The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-03-03
Tl..DaD's ASPHALT LAKE.



This Trinldad lake OF pitch and
the Bermudez lake In Venezuela
supply the bulk of the asphalt OK
commerce, says writer In the New
York Sun.
Brighton has r, claim to exist
ence aside from the bituminous
pitch that nature here sends bub-
bling up from the bowels of the
earth. The lake II about quarter
OF q mile from the steamship pier.
Nearby are quarters for two hun
dred native workmcn, refining
plant, Offices and quarters for the
half dozen Americans representing
the company, and that Is all, ex-
cept for the fierce tropic. sun eter-
nally beating down, and Tie sharks
that play In the harbor
But as a natural curiosity and as
a commercial enterprise the lake Is
OF absorbing interest. Imagine d huge
asphalt plaza of more than a hfr-
dred acres. softened by the SIN,
overgrown In spots with weeds. Gov
cred after rain with pools OF waite,
and you have the famous pitc !
lake--a big black semi-solid pond q
asphalt, with surface fairly ar 4
and apparently placid, but In realty
treacherous and eternally In mo-
ton.
Around the edges runs tramwnw
with an endless cable hauling til
loaded cars to the refinery III |
bringing the empty ones back
again. Along this line, where the
pitch Is hardest all the mining OK
the product Is done the black
workmen digging 1t out with pick
and shovel.
1t is necessary to shift the scene
Of operation only along the line.
never toward the center as In two
days time the slowly moving viscous
mass of pitch continually flowing
from the center has refilled the ex-
cavations and made them ready for
the workmen again. Every day the
rails of the little tramway are lifted
and the slowly sinking ties moved
few inches one way or the other In
order that the railway may not en-
tirely disappear In the bottomlesa
ooze
Bottomless 1t may well be called.
for soundings have been made until
with no bottom at 140 feet the pipes
and sounding apparatus have been
crushed and swallowed up, to be
disgorged months later. The mining
of the product Is lowering the level
of the lake at the rate of about six
inches year.
The center of this huge volcanic
crater is the source OF supply Here
we see the pitch, boiling up 10 al
most purely liquid state, spread
ing out over the lake In dozens of
streams. gradually hardening and
imperceptibly flowing toward the
boundaries in an attempt to find a
level.
1t is horrible to contemplate the
thought of being caught by this aw-
full black quicksand and relentiessiy
entombed in its depths. Not long
ago negro workman heroically Of
fered himself for an experiment de-
would take for a man to become en-
engulfed In the pitch For more than
an hour he slowly sank until only
the upper part OF his body remained
In sight and then his companions. In
a burst of cruel humor, made as II to
leave him to his fate. His vociferous
appeals for mercy melted their
hearts. Planks were thrown out over
the pitch, as they are used in rescu-
ing a. skater who has broken
through the ice, and after an hours
hard work the victim was once more
free and happy.
The lake Is a valuable source OF
revenue to the island government.
An export duty II s1.25 ton and a
royalty of 40 cents a ton, by the
terms of the concession, put nearly
quarter of million dollars year
into the island treasury. The entire
concession is about 1900 acres, and
asphalt is found throughout tho
whole locality. The land Is fertile
and some of It is now being used
with success for the cultivation OF
fruit
The possibility of exhaustion
seems. remote - the Venezuelan
lake, although ten times the area. Ia
but thirty feet deep. Its surface Is
submerged In water, rendering the
OF the product more difi-
cult, and a forty mile haul TO the
seacoast adds much to its cost.
For the preparation of paving aud
roofing materials the Trinidad va
riety has been found the better
but the purer Venezuelan
article is used largely In the prepar-
alton of varnish. Danger attends
the shipping OF the Bermudez pitch
In bulk In the holds OF the steamers,
as the slightest list TO one side or
the other tends to cause disas-
trous flow of the pitch to that side.