MT. PELÉE 1902,
TPP AND GLOBAL TYRANNY
PART 1 of 2
by Steven Neill
November 24, 2015
NewsWithViews.com
NAFTA on Steroids
“The TPP, along with the WTO [World Trade Organization] and NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement], is the most brazen corporate power grab in American history.” -Ralph Nader[1]
To borrow a phrase from FDR:[2] “Thursday, November 5th, 2015, a date that will in infamy – the United States was openly and deliberately attacked by the Oval Office and Corporate Headquarters of the emerging Worldwide Corporatist Empire, better known as the New World Order.”
Though many disregard the NWO line of thinking, there is little else that describes the openly perverse relationship between governments and corporations today. From the job killing NAFTA,[3] CAFTA[4] and GATT,[5] to the food controlling DARK Act,[6] and now the Orwellian trio TPP,[7] TTIP,[8] and TiSA,[9] we are witnessing a merger of government and corporations unlike anything the world has ever seen.
From Nero using the burning of Rome by “Christians”[10] to the burning of the Reichstag by the “communists,”[11] keeping the population focused on one thing while quietly moving behind the scenes to implement a hidden agenda is a practice as old as politics. This policy was immortalized by Rahm Emanuel[12] when he plagiarized Winston Churchill by saying “never let a good crisis go to waste.” While ignoring the outright corporate takeover inside TPP, main stream media is focusing on Ben Carson’s “West Point Scandal,”[13] the University of Missouri football “scandal”[14] and a 20 member team to help President Obama “find his online voice.”[15]
This tactic is certainly not unlike what was used in 1902, Martinique by the ruling Progressive Party[16] to stay in power and later, their rival’s in the election as well. Their power hungry scheme eventually cost between 30,000 to 36,000 lives and acts as a chilling lesson in history of what happens when one blindly follows the media and government.
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” -Socrates[17)
Martinique was a volcanic island supported by the production of rum in 1902. St. Pierre was the largest city in Martinique and one of the largest in the Caribbean. It had been affectionately named the "Paris of the West Indies,"[18] with its theater and grand parties. The permanent population was around 26,000 along with a large number of out of town workers. The capital city of Fort-de-France, had a population of about 17,000.
The 1902 election was slated to be a very important one for the country with the growing divide between the establishment Progressive Party candidate Fernand Clerk and a local radical candidate Amadee Knight for the French Chamber of Deputies. Clerk, had the support of Andreus Hurard, owner, editor and publisher of Les Colonies, the country’s main newspaper. Hurard was determined that Clerk should win the election.
"the safety of St. Pierre is completely assured." -St Pierre Civic Committee[19]
1902 was not the first recorded eruption of Mount Pelee. In 1792 it had a violent earthquake opening vents near the crater, scorching trees and killing many birds. Also, there had been a minor eruption in 1851[20] that many elderly inhabitants could remember ash covering some areas and then going back to sleep.
In May of 1901, Professor Gaston Landes,[21] the most scientifically educated man on the island, began seeing small wisps of smoke rising from Mount Pelee. But those subtle changes took on more ominous overtones by April the 2nd 1902, when it began belching clouds of steam and smoke. A strong odor of sulfur became pervasive. On April 22nd Landes notes some small earthquakes on his seismoscope, and the main undersea cable line to Guadeloupe broke. On April 23 there was a sizeable eruption, with tremors felt throughout the north end of the island, and when people awoke on April 24, a layer of white ash was covering everything. ‘Mrs. Prentiss, the wife of the American consul in St Pierre wrote a letter home: “The smell of sulphur is so strong that horses in the street stop and snort, and some of them drop in their harness and die of suffocation. Many of the people are obliged to wear wet handkerchiefs to protect themselves from the strong fumes.”[22]
Several people climbed the volcano on April 27, to find it filled with water. On one side of the lake was a 45 foot high cone of volcanic debris spewing out boiling water and loud sounds resembling a cauldron with boiling water reverberating from within the mountain. By April 30, the boiling water reached the rivers Roxelane and Riviere des Peres causing them to swell and dislodge boulders and trees from the mountaintop. The villages of Precheur and Ste. Philomene were receiving a steady stream of ash.
May 2, the mountain produced loud detonations, earthquakes, and a massive pillar of dense black smoke. Ash covered the entire northern half of the island. The detonations continued in 5 -6 hour intervals. Farm animals started dying from hunger and thirst, as their sources of water and food were contaminated with ash.
At this point, Fernand Clerk started his efforts to persuade people that they should evacuate St. Pierre. Just after noon on May 3 he assembled 12 of the town's most influential people and put his case to them. They thought he was mad. Evacuation was insane. How could it be done? Where would people go? Think of the interruption to commerce. In any case, said the detractors, there were enough valleys between the crater and St. Pierre that there was no way for lava to reach the town. Amadee Knight, not wanting to side with his political opponent, went around telling people that the volcano would only quiet down when they voted the white progressive party out of power.
Meanwhile Le Colonies had an upbeat special edition written by Hurard which started "Yesterday the people of St. Pierre were treated to a grandiose spectacle in the majesty of the smoking volcano..." He let it be known that he thought there was no risk in the town, but that they should welcome refugees from the hills. He finished by saying that they had to postpone a planned trip to the crater, but would reschedule as soon as possible.
On Sunday, May 4, the ash cloud was so dense that the coastal boats feared to navigate through it. Those citizens that could afford to fled the island on boats. By now, most of the island was covered with a thin layer of ash. Animals were growing restless; the Guérin Sugar Works, two miles northwest of St. Pierre, was invaded by a great swarm of biting speckled ants and foot-long centipedes. St. Pierre was overrun with hundreds of frightened fer-de-lance snakes slithering through the streets, biting anybody who strayed too close killing some 50 people and 200 animals. Many people living in outlying areas under the volcano abandoned their houses and fled to St. Pierre, swelling the population.
