The New Student's Reference Work/Mont Pelée

Mont Pelée, a volcanic mountain in the island of Martinique, overlooking the town of Saint Pierre, was the scene of a terrible and disastrous eruption during May, June, July and August, 1902. On May 8th over 20,000 people were destroyed in Saint Pierre by an eruption of steam and red-hot ashes. The town met the fate of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Boiling mud, steam and rocky bombs, rather than lava, characterized the eruption. The height of the mountain previous to the eruption was estimated at 4,300 feet. After the eruption it had been completely transformed. A sort of column was thrust up above the original summit, so that the height after the eruption was no less than 5,200 feet.