The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-05
HE|LPR|N TELLS
 OF MONT PELEE No Change in Topography of
 the Mountain NJ LAVA HAS BEEN ELECTED As Party Stood on Edge of the Crater a Sublime spectacle Began and
 the Bowels of the Earth
 Seemed Aflame.

Fort de France, Island of Martinique. June 4-s:s0 a. m.-Prof. Angelic Heilprtn. who is here for the National Geographical Society. came Into Fort de France last night form his explorations of the crater on the sum init of Mont Pclee. Prof He'll prin Is well and in good spirits.
 The following important points have been settled by Professor Heilprin:
 The location of the new crater has been accurately determined; 1t Is positively known that there has not been an over crater there has been no subsistence of the mountain, and the height of Mont Pelee Is unchanged; the crater does not contain a cinder cone; there has been no cataclysm and no typographical alterna- ton of the country. The period of vio- lent eruptions has probably ended, al- though the volcano may continue to be quietly active for long time to come.
 Referring to his expedition, Professor Heilprin said today to the correspondent of the Associated Press:
 "I left Fort de France with MT. Ledbet- ter the morning of May 29, and reached Acier at o'clock in the evening of the 30.h. We visited Vive and Basse Pointe. The latter place has been entirely de- stroyed by the overflow of the local streams. Mud flowing into the beds of the rivers there caused this overflow.
 First Account.
 May 31 we made our first ascent of the
 ioff ala of and ViVa at 7:3O o'clock in the morning. The party consisted of MT. Ledbetter and myself and three colored boys. We were on mule back. At an altitude of 700 meters we be- gan the ascent of the Aerte. We passed along it's east side and slightly to the north of the mountain. We arrived at the lip of the old crater, the former site of Lake Pelmiste, at Il o'clock. Here 1t began raining. Rain clouds and the clouds from the volcano enveloped us and we could not see ten feet. A terrific thun- der storm had begun and we sat on the edge of the crater for some time specu- lating whether the detonations we heard were of thunder or from the volcano. As we afterwards found the river Pallaise to be boiling, the detonations were prob- ably volcanic. We could not tell how near we were to the crater, as, either from local attraction of the electric con ditions, our compass refused to work, Its variation was about 20 degrees to the eastward, but later we found that 1t act ed normally at the lip of the new crater. The colored boys with us were horribly scared. We finally groped our way down the awful Aerte through clouds of rain and amid great electric discharges. At every step we dislodged the rain-soaked ashes and were In danger of being pre- cipitat9d down the hideous gorges on either side.
 Covered With Cinders.
 ''The extreme top of the volcano is cov- cred with cinders, scoriae. boulders and angular rocks which had been elected from the crater. Further down the mountain were crevasses with mud and they are thick on the Aerte. On our way down we saw the river Faliaise rushing along with great velocity full of steam and mud. We reached Acier. covered with mud and disappointed. At Acier we met George Kennan and his party and determined to attempt a second ascent the next day, June 1. The ascent made this day with MT. Kennan was trying and more difficult one that that previ- ously made with MT. Ledbetter.
 "The day was intensely hot and 1t was raining When we reached the old era ter 1t was again enveloped in vapor. The temperature of the basin of Palmlste, taken three inches below the surface, was 124 degrees Fahrenheit. Between lifts in the clouds of vapor we could see the new crater, of which MT. Varian made an excellent sketch. Suddenly the yapor cleared away and we made dash forward. We reached the edge of the new crater and from where we stood we could have dropped stones into the white hot mass within. The new crater is crevasse running north and south and expanding into a bowl This crevasse nearly rifted the mountain; it runs trans yersely to the old crater and might be called a huge gash. From 1t volcanic material has been freely erupted.
 Sublime Spectacle.
 "As we stood on the edge Of the crater sublime spectacle began. l now have some conception of what Is going on in side the earth, and have been a spectator of natures secret interior work. We were assailed with noise. Far below there was A missing of steam like that of thou sand locomotives. as well as violent de- tonations The principal output of the crater while we were there was steam. The phenomena were limited, and were not essentially different from those of other volcanoes Tn acton. FOSltlVe aSSur- ance was gained that no molten matter had flowed over the lip of the new crater Several A observations taken with the barometer showed that the height of Mt Peiee has not been changed. I agree with Prof. Robert T. Hill, the geologist of the United States government, that Mont Pelee has erupted no lava, and that there has been no cataclysm or any serious alterations. No cinder cone was visible in the crater; what was taken for a cone Is pile of elected rocks. Per- haps the bottom of the new crater may contain cinder cone, but we could see down only about 150 or 200 feet I believe, however, that the crater is much deeper than this do not know the exact ma- terials of which the pile of rocks in the center of the crater is composed, but it seems to be matter which has been elected from the crevasse. I think Mont Pelee has freed itself from the interior and that the volcano Is not liable to further violent eruption. It is not safe however, to make predictions about volcanoes.
 Eruption Was Unique.
 ''The eruption of Mont Peiee of May 8 was unique in that it resulted in the greatest destruction of life and property