The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-26

in supreme grandeur over 200 feet high and
almost vertically $40 feet Cabove the summit
OF the cone proper, with a thickness at the
base of from 800 to $50 feet
Looking at this obelisk of solid lava from
the rim of the crater as l did at the time
of my latest ascent of the volcano on June
IL, the scene that presented itself was OF I'M
equaled grandeur and having fully in mind
the grand scenes of nature that have al
ready witnessed, the Alps, the Grand Can
yon of the Colorado. the Yosemite and the
great ice fields of the Arctic North, it seems
to be well within the truth to say that this
scene surpasses all others.
"One can form no conception of its mag
nihcence and terroriZing aspect. The old
summit of Mont Pelee, which was rounded
and about 1000 feet high, is now overtopped
by this new creation by nearly ZOO feet, so
that the apex of the volcano. which sur
passes the old dome. is found at height of
$500 feet above the sea, and the cone, to-
gether with its surmounted obelisk, has
still surrounding 1t a crater basin of
about 800 feet depth. over which great
puffs of steam and sulphur vapor are being
emitted, showing that the activity of the
volcano is not yet STILL
Indeed, this form of activity, which
causes great avalanches of rock TO be de-
tached from the ohelisk, was still so pro-
nounced as to make ii imprudent to descend
into the basin. On the night previous to our
ascent on June IL the base of this tower of
rock was glowing with incandescence, shin
ing I'M, out merry red with the molten lava
could be easily detected in the assures and
riffs of the solid rock
1.-The appearance of this obelisk or monu-
ment on the summit of the volcano, trans
fixing its cone and virtually blocking it. is
less remarkable than the conditions
which are involved in its making There is
no question of doubt that the entire mass,
rising to twice the height of the Washing
ton monument at Washington. with four
times its thickness, Is being pushed up bod
lily and has been pushed out in this manner
to it's full present height
THE volcanic stress that has lifted it is
the same which, in other volcanoes. elects
flowing lava. but in this particular instance
the molten matter within the volcano has
hardened before it has left the lip of the
crater and comes out as a united solid.
Hence. the lava, instead of overlooking
simply mounts up higher and higher into
space.
ITO what extent this head may still be
carried in the future 1T is impossible to say.
The aspect that is now presented is one
that is unique in the history or volcanoes
and 1t itself will tell in weeks or months to
come what the possibilities of this new form
of construction or new type of activity may
be.
This vast obelisk, which gives the APP
pearance, as seen from st. Pierre. of a mon
ument erected by nature TO the dead. is
slightly arched or curved in the direction of
the destroyed city. On the opposite side IL
arises with a well-nigh vertical face and
presents perfectly smooth, almost polished
surface. made so and grooved as the result
OF hard pressure against the casing of the
wall of rock which borders its channel of
exit. The surface indeed recalls to the geolo-
gist the appearance of horizontal rock
masses that have been smoothed;; polished
and curved as the result of glacial action
''On May 81, when the volcano lost nearly
two hundred feet of its summit the apex
reached the 800 feet. At the present time II
rises slightly about 5000 feet On the four
DAYS preceding June IL the rise of the tower
was twenty-one feet, but the early period
the extrusion was nearly twice as rapid. On
the day preceding my departure faint line
of steam was seen issuing from the absolute
apex, showing the assures and passages
that exist within the mass which permit the
interior steam to travel through completely
from the, base to the summit
biologists will continue TO watch with
extreme interest the development of this re-
markable structure and TO follow the career
OF the great volcano which has plugged or
corked itself How the present degrees of
eruptive activity Of Mont Pelee stand In re-