The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-05
AFCADIO HEARN in one Of his
interesting sketches Of the

interesting sketches of the
French West Indies, published
some years ago, tells the story of per-
haps the only man who ever descended
into volcano while in eruption.
1t seems that during a certain vol
oanic CONFUSION that shook and rent
certain island of the West Indies one
man was thrown down a fissure. He
was unframed. but his position as he
tumbled far down into the volcano was
not such as to inspire hope of scien-
tifc study OF what had happened or
was happening. After some time
passed in the bowels of the earth an
other eruption shook and rent the
ground. 1t tossed him up and out of
the assure and landed him unframed
on solid and firm ground, but when
asked how it all had happened he
could not explain. So science lost a
great chance Of learning by personal
observation what happens beneath us
when volcano is in eruption.
However, science has been learning
more about volcanoes during the last
four years than it has ever known be-
fore or would have probably known
for a great many years to come il 1t
had not been for the necessities of the
sreat worlds war, which turned scien-
tho men to a practical study of ma
lures vast laboratories of seething,
smoking lava More than ANYTHING
else perhaps it was the crying need for
potash the war produced which turned
serious scientific investigation toward
volcanoes.
Because Of the great shortage we
have been forced to deprive ourselves
Of sugar. wheat -four and a great
many other things which we have
heretofore regarded as essential to life.
out potash is one of the things we
cannot get along without any more
than we can without a certain amount
or water or salt. Because the human
race depends directly or indirectly on
cultivated plant life and in the nature
OF this plant life far more potash is
necessary than the amount naturally
yielded by the earth.
FOR many years the worlds SUNNY
OF potash came chiefly from the leach
ing OF wood ashes; that is by. their
washing by means Of percolated wafer
Al the time of the outbreak of the war.
while some potash still came from that
source, the most that we use was
derived from the refuse left after beet
sugar making, from sleeps wool and
from the great natural deposits of
potassium salt near Stassforc, Ger.
many.
Shortly after the war was well under
way all OF these sources were greatly
impaired and in some cases entirely
eliminated, and thus the worlds supply
OF potash began to dwindle rapidly.
Prof. Henry S. Washington of the
physical laboratory OK the Carnesi.
institute of Washington was one OF
our leading scientific men who became
interested in the potash problem and
was also one of those who turned 10
the worlds volcanoes as offerinS q
possible solution.
Recently Prof. Washington issued
an authoritative and very cheering
statement that from certain volcanic
lavas it Is possible to obtain potash
According to him the igneous rocks
or the earth's crust contain on ar
average about 3 per cent. OF potash
some OF them running even as high as
10 per cent. Thus it is evident that
the matter heretofore regarded as
water which is elected by volcanoes
10 in the near future likely to Prov
of inestimable value to mankind ant
because of the very wide distribution
OF volcanoes in various parts of The
nj nh
claim anything like & monopoly Of the
potash industry. There are volcanic
regions in both the Arctic and tn.
tropics, on our side of the Atlantic
and Pacific as well as the Orient and
the countries OF Europe. In brief ia.
nous volcanoes are to be found In al
most all parts of the world.
Famous Volcanoes.
In Alaska we have Kilanea, in Ice.
land Heela. in Japan Fujiyama, in the
Grecian Archipelago Santorin, and IL
Mexico Jorulto. in Italy and Sicily
<Etna, Vesuvius and Ischia, and IL
Martinique Mount Pelee, and this Il
the very briefest mention of onl,
the most famous volcanoes of tn,
world, there being many others O.
more or less Importance, both active
and inactive. Another point, while 4
is a fact that volcanoes are general,
found near the sea, this does not al
ways follow. Jorulto being consider
ably over 100 miles from the neares
ocean.
The finding OF immense quantitie.
OF easily obtainable potash near tn,
outlets of many volcanoes is of ,
value and importance difficult for tn,
average person to realize. 1t means
II what Prof. Washington has an
nounced is any way near correct
namely, that It is reasonable to sup
pose that Mount A1tna, Vesuvius ant
1schia alone contain some 10000 600.