The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-07-05
THE VOLCANO BELT.

I
Coming north from Trinidad. one finds
/ a restless. duh alarm at every port oser
/ the volcanic disturbances in ST Vincent
and Martinique says a writer in the New
York Evening Post. All the islands be-
ine volcanic in origin, and many having
mountains which steam or smoke contin-
uCusly, their inhabitants have been for
the time shaken out OF their nerves. They
/ have always the fear OF hurricanes and
| earthquakes. but for two generations they
/ had not seen red ruin leap from the
burning mountains'' and had grown
forgetful OF the reckiessness of their stu
alton
On Grenada there is an extinct vol
cano, with q placid lake in the crater
and Of course no spot IS SO popular for
picknicking- The government maintains
accommodate excursiOnists and Weekend
holiday makers. There is an extinct
| crater also in the harbor. which. the pop
ulation OF the port declare. boiled on the
| day Of the eruption. on May Z. Of the
Soufriere Of St Vincent. the island next
10 the north in this precious queen s
necklace OF Islands Hurricanes. on &C
count OF its situation just out o. their
/ beaten path, rarely bother Grenada. and
! earthquakes never. The worries AT pres
ent are that the volcano win burst, that
the negroes VIII rise. that cocoa planta-
tons in Africa yielding their first crop
II. 1904 viii ruin the cocoa-raising indus
try which Grenada has profitably estab-
iished since the fall OF sugar
ST. Vincent next 10 the north as We
cruise, is the unlucky isle" 1t has been
an expense TO the home government for a
great while. and had not Yet recovered
from destructive hurricane. when the
Scufriere, its volcano. erupted on May I,
killing nearly 5000 persons. disabling hun
dreds more. annihilating about all that re-
bained OF the once powerful aborigines
OF the Caribbees. and covering one end OF
the island with a depth OF ashes thar
viii make it a desert for years 10 come
Every family has its stories of hurricanes.
4 typical one is that of Mrs Brisbane.
who manages the only house OF public
entertainment, who saw the roof taken OF
ker house one wild night and crush in
the head OF her sick husband sitting IN
his chair: and on another waited in vain
for her only son, who had gone 10 =
neighbours before the storm. He was
never seen after that hurricane. Three
times she has seen her house blow down.
You ask her why she does not leave the
island, and she answers:
But 10 go where? This is my home;
here are my friends"
Then comes ST Lucia, where the Brit
isl are improving their military de-
naval base in the West Indies. Il is one
of the islands OF which writers have said:
a grander or more romantic landscape
than that presented by the wide, sweep
ing view may not be imagined-it is in
cCmparatly beautiful Ashore you find
the people in terror of the lion OF St.
Lucia an active volcano. continually
pouring forth steam and mud. and show
ing bright lemon-colOred sulphur deposits
about its lips. There are hot sulphur
pools near by. To get the waters cool
enough 10 battle in, they have to be
drawn off into an artificial reservoir The
mountain frequently rumbles, but there
was no unusual disturbance this sum
mer The vegetation is copper-cOlored,
grarled and stunted-an uncanny spot
Besides having this forever glowering up
on them. and at present wholly preOccu-
lying their minds, the residents keep
lockout for hurricanes. and torrents
which do almost as much damage. IL is
Iossibe usually 10 be warned OF the APP
preach of a hurricane by cable, un-
less a violent sea has snapped both wires
arart. and left the island isolated
The next gem in the queens neck
lace" is Martinique You have some real
icing sense as To the desirability of that
island as a place 10 make a home upon.
Through system Of credits with France,
the sugar planters have kept their fields
and factories On a paying basis. but the
people generally have had small measure
o: the prosperity. 1t is called thickly
populated. yet you ride a whole day and
do not enter three matched villages and
you ride two hours without coming upon
sign of human habitation. And when
YOU do come upon II. the chances are that
the family cannot give you even mango
II You are hungry, and certainly there
would be no bed. II there were you
would ride all night rather than lie in IT,
The bright beauty of the land is no.
what poets feign. Beauty is necessarily
an effect Of fine shades. delicate values.
vanishing distinctions" But these arr
rot here. The cOlors are brazen. star
irg-tropical II is possibly by trick Of
word to make a reader fancy IL, in guide
book terms. the garden % Hesperus AMI
his daughters. where day never shuts
his eye" Thus. the sy. instead OF being
blue. is lapis-lazun and the sea. instead
Of being like the seas We know, is tur-
ouoise: and the green is emerald-the
method is simple.
After ALL" remarked George KEENAN,.