The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-10-06

TIIEISLANDOF SULPHUR.


About thirty miles from the shore
in the Bay of Plenty, North Island,
New Zealand, is an immense rock or
rather series of rocks, three miles in
circumference which rise precipitously
from the sea to height Of $50 feet.
"White Island is the name given to
the spot, and the name is particularly
appropriate because it is constantly
enveloped in thick impenetrable clouds
Of white vapor which rise to over TO-
600 feet in height, making White Is
land CONSPICUOUS object for many
miles around. 1t is perhaps the most
extraordinary island in the world, and
it is the subject of an interesting arti-
Gle by James r. Falconcr in the Sep
tember number of The Windsor Maga-
zine, and from this article we obtain
our facts.
The island is practically one mass
of sulphur, while the clouds Of vapor
constantly rushing from the craters
are highly charged with acid perfumes
which can be noticed sixty miles away.
The appearance from the sea is most
imposing, the rocks rise abruptly from
the waters. At first sight it seems i'm
possible to effect landing, but as the
the steamer sweeps around the south
| side of the island into Crater Bay, a
beach comes into view, which though
small is sufficient to admit of disem-
barkation provided the sea is calm.
This is the only level stretch on the is
land, the rest being great irregular
rocks.
In the center of the island is an i'm
mense lake so acres in extent and y
feet deep and it is Is feet above the
level of the sea. The water contains
vast quantities of acid and the temper
ature is about ll0o Fab 1t is dark
green, and dense clouds of dark sui
phurous fumes are constantly rolling
off from this boiling caldron. At one
of the lake are blowholcs, and the roar
of steam as it pours forth into the air
is deafening, and huge bowlers and
stones are often hurled to height of
several hundred feet.
A boat brought from the ship can
be launched on the lake, and the very
edges of the blowholes may be safely
explored, but the trip is by no means
an enjoyable one, and only those who
have inhaled fumes of acid can form
any idea Of their oyerpowering nature
when given off in large quantities from
such an expanse.
Should the boat upset, death would
be almost instantaneous. When the
boat was taken to the sea, it became
so carroded that it dropped to pieces
after all the passengers had been land
ed. The mouths of the blowholes are
wierd in extreme. Steam belches
forth from every fissurc and crevicc in
the rocks and ground, while the noise
browns all other sounds. The whole
island is in a ceaseless state of a2ita-
ton.
Except in the immediate neighbor-
hood of the craters no sulphur is appar-
ent OH the surface, but by digging a
little into the earth large beds of this
mineral will be laid bare, for the is
land is one mass of sulphur mixed with
quantity of gypsum and one or two
other substances. The White Island
sulphur is much esteemed on account
Of its purity, and it can be employed
for any purpose without any prelimi-
nary preparation. The older deposits
contain about 80 per cent pure sulphur,
and that around the blowho!es 90 per
cent. 1t is surprising that these i'm
mense deposits have not been more
Systematically worked Some years
ago company was formed for work
ing the deposits, but for lack of capital
the scheme was abandoned and the
amount Of sulphur and gypsum export
ed at present is very small. In the
event of serious war, doubtless the
island would Immediately rise to prom
inencc.- Scientific Aaaerican.