Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-07-05
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
VOLCANO ERUPTTONS

BOSTON, Mass, July 5.-When
katmai volcano, in Alaska, blew on
its top the cloudless sky of Sahara
was overcast and the United States
had the cold damp summer of 1917
which weather observers could not
account for at hat time, according
to DR.. Robert e. Griggs, who spoke
Monday before the Conference on
Geography, National Education AS
ISOLATION, Boston.
Had the eruption occurred in New
York city not a soul would have
survived on Manhattan, the thun-
derous noiee would have rolled
GRO the central states and sounded
like an artillery duel ven in ST.
Louis, and the sulphur fumes would
have polluted the air in all the ter
ritory east of the ROCKY Mountains,
the speaker said.
So remote is Katmai that not a
soul was killed in this terrific Up
heaval, and the amazing effects are
just becoming known as the find
ings of the National Geographic So
ciety Expeditions, of which DR..
Griggs was the leader, are ANNOUNCE
ed.
For the first time a scientific expe-
dition of this kind was accompanied
by motion picture camera mem and
remarkable motion pictures of the
Mt. katmai region and the adjoining
eighth wonder of the world" the
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes,
were exhibited.
While Katmai's explosion was the
invitation to scientific study, the
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
which the expeditions discovered,
priII hn q rarnatpaI ohArotnru for
scientists and one Of the most re-
markable Fairgrounds among u
natural parks-second in size only
to Yellowstone, and displaying phe-
nomena to be seen nowhere else in
the world.
This valley, which recently was
set aside as a national monument,
presents a panorama of rolling
clouds of Yapor that arises in never
ending streams and go billowing off
down the valley with mile-long
trails behind them.
Upon closer inspection this steam
is seen to pour from vents, called
fumaroles, and upon its emergence
it is sometimes six times as hot as
ordinary steam-so hot that a sin
gle breath would be fatal. Every
where these fumaroles produce col
OTlul tuCl uStdtlOuSr HOW o. IidSS VI
bright yellow sulphur, now a chunk
of ash turned red and blue by the
action of heated gases, now a lump
of pure white silicious material.
Members of the expedition cooked
their meals over them, once they
learned to hold down their frying
pans against the force Of the up
rushing steam.
Though remote, this newest mem
Der of the national park family is
not inaccessible. A commodious
harbor was added to the maps of
the region of the expeditions, and
named Geographic Harbor in honor
of the Society which directed the
explorations.
A falling mountain that rumbles
as it disintegrates, a lake where one
may get a bath hot, cold, or any
temperature desired by swimming
a few strokes. and, perhaps most
amazing of all, streams with trout
that will bite at almost any bait,
are among the other marvels of this
Alaskan wonderland described by
DR.. Griggs.
Pictures no longer are a teaching
luxury but an absolute necessity in
many branches of study, according
to Miss Erna Grassmuck, director
of geography in the State Depart
ment of Education of Pennsylvania,
who presided at the Conference.
Both newspapers and magazines
offer picture sources which should
be more generally utilized, both in
the school and in the home, Miss
Grassmuck said.
THAT which attracts the child of
two years and still holds the atten-
ton of the octogenarian is worthy
: of careful analysis in the teaching
process" Miss Grassmuck contin-
ued.
Pictures make a decided contri-
button in helping us to understand
and thus appreciate the problems
confronting the various people of
the world be they Tibetans, Boliv-
ians, Kaffirs, or Armenians. Not
less do they make us feel one with
the people of Massachusetts, louisa
ma, California even though we live
in North Dakota. They show us
economic and social life as it ex-
lists and produce those attitudes OF
mind which could never be develop
ed through words alone.
I'm this connection, we cannot
speak too highly of the splendid aid
which the National Geographic So
ciety has given us in the six sets
of pictorial geography. Having at
their command thousands of pic
lures, portraying not only the human
but also the plant and animal life
all over the world, illustrating civic
and social aspects as well as the see
mic phases of life they have been
able to draw upon this rich store and
thus have given to us a mine of ideas
and also afforded the teacher that
comfort and satisfaction in present.
ing her work which otherwise would
have been impossible"