ten o'clock
Still the sailors worked steadily , shoveling off the ash over the vessel 's side , still the pumps worked , though now the water brought up from the harbor was like gruel and scarcely could be forced through the pipes . Every few minutes , from the hills around the village , avalanches of ashes could be heard , the terrible clouds of débris flying over the town and adding to the choking smother . Orders were given for all people to gather on the vessel or the wharf . By ten o'clock the last of the gray ash-covered ghosts was mustered in , 185 people on the vessel , 149 in the warehouse on the wharf . Blinded by ash , with throats so burned by the acrid fumes that even a hoarse whisper was agony , with nostrils bleeding from constant effort to keep them from being clogged with the fine dust , and with a stabbing pain in the lungs with every breath one drew , the people were at the extremity of their endurance . The situation looked desperate both for the residents and for the officers and crew of the Coast Guard cutter . The officers of the _ Bear _ worked incessantly .