The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-17

The present series Of volcanic and
seismic disturbances about the shores OF
the Caribbean sea has brought to the
front in the isthman canal discussion the
question Of their bearing on the two prln-
cipal routes-the Nicaraguan and the
Panama The crust of the earth is very
thin about the Caribbean and the vent
holes, called VOLCANOES. are many. some
are active some ouiescent and some sup
posedly extinct. The fear that the seis-
mic convulsionS, to which parts OF Central
America are subject might destroy any
canal built through Nicaragua is not
new one. Senator Davis, more than
decade ago. voiced it in the senate in
notable speech delivered Feb. 20, 1891, IN
opposition to the Nicaraguan canal bill.
It occupied eight pages of the Congress
sional Record One of the features Of
this speech was a review Of the volcanic
history of Nicaragua, which he described
as "the home of the volcano and earth
quake"
He quoted Daubeny on volcanoes as to
Guatemala and Nicaragua, to the effect
that there is perhaps no part OF the
world where so many active vents lie
within a short compass"
He quoted Humboldt's list Of thirty
five, OF which Won Buch pronounced
twenty five as active; and cited Daubeny's
description of thirty-two. Senator Davis
continued:
The volcano is so pervasively a Mic
araguan characteristic and product, that
facsimile Of a range of them, stretched
from Lake Managua northwest to the Gulf
OF Fonseca, and named Los Marablos, or
the Marvels, forms part OF the national
coat of arms and is stamped upon the
Nicaraguan silver coins, as the eagle is
stamped on ours, or the lion on the Brit
ish. The escutcheon Of Nicaragua is the
volcano. 1t is engraved upon her seal,
because it is the distinctive physical feat
IRE of the country
Senator Davis then went into the his
tory of the seismic commissions OF the
region, which, he declared, equalled IN
"grandeur and destructiveness anything
that has ever taken place in any other
country on the face OF the earth" ~.
He quoted Stephens, who spoke Of IT as
q region "bristling with volcanoes" and
Squiers, who said: mo equal extent or
the American continent, perhaps OF the
globe. possesses so many volcanoes, act
I've and extinct, or exhibits so maay
traces of volcanic action as Central
America. or the region embraced between
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and that OF
Panama
In answer to the question put by Sena-
ter Edmunds whether there were VOL
cGroes and earthquake disturbances near
the proposed canal route, Senator Davis
continued:
There are fourteen volcanoes, Los Marabios
extending from Lake Managua northwest tc
the Gulf, of Fonseca, about seventy-fve miles
Momotombo, at the head of Lake Managua,
is always smoking and Is often in eruption,
The buildings in Managua are one story on
account of the frequency of earthquake
shocks. That is the way buildings lare con-
structed in the capital Of that country, abou
fifty miles from the site of this canal. Al
the houses Of Leon are one-story, except thu
cathedral, whose. much buttressed walls show
of aortEn 1,aGl CHI Ire ma Tn
dian name of this region is Custatlan, 'th
land that swings like hammock
Distances from the western section o.
canal, the senator gave as follows:
To Managua, so miles; to Leon, III
miles; To Momotombo (vocano north O
canaD, 80 miles; to Orosi (volcano south
of the canaD, 25 miles; to Omotope, ant
Madeira, volcanoes on island in Lake Nj
caragua, 2 miles.
Taking UP the history of the volcanic
catastrophes of the region, Senator Davi
referred, first, to the explosion of Conse