The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-02-03
News Man Visited Taal Volcano.

News Man Visited Taal Volcano.
Taal volcano is located on the island
of Taal in the Batangas province of
the Philippine islands. The island is
located in the center OF Lake Taal and
about 100 miles from Manila. To a
member of the Norfolk News staff,
who visited the volcano on a number
! of occasions, 1t seems strange that the
smoke from this volcano can be seen
from the city of Manila, owing to the
fact that large mountains obscure 1t
| from the metropolis of the Islands.
! The eruptions must have indeed been
great that the smoke could be seen at
| such distance.
Lake Taal is probably one of the
! prettiest lakes in the Philippines and
, It's wooded shores provide some of the
! best pheasant hunting in the country.
1t was this game which brought The
, News man to the volcanic region on
one of the occasions. The cone of the
' main crater of Taal volcano rises
mountain shaped, very high in the sky
and it takes about an hours climb to
reach the summit and mouth of the
crater after an equally long march
through heavy forests.
, The sight which presented itself to
The News man from the top of the
crater on this occasion was both beau
tiful and awe-inspiring.
| AS far as the eye could see was the
great yawning crater, the pit itself in
the widest place measuring over one
mile. Along the walls of this crater
were beautiful color effects from the
lava, which had cooled off years age
and formed into fantastic shapes. Al
about the center of this large pit was
a smaller volcano in which could be
seen the boiling lavas, and outside oi
this were a number of small colOred
lakes formed of various chemicals
There is red, blue, black, green and
white lake in different parts around
the crater.
Each colored lake was, however, Wis
tied and it was found that the water
in each, with the exception OF the
black lake, was ice cold The water il
the black lake, which was the nearest
to the small crater was hot and was
formed of lava and boiling water es
Gaping from the small volcano. The
summit of this volcano was reached
and it was impossible to hear the
voice on account of the terrific noise
made by the boiling lava. Large
stones were occasionally cast high il
the air, and at one time the companion
of The News man was overcome b,
the fumes famed in his direction b,
the wind.
Although it was early morning wheI
the trip was made into the crater
darkness had set in before the explor
ers reached the top of the main crater
where the frightened Filipinos await
ed them.
1t was the small volcano within th
large one which Saturday started or
erations, and it is this volcano whicl
tourists go for many miles to see
Taal volcano is considered the pret
tiest volcano in the world, but the in
habitants of villages in it's neighboI
hood have been constantly in fear tina
it would awaken after many years O
silence. The last eruption of this vo
cano, which took place many year
ago, did very much damage. coverin
number of villages, killing their il
habitants and destroying much stocl
j, Today can be seen in its vicinit
, marks of the last eruption, whic
formed the beautiful lake around it.
, Sergeant John Gamble a veteran c
, the Spanish-American war, employe
, as janitor in The News building, wa
, once visitor to this volcano and a
though it was not his fortune to @,
plore the crater, he has often We've
=, the smoke coming from its mouth a
he stood in his camp on the other sid
, of the lake.
=. After filling Canteens with sufficier
4 drinking water The News man and hi
: companion descended into the mout
2 of the crater, leaving Filipino escort
[ who were too frightened by the sight
r go any further behind to guard otht
?, provisions. The descent was veT
}. easy but required over a half hou
+ The way to the smaller crater Wa
d somewhat difficult. The wind whic
found its way into the enormous ca
n ity brought the gaseous and sulphur
g fumes directly toward the two explo
), ers, forcing them to retreat a numb,
l. of times. The paths were also o
structed by streams of lava and vitr
e ponds,