The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-06-03
THE LOCATION OF CITIES WITH RESPECT TO VOLCANIC DISTURBANCES

land OF Guadeloupe consists OF two
parts, the mountainous. containing the
great "soufriere." or sulphur mountain.
ana the level tract beyond Salt river.
which Is of coraline formation. The
Guadeloupe volcano has sent out smoke
and vapors within recent years and
may at any moment vomt a flood OF
lava down upon the town OF Basse
Ierre, lying along the bay at its base.
AS the prevailing winds among these
Islands are constantly from the north
east, their Atlantic coasts have few
safe harbors, all commerce being car
ried on along the "leeward" or Carib-
bean. shores. In the island OF Mar
Unique there is no good anchorage be-
tween the roadstead OF st. Pierre and
the landlocked bay of Fort de France.
about twelve miles distant, and as there
Is vast tract Of fertile country ada
cent TO the roadstead IL was quite nat
ural that a town should grow up right
where IL did. at st. Pierre. Mont
Pelee had not been In active eruption
within the memory Of man, and though
II smoked and rumbled occasionally IL
was not considered really dangerous by
the natives of Martinique. They con-
sidered only the natural. and CONNER
cial advantages In the location of their
town and will probably ignore the
warning that has been given them and
relocate Ii on or near the same spot.
The best harbor OF Martinique's near
est island to the south, st. Lucia. hap
pens TO lie at its northern end as far as
any other from its smoking soufriere.
1t is completely land inclosed, with a
narrow entrance and deep water within
and is considered the best for it's size in
the West Indies. The hills above this
port of Castrles have been fortified at
great expense by the British govern
ment, and the island is called second
Gibraltar
The bay OF Kingstown in st. Vincent,
lies at distance of about ten miles
from the soufriere which has been i'm
such active eruption recently as TO de-
stroy all the adjacent plantations and
thousands OF lives. sending its volcanic
lava and ashes not only all over the is
land. but over Barbados. nearly 100
miles away.
About seventy miles south of st. Vim
cent is the island OF Grenada, the south.
ernmost of the volcanic chain, the prin-
cipal town of which is built upon the
brim of a crater invaded by the sea
There is another crater in the interior
OF Grenada. and il IL were to explode
there would be little hope of saving any
settlement on the island.
In glancing over the world Il will be
seen that nearly every volcano has Ell
ther a town or a harbor, sometimes
both conjoined. at or near it's base, not
only in the Lesser Antilles, but i'm South
America, Mexico. Italy. Japan and i'm
our own country. Herculaneum, Pom
peii and st. Pierre are not the only
cities have been destroyed by
overconfidence in the virtues of old Vul-
can, who is said by the ancients to have
held a restraining power over the inte-
rior forces of the world.
In point of fact, IL is hardly possible
TO locate a town or city that can be
considered as wholly safe within the
seismic or volcanic area. The vast
forces within the earth's interior by
which water is converted into super
heated steam and rocks are reduced to
molten mud and incandescent sand are
beyond all human control, illimitable in
their scope and cannot be evaded or re-
sisted.
FREDERICK A. OBER.