Tamiiyo will have charge of the niral guaid. sunitntlon. the ad ministration of the postolllccH nnd slg mil service. Carlos Xnldo (repiibllcan-nuloiiom-Ist). department of stnte nnd Justice, henor aldo is a well known business man. Ktnello Terry (Independent), depart ment of agriculture. Senor Terry Is a wealthy sugar planter of high clnr ucter. Manuel Luciano Diaz (nationalist), lepaitnionl of public works, Senor I laz, w ho had barge of the works at Matmii-as during the American occupa tion. Is nn engineer of ability. Fdiiardo Yero (nationalist), depart ment of Instruction. Senor Yero was superintendent or schools during tho American occupation. Garcia Montco (republican), a Inw yer or standing, department or finance. Senor Pnlma's selections niav leavo some bitterness, but the general com ment Is that the cabinet Is a good one and composed or nble men or experi ence nnd standing. 1-nst night festivities which will continue Tor a week, began with a banquet In honor or Governor General Wood mid the other American officers, given by the vetenins of the wars for Cuban Independence. (Jon. Mnxlmo Gome, presided. At his right sat Gov ernor General Wood mid nt his left Senor Palinii. Next to the president elect sut William J. Bryan, Gonzalew de QucBuda. former Cuban commis sioner to Washington, m ted ns toast master. The speeches were full of graceful compliments nnd rellcltntlons that the hour of Cuban triumph had come. President-elect Pnlinn, General Gomez mid the revolutionary generals created immense enthusiasm as they spokn eloquently of tho realization of Cuba's nsplratlons. William J. B.yan received a great demonstration. This subject of his speech wns "Patriotism," and in con clusion he said ho would rather see the stars and stripes live in the hearts of the Cubans thnn float over their country. The climax was reached when Gen eral Wood was Introduced. A won derrul scene followed. The wholo as semblage rose and cheered him. Tho Indies in the boxes waved their hand kerchiefs mid everybody remained standing until ho bad concluded his speech General Wood congratulated the Cuban people upon tnelr triumph. He thanked them for their co-operation and wished them success In tho name or the United States government and the American people. Replying to General Wood. Genoral Gomez said the one aspiration or tho Cubans wns to emulato the Amerlcau republic. KAISER OFFERS STATUTE Would rr.'.ont I'ii It. Ml Hlnt-n Ono I'rc'ilrrlrk tli (Irrnt. it Tho knlser hns offered to President Roosevelt a statue in bronze of Fred erick the Great to bo taken ns a de velopment of Ccrmuii-Ameiican re gard. In his mesago to tho president the kaiser acknowledged tho deep Im pression created by the splendid recep tion of bis brother, Prince Henry, by the citizens or the United Stateb nnd noUs thut In the speeches mado the reference was quite frequent of th friendly nttltude of Frederick to thu young republic. Thnt example, he says, lie Intends to follow. Commemorating Henry's visit, he requests the presi dent to nccept the gilt of a statue of the great king to be erected iu Wash ington, "u lasting sign of the Intimate, relations successfully fosteicd mid de veloped between the two great na tions." Roosevelt In reply thnnks the kaiser lunrtlly and stutes that ho will lay the offer before congicss. "The Amer ican people would be greatly pleased," he says, to receive the statue of one of the greatest men or all times a gift that will assuredly be looked upon as a new sign of friendship existing be tween the two nations. It Is n token for the whole human race thut, at the beginning of this century, tho Amer ican and German people work together In a spirit of hearty friendship," con cludes tho president. The house Frldny passed tho bill au thorizing the president to turn over to the government of Porto Rico all pub lic lands held by tho United States that aro not necessary for national uses. The bill passed to refund all taxes levied by the war revenue act ngnlnst clmrltnblo und religious Insti tutions. The Biipremo court has decided that tho fee and salary law of 1897 does not dfprlvo probate judges and prosecut ing attorneys of their fees. Tho only remedy for thofeo evil Is n law re quiring that all fees snail bo paid la Confederate money. Justice Andrew C. nrndloy of the supreme court of the District of Co lumbia, died Thursduy night from an abscess of tho brain. Tho Nebraska schoolmasters' club held Its last meeting for tho school year Friday of lust week )a Lincoln. , f J ) ! I ' I t a , . N tita W&WFgmwmw fl&j&rf'tt,l