Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-12-23
5 On! Of NATURES WONDERS
Pitch Lake" of Trinidad Far
Different Than Imagined.
ne eau walk ut Will upon the sur
face Of Asphalt without Any Fear
Of Sinking In Apparently
Ncll-Nigh BOtton,icss.


(eepinr writer's of an imaginative bent
hlsrirAl. perhaps. by the sight OF a
auldrou Of boiling tar--have pictured It
Is seethin!. inferno Of heat aud ro.-
bnoHs vapor, sort of miniature lades
IS n matter of fact, I; Is nothing of
~ kind. writes Victor Pitt-K ethey in
Ne Wide World Magazine.
Though disappointing mt first sight to
seop!e who have the crater OF an act
Ne volcano III mind. yet the pitch lake"
r remarkable enough-one of Natures
wonders Apparently wel-nigh bottom
ess it Is composed of solid asphalt.
md Che excavations made by day are
nHs.e.'c"fsiy fl;is1 up At nlgt., although
me general level OF the lake is slowly
sinking. The lake is situated near the
town OF Brighton, In the south OF the
Sland. Travelling south from Port of
soal0. the capital, one reaches the lit
Tie town of San Fernando, inhabited
rhefy by Indian coolies. Here a little
steamer leaves daily for trips along the
coast. The land-locked waters OF the
suf are usually calm, and the green
mountains o: None2uell are seen miles
lway in the blus haze. The steamers
Course runs close to "A shore bordered
by mangrcve swamps, and after SCI"
eral hours Brighton is reached, where
Inc steamer stops at the long pier of
the New Trinidad Lake Asphalt company.
ltd. Here we go ashore. as the pier is
the most convenient point from which
to approach the lake.
Brighton is an active little town. quite
close to the lake. and We find ourselves
at once in the midst Of the asphalt in
dustry. There is a little office at the
shore end Of the pier. and overhead
the cable is singing away merrily it
carries along great buckets filled with
asphalt. Dozens Of neat buildings COM
prise the quarters where the conpany's
employees live. Fresh paint and cleanli-
ness are evident everywhere. and the
bright West Indian sunlight gives the
settlement a very plea appearance.
LAKE a LEVEL PLAIN.
The lake is a level plain about a hun
dred acres or in extent. surrounded
by low hills, and dotted here and there
with bushes and trees. The surface is
not shimmering black. as might he
supposed, but "A dull, greyish-hlue color.
intersected with pools of shining water.
Altogether it is a very prosac-lookng
place, giving no hint Of its real interest.
One can walk whore one plcases on
the surface of the asphalt. without any
Tear of sinking in, for 1t is quite solid
enough to bear ones weight. II you stand
| In one place for n little while it feels hot
to the feet-just like an asphalted street
on a very hot day. Much Of the time
a fresh breeze blows. and one remembers
with amusement the stories of the I'M
aginatve writer's who talked about sti-
fling heat and oppressive atmosphere.
These will all return to you, however,
1f You are unfortunate enough to get
!ato a place sheltered from tho breeze
and exposed to the sun. for at such
points the thermometer stands at ninety
degrees or more during several hours
of almost every day. which is quite
near enough to the temperature Of an
Inferno for most people.
The digging of the asphalt Is a simple
operation. a mattock is the only tool
required. and under its blows the pitch
breaks readily. The negroes employed
are very skilled in the work. and break
out Jumps couple of feet across. far too
heavy for an ordinary man to carry.
Only very small amount of the material
gets broken into little pieces, so that
scarcely any baskets are needed to car
~ the asphalt to the cars a laborer
simply lifts one or two Jumps. puts them
on his head, walks a few yards, and
drops them into a car. The crude as
phalt, as broken out, Is somewhat brown
ish or earthly in color. 1t Is usually quite
wet. and filled with many holes. like
bubbles, measuring UP to an inch or
more IN diameter.
HOLES FILL UP AT NIGHT.
The gang Of barefooted worlSmen in
ore place may number thirty men, Of
whom haif-a-dozsn do the digging, They
work ca a space perhaps sixty feet long
and forty feet wide, and In the course of
e. day they vii, dig down TO depth
OF three feet or more in some places,
Go TO that same SPOT next morning.
and you will find It a little rough. but
approximately leve, with the rest of
cha lake. The hole has been mysterious
~ filled up during tho night and In
tie course of ii weel: ALI traces OF the
digging will be obliteratei.
This does not mean necessarily that
fresh asphalt has como into the lake
from underground sources. Or the con.
ti,lry. the excavations are filled by a
,sry slow settling or levcling OF the
surface asphalt There IL no such thing
a. new asphalt. by the way, for the
TRANSITION from liquid petroleum to solid
aSphal. by Natures process involves n
period OF time that must be calculated
in centuries Tho digging done H. pas:
years has caused the general level of
tina luke to sink several feet, 40 that X
Is not absolutely inexhaustible. as some
peoIie imagins 1t Is believed that fresh
nsphal. YER! slowly pushes itself up
wall into the lake from the subterranean
u>p.hA bYt how largo n quantity is thus
added annually has not been calculated
Near che nicola of the lake the ma,
tcr.l In less hard than elsewhere. and
IN a few piLceD soft asphalt may h'
ssen in small irregular patches oozine
NO from, below. Tihia fresh asphalt IL
O. about :he consistency 81 putty, nnt
can no lsneaded and pulled IN the hand,
without no,ltng them greatly. In the
main. however. the lake IS solid asphalt
ITS DEPTH A MYSTERY.
No one knows the depth o: this myste.i
QUA lake, the only information on tn,
syp.oct being the fact that long ago
boring was made TO a depth Of hun
droa and thirty-cve feet without reach
ing tns bottom. The cores of TIL!
anX other bo1ngs show that In con
slstsnoy tho asphalt remains the SAM
TO \ very considerable depth. Curiou
n, n may seem. there are many evidence
that tho entire mass comprising the LAX
ia In constant. hut very slow motion