Historical Notes

A labourer from Overland speaks about the 1902 volcanic eruption

Charles Alexander, a 40-year-old labourer from Overland who had gone to the Georgetown hospital to seek medical help for severe burns received on the face, neck, wrists and legs, told his story of the event.{{more}}

“I lived at Overland. On the morning of the eruption I was cutting canes on the Tourama estate. About 9’o clock there was a drizzle of rain with ashes falling, but I still goes on work, then ashes fall heavier. About 12 o’clock I start to go home, I hear a great noise in the direction of the mountain like a rushing river. All the people then start to run from the village Tourama way, but when we get half part of the way we turned back, because we meet the Tourama people coming to Overland. As soon as we reach Overland again, large stones began to drop and this cause all the people (to) run into the houses. With many others, I run into Victor Sutherland’s shop. It have a strong galvanized roof, but soon some large stones fall through the roof. At about 2 0’clock, great darkness came on, and we shut the doors and windows. After this, a great heat came with hot ashes, through the chinks of the doors and windows and through the holes in the roof. The hot ashes get into our mouths and stop our mouths as fast as we try to breathe. We toss backwards and forwards for about two seconds, then everyone fell down.

I did not lose my senses, but cannot tell exactly what happened after I fall. I feel chocked with the hot stuff going down my belly and smell plenty sulphur. This did not last too long, only two or three minutes then I try to get up, but two people both dead, die across me and after a struggle enough I get on my feet, I then know I was burned. I think I was burned when lying on the floor. I now open a window a little to get air, this revived me a little, but stones still dropped and more ashes come in, I shut it again, I watched the great black cloud for about two minutes while the window was open, it was full of fire like lightning, and I see stones drop on the ground break in pieces and glow. At the time many people in the shop done dead and some of the houses outside were burning. Stones now ceased to drop and there was a calm- this would be about 4 o’clock, and it was still dark. We now open the windows and doors and sit up till day clean then I walked to the hospital at Georgetown. I know of six people being alive in the shop, next morning they were all burned. I think about eighty people die in the shop, most after we fall but some during the night.”

Reports indicated that all who left the shelter during the wave of hot ashes were killed in a few minutes. Victor Sutherland of Georgetown fell from his horse at Orange Hill while riding from Overland and was picked up dead. This is, most likely, the same Victor Sutherland at whose shop Charles Alexander had sheltered during the first outburst from Soufriere.