Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1916-08-23
TRINIDAD'S PUZZLE
Mystery Of the Islands Curious
Lake of Pitch.
HOLES FILL UP OVERNIGHT.
And Crest Trenches More Than Three
Feet Sesp Viii Be oblitera.sd In a
Wsek--The Great Mass 10 solid, Yet
In Constant but Slow Motion.

FSot weep WIZ Ce OOttoTA-ou III
Wesk-The Great Mass 10 solid, Yet
In Constant but Slow Motion.
Though disappointing at first sight to
people who have the crater Of all ac-
tive volcano in mind yet the famous
pitch lake" Of Trinidad is remarkable
enough to satisfy most thoroughly long
ere the visit has come to ain end.
The lake is a level plain aboat Il hun
bred acres or SO IN extent, surrounded
by low hills and dotted here and there
with bushes and trees. The surface is
not shimmering black, us might be
supposed, but dull, grayish blue col
water. Altogether it is very prosaic
looking place, giving no hipt of its real
interest
One can walk where one pleases on
the surface of the asph; II without any
fear of sinking in. for it Is quite solid
enough to bear ones weight If you
stand in one place for little while it
feels hot to the feet, just like an as
phalted street on n very hot day.
Much of the time fresh breeze
blows, and one remembers with amuse-
ment the stories of the imaginative
writer's who talked about sitting heat
and oppressive atmosphere.
The digging Of the asphalt is a sim
sple. 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 work
and break out Jumps couple of feet
across, far too heavy for an ordinary
man to carry.
Only very small amount of the ma
terial gets broken into little pieces, so
that scarcely any baskets are needed
to carry the asphalt to the cars. A
laborer simply lifts one or two Jumps,
puts them on his head, walks few
yards and drops them into the car.
The crude asphalt, as broken out, 4;
1t Is usually quite wet and filled with
many holes, like bubbles, measuring up
to an inch or more in diameter.
The gang Of harefooted workmen ii
one place may number thirty men, of
whom half a dozen do the digging
They work on a space perhaps sixty
feet long and forty feet wide, and In
the course of day they will dig down
to a depth Of three feet. or more in
some places.
Go to that same spot next morning
and you will find it little rough, but
approximately level with the rest Of
the lake. The hole has been mysteri
ously filed up during the night, and in
the course Of week all traces of the
digging will be obliterated.
This does not mean necessarily that
fresh asphalt has come into the lake
from underground sources On the con-
trary, the excavations are filed by a
very slow settling or leveling of the
surface asphalt There is no such
thing as new" asphalt. by the way.
for the transition from liquid petro-
.leum to solid asphalt by natures proc
ess involves ii period Of time that must
be calculated in centuries.
The digging done in past years has
caused the general level Of the lake to
sink several feet, so that it is not abso-
lutely inexn.astible, as some people i'm
agine. 1t is believed that fresh asphalt
very slowly pushes itself upward into
the lake from the subterranean depths,
but how large a quantity Is thus added
annually has not been calculated.
Near the middle Of the lake the ma
terial is less hard than elsewhere, and
IN, N foxy y,IocoS soft oSnhalt NAV no
seen in small, irregular patches oozing
up from below. This fresh asphalt is
of about the consistency of putty and
can be kneaded and pulled in the hands
without soiling them greatly. In the
main, however, the lake is solid as
phalt
No one knows the depths of this mys-
FERROUS lake, the only information on
the subject being the fact that long
ago a boring was made to depth Of
1876 feet without reaching the bottom.
The cores" Of this and other borings
show that in consistency the asphalt
remains the same to a very consider
able depth.
Curious as it may seem, there are
many evidences that the entire mass
comprising the lake is In constant but
very slow motion. The surface is
series of great folds, and in the creases
between these the rain water gathers.
One writer has APPLY compared the
surface Of the asphalt to the skin of
great elephant, the creases being the
folds In his hide. Along the edges Of
the pools Of water grass. bushes and
small trees take root, forming green
islands" Of greater or less extent
Victor Pitt-Kethley in Wide World
Magazine.