The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1916-02-24

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tion, has the downright good
luck of being in possession of the only
volcano which the eyes of white men
have ever seen in a state of eruption
within the borders of the United
| States.
1t was on May 80, 1914, that the Cali
fornians who lived within a radius of
ntteen to twenty miles of Mt. Lassen
were awakened out of their nights e
sleep by a roar and thunder like the
sound of thousands of heavy cannon
going off.
A black column of smoke, attend.
ed with hot ashes, fine sand and hiss.
ing steam, was shot up from deep cav.
erns of the earth into the sky 5000
feet above the summit of the mountain,
which is itself nearly two miles high.
The Californians could scarcely be-
lieve their senses. They had been
used to considering Lassen peak as a
harmless old pet, as quiet old mon
ster who didn't have tooth left in her
head. And then to have her suddenly
become one of the most savage active
volcanoes in the world was almost too
much for them.
But with the true California spirit
the Californians got busy and made
Lassen peak and it's eruption shout for
the glory of California. "If California
has a dead volcano that won't behave
itself and stay dead" said the Califor-
mans, then we'll make a virtue of it's
misbehavior, advertise it and get more
tourists to come to Gods favorite spot
of earth"
This is just what the Californians
did. 1t was just their luck to come in
to possession of the only live Volcano
the United States owns. So they ad-
vertised it right and left and got no
tices and reviews concerning it in all
the papers and magazines in the land.
Gives Fine Display.
Lassen peak is a giant mountain
with height of 1O,437 feet. 1t is built
up entirely Of materials drawn from
the deep. interior of the earth. Cali
fornia claims 1t now as one of her most
wonderful scenes. Not only is it a
rugged sentinel guarding the states
northern frontier but it is constantly
challenging attention and exciting ad-
miration by splendid displays of deep
seated energy and by sending forth
magnificent black plumes into the sky
often accompanied by grand bonn.
bardment of great rocks.
About 1900 feet of it's summit can
be seen from the mail stage at dis
tance of 20 miles. Steam can be seen
gently steaming forth. Every once in
while a column of black smoke
comes forth and rises straight towards
the zenith. A long horizontal light-col.
ored cloud lies apparently above the
volcano. The smoke sometimes reach
es a height which mountaineers have
estimated as being 5000 feet above
the volcano opening. 1t impresses It.
self indelibly upon the memory of any
one who is lucky enough to see it.
The crater itself cannot be an
preached at present on account of the
incessant spurts of steam, and the pos !
sibility of an outburst of cinders, ashes
and rocks, not to mention flows of lava
which may take place any minute.
At such times fine sand ranging
from an almost impalpable but gritty |
powder to very small pebbles is pro-
jected with great violence from the
throat of the monster and carried to
distances of from fifteen to twenty
miles 1t was on the northern and east.
ern side of the mountain that the tre-
mendously large rocks were projected
from the volcano and sent tumbling
down the steep mountain side toward
Man2anta lake. four miles distant,