The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1897-12-11
THE GROWTH OF A VOLCANO.
A Queer Process Going on Within
the Limits of Los Angeles.
From the Chicago Times-Herald.

From the Chicago Times-Herald
The baby volcano of the Sierre Santa
Monica This is the appellation Of the
strangest geological formation on the North
American continent. 1t shows no seismic
tendency; there has never been any vol
canic eruption Yet it is an incipient
volcano.
On the gentle slope of the mountains
there exists an area of land, boiling in fierce
chemical action, that is clutching deeper
into the heart of the foothills and singing
its very vitals. Below this foothill lies a
cavern, vaster than the mountain itself,
filled with liquid petroleum and vapors of
oil 1t is onl y one of the vast oil caverns
which lie beneath the city of Los Angeles,
fed by hundreds of minor cavities. 1t is a
gigantic lake Of hot, rancid, highly imfam-
mable. bituminOus rock OIL Toward that
dangerous, seething liquid mass the action
Of sulphates in the side of the foothill is
approaching. Strong chemical combustion,
characterized by gigantic heat, is creeping
toward the lake of hot oil.
They are sure to meet \ generation,
perhaps more, may pass before the en-
counter But when the clash comes North
America will be able to boast of mean
and desperately active volcano. Local
chemists, biologists, and oil miners have
been watching this incipient volcano for
five years. 1t was discovered then on the
side of Elysian Park, beautiful hill within
the city limits. 1t was white spot on the
surface about one foot in diameter from
which radiated an extraordinary amount of
heat. Truly peculiar discovery. twas
passed over with Indifference and disre-
garded But the spot grew larger from
month to month, from year to year. Fin
ally it was examined and the nature of the
action ascertained
1t was found to be more serious and per-
sistent than imagined Vast quantities of
sulphuric acid gas, fed from assure be-
low, were attacking with liberation of heat
a stratum of lime and forming sui phate of
lime, sulphate of iron, and sulphate Of
aluminium Carbonic acid gas and water
were freed by the reaction, which, con-
Stunning the oxygen in the atmosphere,
served to keep the spot moist and the ac-
ton continuous. Today the combustion is
more violent than ever.
There is no combustion in the ordinary
sense of the term No fire or flame is
visible. 1t Is chemical combustion, similar
to that of the chemical fire engine designed
to cast into visible fire chemicals which
have a still greater affinity for oxygen, and
which consume it so fast that the fame
has nothing to feed upon.
The chemical action in the young vol
cano is noiseless Yet it is fearful in its
significance. Like an unconquerable and
unquenchable monster, it is growing bigger
and bigger, deeper and deeper. 1t grows
by day and by night, noiselessly working
its insidious way toward the awful cavern
beneath
Why, the very line of action, the course
of its growth, is visible to the eye. Big
blisters are putting out more and more on
the hillside, excrescences growing in size
and number The sulphuric acid may be
detected by taste The spot is now TWEEN
ty-fve feet in diameter and its depth un-
known How long it will take to reach
the oil cavern beneath is matter of spec
ulation.
There will be an exciting time in Los
Angeles when the two forces meet. That
little foothill will be rent with hundred
assures. Great gaps will open up in Its
sides to give egress to the demoniacal
vapors imprisoned within. \ mighty vol
ume of smoke will rush out of the bowels
of the earth, followed by roaring, belching
flames, fed from below by an abyssal gulf
Of oil. Perhaps the lips Of the crater
formed will serve to keep the flames within
the scope of the mountain. But there are
greater possibilities for the young volcano.
Rivers of petroleum wind in and out below
the roots of many foothills. That young
volcano has superb chance Of making a
reputation for itself, such reputation as
the world of volcanoes and earthquakes has
never known. Vesuvius, Kilauea and
Shasta will be humbled.
There is nothing foolish in the fear that
the grandchildren of the present generation
may see that hill topped with cloud Of
smoke by day and pillar of fire by night, .
said William Mabury, chemist of reputa-
ton in the great Southwest. ''The time
for the beginning of action cannot be de-
termined, for the reason that the exact
depth to the infammable oils and vapors,
the rapidity Of action, and the certainty of
combustion are all unknown quantities.
Should this hopeful young American
volcano turn out successfully and produce
solfataric phenomena worthy Of the noun
tain that gave it birth, then it will be the
first known instance in the history of the
world of similar volcanic growth. No
record of so striking a phenomenon has
ever been kept or established. And the
baby volcano grows apace.