The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-08-22

deposit; in fact, he brought sulTur rom PopOsatepetl to manufacture powder for his troops. Indians who had no idea of explosives, saw how the Span- ish muskets were loaded with that strange substance takwen from Popo- catepetI which was supposed to be chimney of the inferno, and became more superstitiOus than they already were about the divine origin of the con- querors. because they believed that they had at their disposal the elements cf heaven, earth and inferno.
 Popoctepetl has often been called the Vesuvius of America, but unlike Vesu- vius its crater has been entered by man, and from the time of COrtez it has been the site of a national indus try. According to geologists, POpOcate- petl has been valuable sulfur produ- cer for many centuries, although it be- gan to be exploited only four centuries ago. ...,-
 POpocatepetl may or may not be an extinct volcano, but nothing but suifur fumes comes out of the crater and such fumes are not visible from the base of the mountain. The fiery mass below is a dream. Men employed in the ex- traction of sulfur walk on the very bot tom of the crater. though there are in the crater many Assures whence the sudfur fumes escape.
 The extraction of sulfur is made by most primitive methods. The sulfur Is placed in bags weighing from twenty five to fifty pounds each, which are then taken out of the crater by means of ropes At the entrance of the crater the bags are taken by peons who seat themselves on palm mats or potates and slide down over the snow which crowns the peak of the mountain to the timber line. At this point the bags are placed on muleback to be transported to the nearest railway station Of the Interoeeanic. Baron von Hemboldt, who was in the interior of the crater and made a thorough study of the vol cano, gave the opinion that Popocate- petl is the richest sulfur mine of the world. At present POpocatepetl is the property of an American company.
 old Popo is one of the highest peaks of the American continent, the rim of the crater being 17,784 feet above the level of the sea. The crater itself is rather unique, since its form resen- bles a bell and not cone, to which most craters bear similarity. The opening is twenty-SeVen hundred feet at the greatest width and twelve hum dred feet at the smallest. The rim of the crater is considerably lower on the side toward Puebla. The depth of the crater is over five hundred and fifty feet, of which two hundred and tWen- ty-five feet are vertical wall. The quantity of sulfur extracted from the crater during the past thirty years amounts to over ten thousand tons, but ten times that amount could have been taken without any apparent decrease to the deposits if appropriate methods had been used.
 Popocatepetl, Ixtaocihuatl and Ajus- GO, according to old traditions, so old and vague that they are never taken into consideration by men of science, appeared in very short time, after a violent earthquake which came accom- panied by deafening subterranean noise. According to the legends the grounds gradually rose up until the | three mountains appeared vomiting lava and rocks.
 Colirna is the, most troublesome of all Mexican volcanoes at present, and on more than one occasion it has given sufficient motive to cause people to be afraid of it. Like Vesuvius, Coli ma is constantly puffing and smoking, but from time to time goes to sleep only to resume activity.
 The first eruption recorded for Coli ma occurred in 1876, when it caused considerable loss of life and property. Since that year the volcano has had numerous eruptions, the most remark able of which are the following: April 15, 1911, eruption of smoke and ashes which lasted until ISIS. During | this period there were many violent earthquakes and subterranean noises.
 In 1743 there was an eruption accom- panied by strong earthquakes.
 In 1906 there was an eruption with strong earthquakes The parish church of Zapotlan was destroyed. This time the activity of the volcano lasted until ! 1908.
 In 1918 there was an eruption of ashes i that were thrown as far as Guadala1a- ra, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi, ac- companied by explosions, earthquakes and flames. Tn August of the same year it vomited some rocks and lava. In 1872 there was a series of eruptions of rocks and ashes that continued un- til 1878, the volcano being very active; then it took rest until 1S77 wher there was another eruption of ashes and smoke. Colima again went to sleep until 1885. Since that year erup- tions have been more or less frequent and on more than one occasion resi- dents of towns near the volcano have had to migrate for fear of a catas- trophe. At present it is slumbering. al though very often it smokes and puffs. ! FTyEyLTNTrTIv IT'D CIT ~ "