On the morning of, May 5,[23] the mountain calmed down somewhat; however, at about 1 PM, the sea suddenly receded about 100 meters and then rushed back, flooding parts of the city, and a large cloud of smoke appeared westwards of the mountain. One wall of the volcano crater collapsed and propelled a mass of boiling water and mud, or lahar, into Riviere Blanche, flooding the Guérin sugar[24] works and burying about 150 victims under 180 to 270 feet of mud. Refugees from other areas rushed into St Pierre. That night, the atmospheric disturbances disabled the electric grid, sinking the city into darkness and adding to the confusion.
It was unfortunate that about this time, Martinique Governor Mouttet, in Fort de France read the report from his Commission on the Volcano; it concluded: "There is nothing in the activity of Pelee that warrants a departure from St. Pierre." They concluded that the position of the craters and valley opening onto the sea was such that "The safety of St. Pierre was absolutely assured."
On May 6 the mayor of St. Pierre had put posters all over town telling people they were not in danger. 100’s of terrified residents fled the city nevertheless and were spared the coming doom, those that did not, sealed their fates. Some accounts claim Governor Mouttet posted troops to stop refugees from fleeing south.[25]
The final day before the eruption, May 7, the final undersea telegraph cable broke. St. Pierre’s most important communication link was dead. Marino Leboffe, captain of the Italian ship Orsolina showed uncommon good sense. He stopped taking cargo and left against customs orders without clearance saying as he left: "I know nothing about Mount Pelée, but if Vesuvius were looking the way your volcano looks this morning, I'd get out of Naples." He was in a minority; about eighteen other ships stayed in the harbor.[26]
“We watched the town vanish before our eyes" -Unnamed Survivor
Sunday, May the 8th was Ascension Day,[27] one of the biggest and most important Church services of the year. Fernand Clerk awoke and started to dress for the service. He heard a strange burping noise from the volcano and went to check the barometer he kept on the balcony. He could not believe his eyes, the needle was oscillating wildly. He aroused everyone in the house and told them to leave at once for Fort de France. He put his wife and four children in a carriage he kept waiting, and fled for his estate in Parnasse.
Apart from all the residents, many people had come from Fort-de-France for the church service. Quite a few people approaching St. Pierre from the mountain road stopped when they saw something strange; a wind like a mini-hurricane bent trees and broke branches around the summit. A glowing rock stratum grew around the summit of the volcano. At this point Fernand Clerk arrived at high speed in his carriage. He jumped out and pointed to his barometer - it was stuck, it had broken when he pulled it off the balcony. A big dark cloud covered the mountain and hid the sun. A glowing red ball grew out of the side of Mt. Pelee with a terrifying roar, then slowly detached itself and swept down on St. Pierre.
The glowing red ball was a cloud of superheated gas and steam, it set fire and destroyed everything in its path, reducing St. Pierre to rubble, and cremating most people alive. Around 30,000 people died, including Governor Mouttet,[28] Professor Landes, and Andreus Hurard. It moved into the bay destroying the ships at anchor. One steamship, the Roddam, with horribly burnt survivors, managed to limp away. A few survivors were later taken off other burning ships.
In town there were two confirmed survivors, a cobbler called Leandre, and the now famous Ludger Sylbaris. Leandre was badly burnt, but unlike all those around him and even those in his house, he survived.
Sylbaris[29] was in the thick of the cloud, but he was in a heavy stone dungeon two floors down in the police station. It was a few days before he was discovered.
“I have come from hell” -Captain Edward Freeman[30]
One of the more interesting and amazing survivor stories is told by Zebrowski. The ferry Diamant had just landed its passengers and was tied to the dock. The ship's boy, Jean Baptiste Innocent, was on the quay. As he saw the firestorm approach he dived underwater and stayed below as long as he could. While he was under, Diamant's boiler exploded and it capsized. When he surfaced the whole town was on fire. He clung to a floating plank and was rescued some 7 hours later.
When the Deputy Governor sent a French warship, the Suchet, to investigate, the captain and crew were horrified at the total destruction that they saw. While they attempted to approach the city to provide assistance, the heat from the ash and the fires kept them back. The total area of devastation covered more than 21 square kilometers (8 square miles) with Saint Pierre being the worst area affected. Although there were numerous survivors from the fringes of the blast zone, many would later die from burns and smoke inhalation.
When the Suchet[31] finally landed, the captain and crew found a scene of total devastation. Not a single tree was left standing and dead bodies lay everywhere, many of whom had no time to escape. Those bodies that could be examined seemed entirely peaceful, the heat had killed them before than even had time to react or feel pain. As the fires subsided, sanitation parties slowly entered the areas of greatest devastation but many bodies were unable to be recovered for weeks after the eruption.
Most were unrecognizable. International relief efforts slowly arrived. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt requested emergency funding from Congress stating that "one of the greatest calamities in history has befallen our neighboring island of Martinique. The city of Saint Pierre has ceased to exist."
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The volcano continued to erupt for months. An even worse pyroclastic flow finished off what little there was left of St. Pierre. During the eruptions a curious pinnacle formed, sticking hundreds of feet out of the volcano and looking like a monument, it was called the Tower of Pelee, and eventually crumbled. Some years after the eruption, people moved back into St. Pierre and by 1929, when the volcano erupted again, there were a few thousand inhabitants. This time everyone evacuated without question. For part two click below.
Click here for part -----> 1, 2,
© 2015 - Steven Neill - All Rights Reserve
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