The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-11-26


yembcr 25-If you stand at Erin
Point, on the southern shores of this
island, and gaze cut into the Atlantic
Ocean toward the coast of Venezuela,
You will see why British Dominions
are larger by two and a half acres
than they were before Saturday, No
ycmber 4.
On that date an island of the vol.
canic type, not uncommon in southern
waters, thrust itself above the sea
with characteristic rumble, kissing of
gases and flashes of fire greatly to
the alarm of the people on the Trini-
dad shore.
The new island has not yet been
named and as its composition is large
y oozy blue mud or clay, it is doubt
lul If it will withstand the attacks
of the sea. Any day it is apt to dis
appear whence It. came and Great Brit
ain will have lost its newest posses
sion The enterprisng governor af
Trinidad visited the island with a
party Of officials shortly after it made
its appearance, ready to plant the
Union Jack on the warm oozy soil,
but measurements showed that the
island was within the three.mile limit
and planting the flag was unnecessary.
Gable dispatches have told briefly
Of the islands birth, but there is much
that is interesting about the phenom-
enon that is known only to those res
idents along the Trinidad coast who
either witnessed the occurrence or
cautiously visited the new land before
it had had time to cool.
| DR.. Fredholm, resident of Trinl-
dad, says that the island was prob
ably thrust up by the pressure'of gas
originating from the decomposition
of carbonaceous matter found in con
nection with asphalt deposits for
which Trinidad Is famous. He pre-
diets that a flow of asphalt may fol-
low and an asphalt lake may make
its appearance on the island.
'If no flow of asphalt follows how
ever" he says, "the only result of the
upheaval will be a mud volcano so
common along the southern shore.
Such volcano on bank raised but
slightly above the sea level would
probably not remain above the sur
face very long, for the debris would
soon be washed away and the vents,
once below the water, would become
choked by sedimentary deposits. 1t
would Therefore not be surprising if
if the new island dropped into the
sea again as quickly as it emerged"
Residents of the little settlements
OF Erin and Chatham, on the south
ern coast of Trinidad were greatly
terrified when the island appeared,
and many of them fled from their
homes, dragging their belongings into
the bush. Others knelt in prayer in
the streets or rushed to the churches.
Great fear was in the minds OF all
as memories Of Martinique were awak.
ened.
4 fisherman, at midday, on Satur-
day, November 4, first noticed signs
of disturbance in the sea. The water
was dirty and murky, but no land was
then in sight But about O'Clock that
evening the people of Erin and other
points nearby were startled to see
great column of fire shoot up from
the bosom of the water. Dense smoke
followed the flame, and there were fur
ther intermittent flashes OF fire, ac
companied by a rumbing as OF thun
der. When the smoke cleared away
II was seen that new island was
created. Flames continued to flicker
over the surface OF the geographical
visitor throughout the night. but on
the following morning they had subsid-
ed and the governor and party set
out in boat to claim the new land
for King George. They neared the
island with extreme care in the face
of choppy sea and head wind. a
landing was effected with difficulty
and it was quickly ascertained that
the surface of the island was yet
warm and very soft and boiling hot
underneath. This made walking diff
ficult and dangerous, and boards were
used for footing.
They found two craters on the ISL
and. five or six feet in diameter al
tborqh the highest mart of the entire