The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-07-05
Volcano is a
Friend to Mankind

Washington, July 2.-It might be a
surprise to many to be told that the
fire-spitting, lava-spouting, earth.
rocking volcano is one of mankind's
best friends rather than his arch en-
emy, but such is the surprising decla.
ration which will be explained to the
Conference of Geography of the Ma
tional Educational Association in Bos-
ton July 8.
The most tremendous volcanic erup-
tion of history, that of Mount Katmai
in Alaska, in 1912, will be described
in this connection by DR.. Robert F
Griggs, leader of several parties sent
to the scene of the cataclasm by the
National Geographic Society, and who
discovered the Valley of Ten Thou
sand Smokes, Katmai's neighbor won
der of nature.
Mankind's debt to the volcano has
been more fully recognized by results
Of recent researches, says a bulletin
of the Society describing the upheav-
al. Without volcanoes, it is now be-
lieved, there would be no ocean, and
to volcanoes we are indebted for car
bon dioxide, without which human life
could not exist.
The explosion of Katmai, the con.
ference will be told, was unnoticed be-
cause it was so far from the centers
of civilization. Had the eruption oc-
Cured near New York City, the bull
letin declares, the sulphurous fumes
would have polluted the air every
where east of the Rocky Mountains;
the noise would have reverberated like
an artillery duel across the Central
States. The lower Hudson itself
would have been turned into a gigen-
tic tomb.
However, due to the lack of popu-
lation in that far region, there was
no loss of life, and the eruption pro-
vides scientists and geographers now
one of their greatest opportunities to
study the phenomenon of volcanic ac
ton.
Though generally unaware of the
eruption until long after, every inhab-
itant of the country, and almost of the
world, felt its effects, one of which
was the cold damp summer of 1912.
This was caused by the interception of
sunlight by the ong-hanging dust
cloud in the upper air. Even in cloud
less Saraha, it was declared, the sky
was overcast.
A succession of such mighty explo-
sIons could plunge the earth into an
other ice age, it is believed.
An area around Katmai, larger than
the State of Delaware, was covered
that summer by more than a foot of
volcanic ash, which was enough to
destroy all but the hardest Of vege-
tation. When the explosion occurred
two cubic miles of material were
blown off the top Of the mountain, and
the present whereabouts of the noun
tain top is still a mystery to scien-
lists.
The Valley of Ten Thousand
Smokes, from which arise virtually
millions of steam jets in a scene Of
unsurpassed awe and beauty, is be-
lieved to have been an aftermath of
the cataclasm.
President Wilson turned aside from
the stress of war to make this region
national monument second to none
in the world. While the country is so
remote that the few white men who
have viewed its wonders have been
members of the society's expeditions,
the educators will be told, it is easily
accessible from sheltered bay
christened in honor of the society, and
SO mile roadway will some day place
it within the compass of the automo-
bile tourist.