The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-10-15
Copyright. 1912, by Frank CT. {
penter.)

] have just returned from the hard
est volcanic trip Of my life. AS d boy,
before the cog railroad was built, II
Ciimbed up through the lava ash Of
Nesuyius and came within an ace Of
being killed by d change in the wind
which threw some OF the red-hOt
stones at my feet. I know the vol
canic mountains Of the Hawaiian Is
lands and have climbed up the famous
Tenger. the largest volcano in Java,
which has the BrOmO. another live
volcano, in its crater. / have seen
Stro;nDoli and Etna in eruption and
have made something of a study OF
seismic conditions in the earthquake
land Of Japan. My other experiences,
however, were nothing like the climb
w the POaS volcano, which included
a ride OF more than fifteen hours in
the saddle of d Costa Rican pony over
what | believe is one Of the widest
and hardest trails Of the
world.
POas and Its GeySer.
doubt If many of you have ever
heard Of old Poas. NevertheieSS 1t IS
one Of the most famous volcanoes
OF Central America. 1t belongs to tire
volcanic belt of Costa Rica, which
Includes Turrialba, over two miles III
the Air, Orosi at the extreme north
end Of the country. and lraZu, Whlch
is more tina eleven thousand feet
Att1t Ntild IbtS nav Oh AA1AA rs
tons. accompanied by earthquakes
which haze been felt in the city Of
Panama.
The poas volcano has two or more
Cr1terS, and edCn is over q mile IN
circumference. 1T has one which is
on the very top Of the mountain filed
with Il sheet Of blue cold water and
surrounded by selni-tropical vegeta-
ton. Il has another, which is AS rag
Ged and bare as the shores OF the
Dead sea and down which You o
into q lake Of acid, from which shoots
UP the greatest Seyser on earth. Al
times this geyser spouts every few
minutes. At other times it is quiet
for i long period and again it will
throw Il column Of sulphurOuS steam
thousands of feet into h air. About
two years ago it shot UP a great vol
,tnia Of mud, SapOr and rock to a
height above its surface of more thar
two and one-half miles. The distance
to which the column reached was eSu-
mated at over thirteen thousand feet.
At the top The steam spread out like
q mighty umbrella over the mountain
and stones as big as cannon paiis leli'
breaking trees and limbs and going
deep into the ground. At that time
there was an earthquake which threw
down many Of the buildings of San
Jose, and this was followed Oy a sec
ond earthquake several months later
by which the city of Carriage was
brought to the ground, and abou'
SIX hundred human beings killed IN
the ruins.
4 Night at San Pedro.
The first part of our journey was
not extraordinary for Costa Rlca, Du'
it would have been worth a descrlp-
ton had it been made farther north
The party consisted Of myself anc
stenographer, MIR. Carlisle Floeckher
my interpreter, Mr.. De Soto, and q
guide whom We picked up at Sar
Pedro. We came from the capital
San Jose, to Alajuela on the railroad
a distance Of abOu twenty miles, anc
there packed Our outfit on horseback
We had raincoats, blankets anc
sleeping a for we were expecting
to be out in the open with the WIND
of the Andes bowling about us. we
wore heavy clothing and had on ou1
pajamaS over our underwear ana alSt
halno Jackets inside our coats. Ou1
blood is thin from our stay IN lne
tropics and we needed all we had OF
when on the top Of old Poas to keel
us from freezing.
Very fortunately, however, We wert
able to dispense with our sleeplh;
bagS by staying at q little mn at odl
Pedro. about two hours ride fron
this point. and starting from there a
2 o'clock in the morning. | snail no
soon forget that night at San PeoFo
NY flesh is soft from the spring maj
tresses which Uncle Sam ~turnishe
at Panama. and the San Pedro be'
was a board. There was no light pu
q candle. ANY 50 We lay down at aoou
8 o'clock. ! counted the hours run.
by the church bell until mldnlgh'
and then dropped off by taking tn
covers and laying them under me I
soften the boards.
The Stars of Costa Rica.
1t was just , o'clock In the mornlni
when the guide called us, and half al
hour later we had a a cup Of no
coffee and were on u way up IN
mountain. We rode at first throug
the starlight. We could see the Grea
Bear turned upside down as it seem
to be here, at this hour. and ais
the Southern Cross at the other en-