Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-02-17
.ooocATEPETL.s CRATER.
=. ~ pssoiation Sublime In Its Unap-
pe"' ,roachabIe Grandeur.

.xDssolation Sublime In Its Unap-
proachable GRANDEUR.
II the wandering millions since
weary world was young. few feet
Wv" aver reached this spot, and OF
tew not many have been wo-
=. Think of it--over three and
elias in mid air, half a mile above
.;n.top pinnacle of Mont Blanc!
highest mountain in Europe lacks
two thousand feet of being as lofty
|ponocatapetl. OF course. the chief
o Of interest on top OF the volcano
Io crater. Imagine the interior of
sountain literally blown out by an
p,os;op. to the depth of one thousand
H. hundred feet, leaving narrow
:, an its inside surface, over which
sea of snow curls higher than
"a head. looked over the dizzy
- in mute establishment A vast
rity. unsupported from the outside,
,.sst a mile across, sank away at my
\ rock-ribbed, ragged and
along its prccipitous sides.
|. of the orifice in its
and dismal bottom rose jets OF
sam putting and blowing in the dead
a workman who had wrought in
crater told me that the fumeros, or
Fam vents, instead of being foot in
Esmeter, as they appeared, measured
nm twelve to eighteen feet. The
nor pouring out Of these holes is
|ghly impregnated with sulphur,
|eich is deposited on the rocks and in
4 soil. furnishing an inexhaustible
! puly Of this valuable mineral. The
[ane and rigging for lowering the
Eorkmen into this inferno consists of a
Iroug beam projecting few feet over
Il abyss; over pulley in the end
Ems a long rope, with loop in the
bwer end. The person wishing to
escend stands in the loop, holds the
Inc in one hand and with the other
manages stick to protect himself
Fom injury by swinging against the
bcks Two poems let the rope run
Iowly over the pulley, and the descent
ccupies about fifteen minutes.
The bottom of the crater is covered
Eith scoria, which glitters with various
plors. In one place is a stone, so large
hi. a man can stand upon it, which
ises and falls as it feels the effect of
he subterranean vapors. At the low
n point is lake, the water Of which
las an acid taste. The edge of the
.rater is composed of immense bowl
|ers of porphery and basalt, and one
pay descend some distance on foot by
in icy pathway leading downward to
be huge rock which supports the
ualacate, or machine for lowering the
rorkmen. Since the mountain has
BEEN giving out its sulphurous breath
|or unnumbered centuries, the amount
llready existing is beyond estimation,
ind something like ton is daily
deposited. 1t would hardly be
IN exaggeration to say that the
upper part of the mountain is an
immense block of sulphur, inclosed in
shell of rock few yards thick.
Three qualities of sulphur are obtained
by the operations here. The best is
almost chemically pure, and is OBJ
lained at the resperados, or steam
rents whence it issues in liquid state
and hardens as it cools. The other
two qualities are known to the trade as
rich and pure sulphur ore. The
former yields from cighty-two to
eighty-seven per cent of pure sulphur;
the latter about fifty per cent The
process used in its publication is that
Of Michel. Distillation takes place at
Tlamacas in half-cyiinders which serve
IS retorts. One who has stood upon
the brink of that crater can never for
get the awful silence that broods over
the scene of desolation. Fannie D..
Ward, in Troy IN r. Times.