The Tomahawk., 1916-03-30

THE ASST
n n ANY people have heard of the
M pitch lake. of Trinidad, but
v very few have any idea of
= what it is like. Some home
keeping writer's of an imaginative bent
inspired, perhaps, by the sight of a
caldron of boiling tar-have pictured
it as a seething inferno Of heat and
boiling vapor, a sort Of miniature
hades. As a matter of fact, it is moth
ing Of the kind, writes Victor Pitt
Kethley in the Wide World.
Though disappointing at first. sight
to people who have the crater of an
active volcano in mind. yet the pitch
lake" is remarkable enough-one Of
natures wonders. Apparently we'll
nigh bottomless, it Is composed Of
solid asphalt, and the excavations
made by day are mysteriously filled up
at night, although the general level
OF the lake is slowly sinking. The
lake is situated near the town Of
Brighton, in the south of the island.
Travelling south from Port of Spain,
the capital, one reaches the little town
of San Fernando, inhabited chiefly by
Indian coolies. Here little steamer
leaves daily for trips along the coast.
The landlocked waters of the gulf are
usually calm, and the green mountains
of Venezuela are seen miles away in
the blue haze. The steamers course
runs close to shore bordered by man
grove swamps, and after several hours
Brighton Is reached, where the steam
or stops at the long pier of the New
Trinidad Lake Asphalt company, Ltd.
Here we 60 ashore, as the pier is the
most convenient point from which to
approach the lake. 9g
( Brighton lis an actiyes elittle1 town,
quite close to the lake, and we find
ourselves at once In the midst of the
asphalt industry. There is little Of
flee at the shore end of the pier and
overhead the cable is singing away
merrily as it carries along great buck
cts flied with asphalt. Dozens Of
neat buildings comprise the quarters
where the company's employees live.
Fresh paint and cleanliness are evf'
dent everywhere, and the bright West
Indian sunlight gives the settlement
"a very pleasant appearance. ,.'"@ "
The lake is level plain about
hundred acres or so in extent, sur
rounded by low hills, and dotted here
and there with bushes and trees. The
surface is not shimmering black, as
might be supposed, but dull, gray
ish blue color, intersected with pools
of shining water. Altogether it is
very prosaic-looking place, giving no
hint of it's real interest.
Solid Enough to Walk On.
One can walk where one pleases on
the surface of the asphalt, without any
fear Oh sinking in, for it is quite solid
enough. to bear ones weight. If you
stand in one place for little while 1t
feels hot to the feet-just like an as
phalted street on very hot day. Much
of the time a fresh breeze blows, and
one remembers with amusement the
stories of the imaginative writer's VIII
talked about sitting heat and oppres-
sive atmosphere. These will all re-
turn to you, however, II you are unfor-
tunate enough to get into place smell
tered from the breeze and exposed to
the sun, for at such points the Their
rmometer stands at 80 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 SIM
pie operation. A mattock is the only
tool required, and under its blows the
pitch breaks readily. The negroes en-
ployed are very skilled in the VOL.
and break out Jumps couple of feet
across, far too heavy for an ordinary
man to carry. Only a very small
amount of the material gets broken
into little pieces, so that scarcely any
ssbaskets are needed to carry the as
phalt to the cars. A laborer simply
lifts one or two Jumps, puts them on
his head, walks a few yards, and drops
them into the car. The crude asphalt,
as broken out, is somewhat brown1sh
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.
The gang of barefoot:e; worku1en in
yre place may number s'tirty men, of
whom half a dozen 90 the digging.
They work on space perhaps sixty
feet long and forty feet wide, I'D in
T the course Of day they will dig down
to q depth Of three feet. or more in
some places. Go to that same spot
next morninR and you will find 1t z