The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-03
MONT PELEE'S OBELISK.
A Tower of Rock Pushed 1000 Feet
Above the Gone.
From the Philadelphia Press.


From the Philadelphia Press.
Fresh from what he terms the most
wonderful spectacle nature has ever
presented, Prof. Angelo Heilprin is
back in Philadelphia after a two
months visit to Mont Pelee on the Is
land of Martinique.
THE distinguishing feature of Mont
Pelee," he says, land that which makes
this volcano unique among the vol
canoes of the world, is the giant tower
or obelisk of rock which is being ex-
truded from the summit of the newly
made cone, which obelisk now rises up
in supreme grandeur over 5000 feet
high and almost vertically $40 feet
above the summit of the cone proper,
with a thickness at the base of from
300 to $50 feet.
Looking at this obelisk of solid lava
from the rim of the crater as 1 did at
the time of my latest ascent of the
volcano on June Is, the scene that
presented itself was of unequalled
grandeur, and having fully in mind the
grand scenes of nature that / have
already witnessed, the Alps, the Grand
Canon 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.
zone can form no conception of its
magnlficence and terrorizing aspect.
The old summit of Mont Pelee, which
was rounded and about 1900 feet high,
is now overtopped by this new creation
of nearly 1000 feet, so that the apex
of the volcano, which surpasseS the old
dome, is found at hight of $500 feet
above the sea. and the cone, together
nd nhnIiclr cSfi
surrounding it crater basin of about
300 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.
1.-The appearance of this obelisk or
monument on the summit of the vol
cano, transfixing its cone and virtually
blocking it, is no 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 hight of the Washington Monument
at Washington, with four times its
thickness, is Being pushed up bodily
and has been pushed oW in this man.
ner to its full present hight.
1.-THE volcanic stress that has lifted
Il is the same which in other volcanoes
elects flowing lava, but in this part1c
ular instance the molten matter within
the volcano has hardened before 1t 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, impos-
sible to say. The aspect that is now
presented is one that is unique in the
history of volcanoes, and it 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
appearance as seen from st. Pierre of
a monument erectd by nature to the
dead is slightly arched or curved in
the direction of the destroyed city. On
the opposite side ii arises with a we'll
nigh vertical face and presents a per-
fectly smooth, almost polished surface,
made so and grooved as the result of
hard pressure against the casing of the
wall of rock within borders its chan
mel of exit. The surface indeed re-
calls to the geologist the appearance
of horizontal rock masses that have
been polished and curved as the result
of glacial action.
ION May 81, when the volcano lost
nearly 200 feet of its summit the apex
reached the $500 feet. At the present
time it rises slightly above 5000 feet.
on the four days preceding, June II,
the rise of the tower was q feet, but
in 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 abb
solute apex. showing the assures and
passages that exist within the mass
which permit the interior steam 20
travel through completely from the
base 20 the summit