Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-04-22
TR|N|DAD'S ASPHALT
LAKE A DULL WONDER
OF All the Sights Of the World IL
Is Least Conducive to
Enthusiasm.

or oil tho wonders Of the world. the
Pitch (properly the Asphaltum) Lake
OF Trinidad Is probably the ono lens,
conducive to n spssm OF the emotions.
AS a sight II ie what Ia unpopularly
Nnown as a sell Still Il retains its
place In the list Of the things that
must he seen. for IL II not tho appar-
emily ineXhaustible source OF our city
streets7 And no tho tourist chips put
In Mt 10 Prea, and will doubtless CON
tinue to do so untu tho place II dug
clean OF It's black treasure
Charles Kingsley In AT Last" be.
gan his description OF II by discount:
ing Il ns a wonder" and then took
literary refuge In the surrounding
palms which accumulated It's desolnte
appearance. Even no was put 10 Il
10 bring forth a eulogium. Tho gentle
man who wrote It up for tho Trinidad
Handbook delivered himself OF a
mighty tribute. with tho kindly aid of
.Charon. the StyN. and the almighty
DOLLAR But he wrote 10 advertise
Writers have approached the Pitch
Lake with tho best OF intentions. put
ting on humility. trepidation, rever-
ence. and risking a touch OF tho fever.
And almost all that has been written
of the spot shows that determination
born OF necessity and disappointment.
assaulting description at the point of
the pen, as though something must be
oone or streets would not be paved.
Sir Walter Raleigh. ono OF tho frat
II not actually the first English re-
unitarian about II. said there was
enough pitch TO pay" the decks of
the worlds ships. and saved his en-
thusiasm for the "olsters's he found
growing on the trees at Le Brea. for
which he was rewarded by loud cries
OF "Liarl" when the Information
reached London. For the epicure. AT
least. there is more enjoyment in one
succulent mangrove oyster than there
would be In the Pitch Lake on an In
finitude OF half shells.
II you are curious 10 know what the
Pitch Lake looks like. go 10 the near
est desoiate swamp of black mud. i'm
agine II solid and quite cleared of
and imagine yourself walk
ing over It with impunity. Having
got that far. you would not find IL
boiling. nor even soft. II n hot sun is
on It. the surface will soften. Just as
the streets at home do on a swetering
day In August. II the sun Is not on
IL and Il has just rained-as II Is for
ever doing in the tropics in winter
the surface Is hard as any cool asphalt
and the holes where the workmen have
drilled out chunks OF the stuff are fill
ed with water. Do not look for Kings
ley's palms. for they are no more; oil
wells are taking their places.
The most impressive thing in the
scene, you will admit. Is the huge
plant OF the General Asphalt Com
pany Of Philadelphia. operating under
the name OF the New Trinidad Lake
Asphalt Company, Ltd. Of London, G
ltypically American institution, with its
up-to-date barrelling process and tn,
bucket trestle that carries the product
on an endless chain down to the
ships. half mile away. And II yoI
are interested in statistics you vii
discover that, contrary TO what yol
have heard, the constant mining o
the pitch Is lowering the surface. a
tfic laAt VI hpohh ttBhl IL eau
In the last 90 years the level ha,
been taken down IA feet, but sub
terranenn pressure works the stuff
upward and drills have never reached
any bottom limit because shifting anC
buckling will not permit their being
forced down more than 200 feet.
The Pit of the BOuleyards.
The Pitch Lake is at its best wher
it is dumped into the middle OF cit,
street and rolled down. 1t Is at it
most picturesque when brilliant mo
tors with still more brilliant freigh
roll over 1t at. say, the theatre hour
It's most menacing on Broadwa,
, when holes over that unfinished con
duit are dug through II. pitfalls 70
, unwary man, beast or taxi And 1t 4
at its quietest. its dullest, its most In
nocent just where it lies on the ives
coast of Trinidad--this desolate pit o
the boulevards.
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