Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1902 — Page 2

CITY'S AWFUL DOOM

Destruction of St. Pierre the Calamity of a Century. MOUNT PELEE’S WORK Sone Horrifying Details of the Ter* rible Volcanic Eruption. That Indescribable Cyclone of Fire on Martinique the Moat Stupendous Disaster of Modern Tinies—lsland Devastated and a City Wiped Ont in the Twinkling of an Eye—Human Beings Die at the Rate of a Thousand a Second. Alone, unrivalled, tinapproached among the disasters which have visited the western hemisphere stands the cataclysm of steam and fire which turned the beautiful city of St. Pierre, on the island of Martinique, into a crematory and a grave. In a twinkling the busy, prosperous. sun-kissed city of the flowering tropics became a scene of indescribable horror, of most awful destruction, of

River Mouseim, which flows through the capital of Martinique, closed with . lava and ashes from St, Pierre’s Volcano'-'

most terrible death. Frotn outthe crater •f the Mount Pelee volcano, in the waters of which picnic parties used to bathe and up to the very verge of which trailing vines and flowers scattered their sweetness and perfume, the breath of Death came. It touched the trees and they withered and shriveled to their roots. It touched the smiling plantations and they became black, ashy, lifeless. It touched the modern mansion, of elegance and luxury and beauty and it, like the Jowly grass-thatched hut; became the plaything of destruction. It bent above the city and the proud works of man

ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT.

were shattered like fragile glass. It spread out upon the waters and they boiled in fury and tossed their waves in menacing convulsions. It mingled with the atmosphere and it became poison. Hot, sulphurous, flame-lit, the air b< veame death ladim and man’s every breath an added pestilence until vitality ceased. And such a cessation of vitality! Thirty thousand human lives crushed out with that :.i! breath—a whole e*ty turned in tn tt crematory—a miracle •f nature’s destruction wrought! To-day St. Pierre is btack and desolate and lifeless, save where the searchers are at work dragging burn-d. bloated, corrupting bodies from their ashy covering and burning them in fujieral’ pyres.The buildings of the city arc practically all destroyed. The very streets are obliterated. Cinders and ashes und mud. •till hot and smoking, lie layer upon layer over all which a short time before was bright and beautiful and full of life. Off in the distance, the burning mountain. still belching forth smoke and flame and ashes, stands like , a satanie monster, as though proud of its execution and uncertain whether to bury the eager searchers in' the city under another avalanche of destruction. On'its side • few tree trunks, bent and shattered •nd black, throw their ghostly outlines tato view. Over all the scene rests n heavy pqll of sulphurous smoke —one pilfer of darkness ascending from the volcano, another from the cjy. where the volcano's victims are the fuel. Such is St. Pierre to-day. The fate of historic Pompeii has been its. and like Pompeii and Herculaneum and Krttkatoa tt aba 11 live in tragic history as the vie- — - -fljm trf vnr of the gmrtrrt and tnnst-fle-•tructive disasters in the whole annals •f mankind. A CYCLONE OF FIRE. In Boiling Mud and Steam. Ht. Pierre Went Down to Ita Fate. Mount Pelee, which visited such a terrific fate upon St. Pierre, began showing signs of activity toward the end of April. For fifty years the volcano had feis inactive, and was regarded by the people aa extinct. When, therefore, it began emitting clouds of smoke and •bowers of ashee, it created consteraaMoq among the people. But as day sue-

SCENE IN FORT-DE-FRANCE.

LA SOUFRIERE, ST. VINCENT VOLCANO.

ceeded day without any violent eruption, even the timid took heart and hundreds of sightseers, with the joyousness of picnickers, made the four-wile journey to its summit. Early in May the volcanic activity became greater. Heavier clouds 6f smoke and greater volumes of ashes were emitted and rumblings within the interior of the mountain became sharper and more frequent. The air became stifling from the sulphur permeating it, and the citizens of St. Pierre were obliged to wear wet handkerchiefs over their faces to protect them from the fumes. Horses dropped dead in the streets from breathing the vitiated air. All the time a rain of fine ashes was falling. The action of the Governor of Mar-

tinique led to tl subsidence of the panicky feeling. He appointed a commission to investigate the eruption and sent soldiers from Fort de France, the capital, to prevent people from abandoning St. I’ierre.

