Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1902 — FURTHER DETAILS OF MARTINIQUE HORROR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FURTHER DETAILS OF MARTINIQUE HORROR

Captain of .the Steamer “Roddam” Describes the Terrible Scenes Through Which He Passed Tale Perhaps Never Had a Parallel in Stories of the Sea

First of all the ships that passed through the shower of ashes of Mont Pelee and reached the American mainland to tell pbout it, the British Etona, bound to New York from Montevideo and St. Lucia, has arrived at New Yorlf. Her captain, John Cantell, and her passengers brought with them a thrilling story, not only of their own experience in the second eruption of Martinique’s destroyer, but of the Roddam and her heroic captain, whom they visited in the St. Lucia hospital. The Etona reached St. Lucia on the vvening of May 10, expecting to coal

and leave the same night. In the harbor news was received of the St. Pierre disaster, and, lying at anchor, was all that was left of the Roddam. All St. Lucia was in mourning and the people were so distracted by the news from the neighboring island that it was not until May 11 that Capt. Cantell could obtain coal and pass on his journey. St. Pierre was passed at a distance of about four miles and all on board studied the land with glasses. “The weather was clear and we had a fine view,” said the captain, “but the old lines of St. Pierre were not recognizable. Everything was a mass of blue lava, and the formation of the land itself seemed to have changed. When we were about eight miles off the northern end of the island Mont Pelee began to belch a second time. Clouds of smoke and lava shot into the air and spread over all the sea, darkening the sun. Our decks in a few minutes were covered with a substance that looked like sand dyed brown, which smelled like phosphorous. Ptytial darkness came upon us, and everybody on board the ship was badly frightened. After the stories we had heard and the sights we had seen at St. Lucia we did not know but that we ourselves were to be buried under red-hot lava or engulfed by another tidal wave, though we were then ten miles from shore. “ ‘Crowd on steam,’ L whistled to Chief Engineer Farrish, and he needed no urging. Slowly we drew away through a suffocating atmosphere, foot by foot, yard by yard, and at last the sun began shining. We had passed outside the hailstorm of dust and sand. When I looked at my watch I found that we had been about an hour reaching daylight. “Our decks were covered two inches with this matter,” and the captain exhibited a box of volcanic dust, which

had been saved by his crew. “You can see the marks of It yet about the masts and our polished woodwork, and I don’t think my passengers are yet over their fright. No curiosity would ever take <us again near that terrible place. “Before leaving St. Lucia,” Capt. Can tell said, “we visited the wreck

of the Roddam, which escaped from St. Pierre May 8. The watchman was engaged in gathering up fragments of human bodies and putting them away in the locker. He discontinued the work to show us around. “The Roddam presented an awful spectacle. She looked as if she had been thrust into soft, clinging mud and pulled out again. The mud stuck to her like cement and was two feet deep on her decks. Awnings, stanchions and boat covers had been burned or swept away. Tarpaulins, rails, stays, hatch covers and even

her smokestacks were gone. When the watchman dug into the lava he found here and there fragments of human remains. All that was left of the ship was her hull, and that, being iron, had escaped destruction. “Hearing that Capt. Freeman was at the Hotel Felite, we called on him. I wanted to get from his own lips the story of his escape. I was unprepared for the terrible sight which greeted my eyes when I entered the room. "Capt. Freeman’s face was burned to the color of teak wood and large patches of skin and flesh were burned from his bones, here and there. Both his hands were swathed in bandages. His hair and mustache were gone, his eyes were tied open and he was in great pain. When I told him who I was he talked a great deal, to relieve himself, he said, of his suffering. “He said the Roddam had been in St. Pierre only an hour when the eruption occurred. He was talking to an agent in a boat alongside when a big black squall approached the ship from the island. It was like a black wall, traveled fast and was accompanied. by a tidal wave and a deafening roar. The sun disappeared immediately. “Capt. Freeman said that he shouted to everybody to stand clear. An instant later the air was filled with flame and falling batches of fire. The ship was immediately ablaze from end to end, and the crew and laborers aboard began to rush about, frantic with pain. As nearly as he could remember there were forty-two persons aboard the ship, only six of whom survived. The ship keeled over when the tidal wave hit her and nearly capsized. Then she righted and the falling shower of Are continued. “Capt. Freeman ran into the chartroom, but was driven out again bv flames that came in at the port hole. Then he rushed to the engine room telephone apd signaled the engineer to

put on full steam. Some one responded and the ship began to move, but the steering gear was jammed and would not work. He kept the engines going ahead and astern alternately, hoping to free the paddles, and in so doing nearly struck the Quebec Line steamer Roraima, from which clouds of steam and flame wert rising.

“Men on the Roraima were wringing their handß and rushing about frantically. Some of them jumped into the sea, where they must have died instantly, Capt. Freeman said, for the water was boiling like & caldron. It was like a mass of boiling mud. Many of the Roddam’s crew had disappeared, probably swept overboard, and the rest went one by one until only six were left. Every one of them must have died a terrible death. “After a time the eaptain got the steering gear working, the ship answered her helm and he headed her out

to sea. Slowly the sky cleared, and it was possible for him to see about him. Men in the red hot lava lay dying all along his track. He himself, though he stayed at the wheel was unable to lift his burned arms. Blood from his forehead kept running into his eyes, obscuring his vision. He likened his escape to the passage from hell into heaven. At last he reached

the open sea, and with the help of two sailors, two engineers and the boatswain, succeeded in taking his boat to St. Lucia. “During the run out of the harbor the chief engineer died a horrible death. He escaped the first shock, started the engines and, not finding his men below, went on deck to look for them. As he thrust his head out of the hatch a mass of lava fell upon him, burning one side of his face completely off. ‘ Capt. Freeman’s - performance perhaps never had a parallel in stories of the sea,’’ continued Capt. Cantell. When the Roddam arrived at St. Lucia, the brave man refused all medical treatment until the others were cared for. He will live, the doctors tell me.”

"KRAKATQA" IN ACTION • (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN MAY 17,1555.)