West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1896-03-12


ton. If a man violates the laws
it makes no difference whether h,
commits misdcmeanor or felony
he must serve the spunky little re
public by digging on The road.
At four o'clock the Volcano
House. Mr.. Peter Lee, proprietor
was reached. One has all the evi
dences of the near proximity of 9
volcano on approaching the house.
Steam was issuing from the seam:
in the lava-crusted earth along the
roadside, and when we gained the
higher ground we could see fol-
miles about us. There were q
! thousand assures in the earth from
which hot steam and smoke were
issuing, while far off to the west
the smoke from the eternal fires OF
Lllauca gave it the appearance OF
Dore's paintings of Dante's Infer.
no. Below tho Volcano House, not
three hundred PAGES away, arc vast
sulphur banks from which issues
yapor in continuous stream. Mr..
Lee, the proprietor, has bailt a
bath house, and conveys the sui
phur vapor To it, the healing pro
perties OF which he declares are IN
eGualed.
The Volcano House is g large,
commodious country inn, with ac-
commodations equal to such places
in the United States. 1t is u great
pleasure resort and patronlzsd ex
tensively by iuvaliis. Altho it
would seem TINT one could almost
stand on its porch and throw stone
into the crater, it is three miles
away.
My guide, whose name was AL.
bert, was u strange mixture OF
nationalities, lie was born in
Japan, his mother was native OF
the Gilbert Islands, and his father
a Frenchmen. lie had been rear
cd in California and was only tenn
porarily in Hawaii Tho very
intelligent fellow, he was unable to
solve the problem of his nationali.
ty. tried to, but soon gave 1T up.
Mounting my horse in the court
I'M front OF the house we began the
descent. BY zigzlg course we
wound our way down the cliff into
the first crater, which is three miles
across, our path sometimes leading
along the side of tho cliff, and the
projecting rocks almost grazing
our knees as we passed. We gained
the second plain or great crater at
last. This plain is covered with
dark lava plains which in the dis
tancc looks like congo lied gu ag.
mIre.
Once upon this PLAN we entered
o path made across the lava. Il
places ferns were growing out from
the seams in the crust. As W,
pressed on over the chasm river
surface We came upon wider
deeper crack spanned by bridge
There IS a story connected Will
this chasm, the guide said. On,
day a party Of tourists left the Vol
cano House and went to sec In
crater, which was then active
While they were there the island wa
convulsed with an earthquake. Mr
Lee, fearing some BARN had be
fallen his guests, ran to the Law
flow to find this awful chasm from
thirty to fifty feet deep. lie wa
very much alarmed for mis- guest
until he saw them coming acros
the lava flow. They had scarcol
felt tho earthquake at all, but the
had to go about a mile above f
cross this chasm.
Half o mile from the Lake q
Fire, as the second crater is called
we came upon a small corral mad
Of lava, in which we left the horses
and armed with stout sticks. prc
ceeded over the plain Of hard qlar
ing lava, through the seams q
which sulphurous steam CONSTANT
bissed
~ last we gained the side Of tb
lake. The crater was inactive. nm.
had been 80 Tor a year (sinco Nh
Nusick's visit, this volcano ba
been IN eruption. According {
the newspaper reports, Che now q
lava began on January 5th). bo
far down into iis hollow depths tb
faint GLOW 0f fros or heated sto,o