The commission reported that there was nothing in the eruption of May 5 which portended danger to St. Pierre. The report was made public May 7 —the day before the great cataclysm —and while it could not dissipate all alarm over the situation, it greatly lessened it. '1 he people went to bed on the night of May 7. hopeful, but not over-confident. Thursday morning the people looked with fearful, anxious gaze toward the flaming mountain, whose mighty convulsions were shaking the foundations of the city. Explosion after explosion followed in the incandescent bowels of the earth and out of its mouth the volcano belched torrents of fiery ashes, sulphurous and stifling. During the early morning the sky was aflame with lurid flashes of fire from the mountain. Down in the harbor the crews and some of the passengers on the vessels which were there riding at anchor were watching the fascinating display of energy, when at 7:50 the whole top of the mountain was hurled into the air with a terrific noise and a cyclone of steam, boiling mud and fire descended on the city and the roadstead. The land heaved and swelled and a terrible convulsion seized the sea. The waters rose in a huge threatening mass as though they would engulf the island. Then darkness grew dense and the pitiful scene was hidden from view. Of the eighteen vessels in the harbor at the time all except one perished. The upheaval of the waters dashed some of the vessels on their sides and they sank. The crews jumped into the water and there most of them perished. It was im-

A TIME WHEN THEY ALL PULL TOGETHER.

possible to escape from the pitiless rain pf fire and boiling mud and only thirty,' all of them injured and some fatally, were rescued by the French steamer. Sachet, which entered the harbor soon after the explosion. The first rescue parties to reach St. Pierre arrived there on Sunday. They found desolation and ruin and death. On the wharves, on the streets, in the houses, the churches, the marts, death was everywhere. Even in the waters of the harbor bodies were floating, with sharks glutted with their feast on human flesh, swimming playfully around. Everywhere there were ashes and mud and volcanic stones and —bodies. The latter were scattered singly and in heaps. Most of them were lying face downward. Nearly all were nude and burned. Death had come by asphyxiation, and nearly all the victims had their handsj covering their mouths or were in some other attitude showing they had sought relief from suffocation. In one place the bodies of twenty-two men, women and children were found in one awful mass, arms and legs protruding as the hapless beings fell in the last struggle of death’s agony. On the site of the cathedral the roasted bodies of 3,000 human beings were found. When earthly aid was wanting they had turned to the church to implore assistance from heaven. But heaven was deaf in that hour of supreme agony, and they perished while they prayed. Throughout the city the searchers found no living thing, nor a single house that escaped the fury of the volcanic convulsion. And; to escape pestilence, the bodies of the dead are being cremated day and night. To facilitate combustion and to destroy as far as possible the sickening odor of human flesh, the funeral pyres are kept constantly soaked in coal tar and petroleum. The number of people who perished outside of St. Pierre is still conjectural. The town of I.e I’rechcur, only a short distance from St. Pierre, escaped destruction, and its 5,000 people, making their way to the seacoast, were taken off in vessels and conveyed to Fort de France. Over a large area the eruption worked destruction. Rivers overflowed their banks and spread over the surrounding country. Hollows were elevated and hills depressed, and the configuration of the country was changed. In making repairs to the cable near St. Pierre, the French cable ship Pouyer Quertier found it sunk in 1,200 meters of water, whereas. formerly, it was only 300 meters below the surface—a difference of nearly 3,(W0 feet. *—

TOUCHED THE WORLD’S HEART. Relief Pours in for the Martinique and St. Vincent Sufferers. The heart of the world has/been touched by the great tragedy on the island of Martinique and by the great, though lessor, disaster in St. Vincent, and already relief agencies under many flags are in action. Congress appropriated $500.060, to be applied under the direction of the Navy and Treasury Departments to the succor of the homeless refugees and relief ships and war vessels under the flag of the United States were -soon on their way to the sadly stricken island of Martinique. Tuesday afternoon the cruiser Dixie left the Brooklyn navy yard, loaded down with stores, and the same day another vessel left Porto Rico with supplies for the islanders. Other United States vessels were hurriedly started to Martinique. In addition to the appropriation made by Congress, upon the recommendation of the President, Mr. Roosevelt rappointed a committee, extending throughout the United States, to receive voluntary sums for the afflicted in St. Vincent and Martinique. From all over the world relief has poured in. The King of Italy contribut-

THE FORT, ST. PIERRE.

ed $5,000: the Kaiser 10,000 marks; King Edward $5,000 and King Oscar of Sweden SI,OOO. The government of Holland sent a vessel from the Dutch West Indies to Martinique to assist the sufferers. In New York. Chicago and other cities appeals have been made /or aid. New York's Chamber of Commerce sent $5,000 to the sufferers and subscriptions are being raised in all the leading cities.

