Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-05-29
MARTINIQUE AND
CANAL PROBLEM
SCIENTIST THINKS NICARAGUA
ROUTE DANGEROUS.
LIES lNs VOLCANIC ZONE
Cause of Great Eruption in West
Indies Due TO instantaneous Gener
alton of Steam-Land Overlooked
by Lava to be Barren Rock for
Generations.

Philadelphia. May 1.-"Apart from
its appalling characteristics, the erup-
ton of Mt. Pelee, on Martinique, ana
the volcanic disturbances on the ada
cent island of st. Vincent. have o
most important bearing upon the
problem of transisthmian canal con-
struction. 1t emphasizes to the
geologist very plainly the daaSer to
which canal will be subject which
is planned on the Nicaraguan route
with active and sentative volcanoes
located directly on the line and I'M
mediately about 1t, On the other
hand the route of the Panama canal
is not menaced by either active or
semi-extinct volcanoes"
This statement was made by Profess
sor Angelo Heilprin, of this city
Professor Heilprin is one of the
highest authorities on geology and
volcanic phenomena in the country
He was recently elected president OF
the Geographical society of Phila-
delphia and is member of the
Academy of Natural Sciences and OF
the board of directors of the American
Geographical society Continuing
Professor Heilprin said; with the
emphasis which is now given by the
present eruption to the similar
catastrophe events that have pre-
ceeded it NJ the last half century, /.
would hardly be less than folly to EN-
bark upon an enterprise of such vast
IN n n ar1 Il.
templated IN this canal along the
route Winch has been first recon-
mended by the isthmian canal com
mission when there is q choice of
routes lea. to us in another region
which has thus lar shown itself to be
entirely free from obstructive mani
festations of lis nature.
There is no reason to assume that
any new volcanoes will be suddenly
constituted in that region. Earth
! quake disturbances, which are so
j largely associated with the reg on
and which are in a great measure de-
pendent upon volcanic phenomena, ore
as compared with those of the Mica
raguan region, insignifcant--no truly
destructive earthquake having been
| known in Panama since 1921.
Fatalities Compared.
I Measured by previous occurrences
| this eruption of Martinique is perhaps
the most destructive of any recorded,
although in the loss of life it is per-
haps paralleled by that of Krakatoa,
near Jaca, in 1888. At that time, also,
10000 lives are assumed to have bee,
, lost, but the destruction of humanity
was mainly the result of the inflowing
of an overwhelming sea. In the
present case the loss of life appears
to have been due almost entirely TO
the discharge of flowing lava. the
election of an enormous mass or
red-hot cinders and the emulation of
suffocadng gases, thus recalling the
history of Vesuyius in 10 A. d., when
Pompeii and Herculaneum were over.
whelmed. The suddenness of the late
cataclysm is truly appalling, but T. is
remarkable that the inhabitants o,
st. Pierre did not take warning from
the volcanoes signs of activity durinL
the weeks previous. and especially
from the shower of ashes several DAYS
before, when the people had 10
breathe through handkerchiefs on &C.
count OF the accompanying gases.
mo geologist can say what causes
any particular eruption, although the
broad principles of volcanic phenom
ena are pretty well understood. One
fundamental principle associated with
every volcanic eruption Is the ex
crusanee of matter from the earth's
interior either as the result of direct
pressure of the earth's crust upon
molten material existing at no yer,
great distance beneath the surface or
through the sudden generation ana
liberation OF steam brought to the
point of contact by infiltration OF
water.
Cause of the Eruption
The sudden disturbance in the
present instance would seem to be due
to an almost instantaneous generation
of steam. Mt Pelee as well as the
volcanoes OF st. Vincent and the
neighboring Caribbean islands is
situated in region of extreme weak
ness of the earth's crust, which Las
It's parallel in the Mediterranean
basin on the opposite side of the
Atlantic This American region OF
weakness extends westward from the
Lesser Antilles across the gulf into
Mexico where are some of the Hottest
volcanoes Of the globe. such as
Popocatepetl and Orizaba, both now
IN somnolent condition, and in the
more westerly volcano of Colima.
which has been in almost continuous
eruption for ten years. The Same
region Of weakness includes almost
the whole of Central America, The
volcanoes OF Costa RIGA and Mica.
ragua having been repeatedly active
almost up to our own time.
The assertion has been made that
there has been a decrease in the
volcanoes, but no geologlst is in a