Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-02
TAKES LOOK INTO CRATER
Prof Angelo Heilprn Spends Two Hours
on Top of Mount Pelse.
VIOLENT ERUPTloNS OCCUR At TIME
Successful Adventurer Represents Ma
'onaL Geographical Society and is
N. 'Omponied on PeriIOus As
y =" Z by other Members.

FL. IN June 1.-The NATIONAL
GeosrapL II > has scored a great
triumph. Pi, ngelo Heilprin ascended
to the top of the crater of, Mount Pelee
this morning, in company with two guides
and Mr.. Leadbetter. While on the summit
several violent explosions occurred. but
Notwithstanding the thousand dangers sur
rounding him. Prof. Heilprin spent a long
tins taking careful observations. Looking
down the crater he found a huge cinder
cone. The crater opening is vast crew
asse 500 feet long and $50 feet wide.
While engaged in this task the lives Of
the members of the expedition were con-
tinually in danger and one particularly
violent explosion covered Prof. Heilprin
from head to foot with the viscid matter
He persisted, however, and found, as had
been suspected, that there were three sep
arate vents for the volcanic matter. Mean
while Mount Pelee seeming to resent the
intrusion OF man belched out huge volumes
of steam, ashes and boiling hot mud.
Craters Act Together.
Prof. Heilprin made the important dis
covery that the crater OF Fallaise has an
eruption at the same time as the summit
crater and elects precisely the same mat
ter. Both craters showed a new phenom-
enon during the professors visit when mud
was thrown up In high columns, while
heretofore the mud has bubbled or boiled
out and flowed downward in huge streams.
There is reason to fear that great damage
may result from the outbursts CT this mud
to the rich plantations still uninjured..
The ascent was made on mules to an ahi-
tude of 700 meters, the line OF ancient veg
citation. There, leaving the mule that had
carried him, the professor proceeded on
foot to the site OF Lake Palmiste. He
found the lake completely dried UP and
crossed the bed, passing up a slope to the
crater's edge. This, which had formerly
been a high blum. Prof Heilprin said, had
fallen into the crater. This is the hrst
important verified typographical alteration
noted. Prof. Heilprin remained at the
summit of the crater over two hours.
La sOufriere stIII Active.
JAMESTOWN, st. Vincent. May S1.-La
Soufriere volcano is still active. Another
eruption occurred at 3 o'clock this morn
ing. 1t was accompanied by a thundrous
noise and a shock of earthquake, while
volumes of dense smoke ascended to such
height that they were visible from
Kingstown. The vapor formed a thick
cloud over the crater Of the volcano and
this cloud was illumined as II by fre. In
the crater itself lightning was more vivid
than at any previous time. No damage
was done. With the exception OF these
occurrences the night was quiet and the
weather fair. Throughout Friday the
crater was capped with dense gray and
silver clouds and sand fell heavily this
morning on the leewsrd side OF the noun
tain within a radius of eight miles.
The American scientist who started to
ascend La Soufriere is still striving to
reach the summit. During the intervals
when the volcano was quiet yesterday he
reached a point almost half way up the
mountain.
Island May subside.
He reports that the island OF st. Vim
cent may subside. There are clear indica-
tions, he says, that a considerable portion
Of the leeward district will subside. Owing
to the continued rain there have been
heavy floods in the windward district OF
the island and many houses have been
washed away or filled with mud. At Ra-
bacca, the storehouse, a large brick build
ing, was washed into the sea by stream
Of mud. The wharf at Rabacca and the
cargo crane there are also covered with
mud.
News has reached here of another erup-
tion Of Mount Pelee on Martinique on May
27. Owing to the great quantity of ashes
which fell on the British island OF Do
minica that day it is presumed that the
eruption which threw them out was OF
great severity Mount Pelee is still emit
ting vast columns of smoke and flashes
from it have been seen forty and fifty miles
from st. Pierre.