FARMERS CORNER

Washing by Wind Power. The Illustration shows how to attach an ordinary washing machine to a windmill. Chas. H. Ilhode, of lowa, vouches for the efficiency of the device. It does the hardest part of the work, he says, and while it works the one doing the washing can rinse and hang out. We have a wash house around the mill, also a large stove with a kettle inside. To construct, get an old w'heel about two and a half feet in diameter, an old mower wheel being good; place it about eight feet from the platform, as shown. Then connect it by pitman A to a spoke of the wheel and to the plunger of windmill. Regulate the stroke of the wheel by fastening pitman close to the hub for a long stroke and near the rim for a shorter one. Cut a wood pulley and place it between the large wheel of washing machine. Ou most washing machines a pulley an inch and a quar-’ ter thick and eight inches in diameter can be placed there. Belt the two wheels together and fasten the belt to the small pulley by driving in some nails or screws at the opposite side from the lever to the handle to prevent the belt from slipping. Also fasten the belt in the same manner to the large wheel after it is adjusted, so they cannot get out of time. I use a short strap, about six feet long, with a snap in each end, to go around the smfill'pulley, and for the rest I use an old sprocket chain off an old binder and snap the straps to it for belt. In that way one can take

WINDMILL WASHER.

up ±he slack and there isn’t so much strap to stretch. B is a board to tit tight on top of machine to hold it down, and when the lid is raised it swings back where dotted lines are, out of the way. This is not a rotary motion, which would be hard to get from a pump plunger.” Good Hog House. A Nebraska correspondent writes lowa Homestead as follows: “I have noticed a number of hog houses for brood sows, but have seen none such as we use in our neighborhood. I put one up lately and will describe it. I used 2x4's for the frame, sided with drop siding or shiplap and roofed with roofing cut in two, six feet on one side and four feet on the other, to make doors. For platform and floor we used Ix 6 fencing and yellow pine. For foun dation we used red cedar posts. It can be built any length desired. The one I put up is fifty feet long and the platform is 11x18 feet. The stalls are 4%x7 feet, which I think is big enough for any sow. When the door is open it will let the sun in and if the door is shut it will keep the rain out. . I am in favor of a little sunshine for pigs and I think it is a great help to them. The house must be put- up east and west and the doors be put in on the south side. The doors’ are made to swing back, as seen at A. B. shows how to make a door. Where the legs come together or cross each other bore a hole and put a bolt through the legs and fence board. A Ix 6is used to hold the building together every four

BROOD SOW HOUSE.

nnl a half feet. The small doors 2x2 where sows go iu ami out are shown also. Little gates are made to pen them up. it Corn Crop of 1902. From what we read in our agricultural and other exchanges, it seems likely that the acreage of corn planted this year will be larger than ever before. and some of them are expressing a fear that the business will be overdone. and that prices will go so low as to render the crop an unprofitable one. If so the loss must fall upon those States which are known as the corngrowing sections, where corn is grown for sale. We hope our readers* who are mostly in the Eastern States, will not be frightened out of any Intention they have, formed to grow i-orn this year. They may if they please plan to have uflTtle. n wtne and pou itry tn feed ft to lf r they have good crops, and they will find that better than selling the corn, and vefy much better than buying corn to feed. They may find that drought or other causes may again reduce the Western corn crop, and if they chance to have a few bushels more than they can feed to good advantage, it w!U not be necessary to dispose of it at once, as if Tt were peaches or tomatoes. It will be good aiore than one year If well cared for, and we used to bear an old farmer say that corn In the crib and bay in the mow was better than money

In the bank. He seldom wanted to feed out corn less than a year old, but next fall will not find much year-old corn in this country.—American Cultivator.

Testing Seed Corn. There is no excuse for any one planting corn that is low in vitality and if the seed corn has not been well selected either during the growing season or in the fall and well cared tor during the winter, it should be tested at any time now before it is time to plant. There are several methods of testing corn, one of them to sprout the kernels between pieces of flannel which are kept saturated with water. A better plan is one that should be familiar to all farmers. Take a large flat dish, a large soup plate is just the thing, and fill it with very line sand. Over this pour water until the dish is brimming full; allow this to stand until the sand absorbs all it will, then pour off the surplus water. Select fifty or 100 kernels of corn, taking them from the centers of the ears, and place them in the sand, point down. Then sprinkle a little dry sand over the wet, cover the plate with another inverted and set in a warm room. Watch closely, and if the sand gets dry moisten with" warm water. In a week all of the kernels that will sprout will show the plant. Keep for ten days or two weeks, when the result should show 95 per cent sprouted. If less than this sprout it will not be a safe risk to use the corn for seed for the vitality will be too low to reasonably expect good .results. This is a simple test, but a sure one and readily made.

Fertilizer Crops.

Farmers generally are beginning to understand the full value of the plowed-under crop which may fairly be called a fertilizer crop, but all do not understand how such crops are handled to the best advantage. It is not at all necessary to have this fertilizer crop at the expense of the harvest crop unless the land is tco poor to grow a good crop for harvesting. Take, for example, a farm on which it seems necessary to use both commercial fertilizers and a turned-under crop in order to get it in Shape to crop repdntedly. Early in the season sow such soil to oats and peas, using one bushel of each per acre as seed, and just before the time to sow buckwheat plow the oat and pea crop under. Before sowing to buckwheat use commercial fertilizer at the rate of 100 pounds per acre, 100 pounds also having been used previous to the sow ing of the peas and oats. This fertilizer should contain considerable potash. The crop of buckwheat for the fertilizer and leave the ground in good shape for seeding, or rye may follow the buckwheat, using another 100 pounds of fertilizer before sowing the rye seed. This method will put tlie soil in fair shape, permit one to use the fertilizer crop and yet not at the expense of the harvest cfop. Demand for Peppers. The demand for peppers that are mild in flavor is increasing yearly,, and the vegetable is one that may be grown

with profit by any market gardener. To get the best results with peppers the seeds should be started in a hot bed, and when the plifnts are about an Inch high they should be transplanted to small

pots filled with fine and rich soil, and grown in this manner under the protection of a cold frame until June, when they may be transplanted to the open ground. The plants should be set two and onehalf feet apart in rich soil and manure should be worked in around the roots frequently during the season of growth. The illustration shows the variety. Sweet Mountain, which is very mild in flavor.

Duty of the Dairy Commissioner. It Is the duty of the dairy and food commisisioner of any State to carefully inquire into the quality of the dairy food and drink products and see that all foods are pure, free from adulteration and wholesome. This of course is a big task, and it may be some time before all of the States can come up to the standard. A good start, however, has been made, and where politics is kept out of the office much good has been done. Incubators Versus Hens. A correspondent says he fears that none of the manufacturers of incubators can as yet hold a candle anywhere to a setting lien. But there are so many poor hens that will do everything but sot properly that 1,000 eggs set in machines, even though they do not work quite satisfactorily, will usually give as many chicks as 1,000 eggs under hens, and a machine will set when you can And no hens. Hints for the Stable. Never use musty or dirty litter. Whitewash the stable once of twice a year; use land plaster In the manure gutters dally. ■Clean and thoroughly air the stable before milking; in hot weather sprinkle the floo-. Stables slK.ul.l be well ventlUfeJ; lighted and drained; should have tight floors and walls and be plainly constructed. Keep dairy cattle In a room or building by themselves. It is preferable to have no cellar below and no storage loft above. Every trial shows better returns when wheat is mixed with some other grain than when fed alone, although If prices permit It wheat may profitably form four-fifths of a grain ratioth* Mixing with other grains overcomes the tendency to form a party mess.

Weak? “ I suffered terribly and was extremely weak for 12 years. The doctors said my blood was 11l turning to water. At last I tried Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, and was soon feeling all right again.” Mrs. J. W. Fiala, Hadlyme, CL No matter how long you have been ill, nor how poorly you may be today, Ayer’s Sarsaparilla is the best medicine you can take for purifying and enriching the blood. Don’t doubt it, put your whole trust in it, throw away everything else. JI.M a bottle. AlldratfUk Ask your doctor what he thinks of Ayer's Sarsaparilla. He knows all about this grand old family medicine. Follow his advice and wo will bo satisfied. J. C. Artn co., Lowell, Mass. e of the best imported f£'American leathers, /K' llncluding Patent Corona / ; Aid, Corona Celt and I JgS 1 National Kangaroo. I L r,i( C.lor By.lMa aM< U WJJS *T I {CD I Noticeincrease of sales:! IN] I 1898, I Lz I 748.706 ( / 1901, / : 1,666,720 Pairs. A / H Business More Than , Doubled in j Tears. [WLDOUGLAsI Z.t.bllsk.4 ISIS. T'OR moro than a quarter f / T \\ of a century the repu- ; i y/I \\tation of W. L. Douglas’ I i Ai AZ Shoes for style, comfort, 1 MuX I If and wear has excelled all : Xl IZ other makes. They are UM 61 4 worn by more men in all IsK stations of life than any IEtA other make, because they av aro tlle 0,,1 X Shoes that in « ySS every way equal 85.00 and igf §B.OO shoes. They are the 18/. standard of the world. « This is the reason W. L, wgLwaaoßsM Douglas makes and sells ySfcT oj more men’s 83.50 and 83.00 V&- shoes than any other two ’Sgfr Jg manufacturers. A trial ■ xg&viy will convince you they are ! the best in the world. W. L. DOUGLAS $4 SHOES i CANNOT BE EXCELLED. ■ Sold by 63 Douglas stores in American j ’ Cities and best everywhere, ; CA.TTTTOX. TH. •>»’• W.UDee- i ' (Im asm. .nd price .tamped on beltem. j j Shoes bv mail, 25 cents extra. L Illustrated (Catalogue ‘free. ■ XV. 1.. DOUGLAS, Brockton, Mass. H

JUSTTHINKOFIT E»*ry farmer hl. own feWeTal landlord, no Ineum□jlUjTSrKl A Increasing year by year, % I land value increasing, stock increasing, splenv* fl • did cl 'nia te, excellent sc bools and churches, for cattle and grain, low railway rates, and every possible comfort. This is the condition of the ,farmer in Western Canada, Province of Manitoba and districts of Assiuiboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Thousands of Americans are now settled there. Reduced rates on all railways for homeseekers and settlers. New districts are being opened up thi- year. The new 40-page Atlas of Western Canada sent free to all applicants. Apply to F Pedley, Supt of Immigration, Ottawa. Can., or to C. J. Broughton, 1223 Monadnock Uldg., Chicago; N. Bartholomew, 306 sth-st., Des Moines. Iowa; M. V. Mclnnes, No. 2 Avenue Theaterßlk., Detroit,Mich.; Jas. Grieve, Sault Ste.Marie,Mich.; C. A. Laurier, Marquette, Mich.; T. O. Currie, 1 New Insurance Building, Milwaukee, Wis.; E. T. Holmes, Indianapolis, Ind., Agents for the Government of Canada. A Skin of Beauty Is a Joy Forever. DR. T. FELIX UOtRAVD'S ORIENTAL CREAM, OK MAUICAL ItEAL'TIFIER c o Removes Tan. Pimples, Freckj Moth Patches, Rash and ® 2 db-eaeee, and every blemW « ® £♦( on beauty.and X o IM /Fjdkdeflee detect ion. It »- “j to ffCxlhta stood the test K k-2 =2 & years, and SJaoiE'Sfr Bm// is so harmless we faria® zSr taste it to be sure it S>. I I Is properly made. CD Th j Accept no counter11/ of ■imilar JW f \ name « Dr- A. Aw Y-ffl \ Sa 7 r ® Bai<i to a /1 i \ lady of the hautI \ ton <a patienti: / J ' I will [S' them, I recomr / T 1 ril mend ‘Gouraud's I X I , Cream’ as the least b\X harmful of all the Skin prepare* tions.” For eale by all Druggists and Fancy-Goods Dealers in the IF. 8 , Canada and Europe. FRED T. HOPKINS. Proprietor. 87 Great Jones St., N. Y.

SAVE MONEY Buy your goods at - Wholesale Prices. Our 1 000-page catalogue will be sent upon receipt of 15 cents. This amount does not even pay the postage, but it Is sufficient to show us that you are acting in good faith. Better send for It now. Your neighbors trade with us —why not you also ’ 2 CHICAGO The house that tells the truth. RM® Rad way’a Ready Relief Ourea Headache, Toothache, Neuralgia. Rheumatism, Lumbago, pains and weakreea in the back, a pine or kidneys, paint around the irer. pleurisy, awaiting of the joints and paint of all kind", the a*>hlioation of Redway's Heady Relief will afford immediate ease and ita continued uae for a few tl.ji affects a permanent cure. Hold by Druggiata. _ BADWAY A CO. NEW xORI. 1.400 1.400 A<*E A ACHEB. “A Lake of Oil.” Mall draft for (SO to NEWELL A NEWELL, Fiscal Dansy.yejirln, ab.ros BERTHOUU OIL natmonk ia fnlL Common stock. |lu—loo .bars. All stock fall paid and non ■.aOMabla. All ctook partialTtaa alike la Aivideada ,400 1.-400 ACIIA A< BE*. HI addreaa on a portal"® 11 bring yo_ji trated Pamphlets | rrtanltlea of the woerwwasr ■ t, TACOMA, WASH. ■ be number 1, doyouFlaythTraces? gaw ogoauoa Bro<4dY*-'