Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-04-04
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
HOME TALENT VOLCANO

ALOIAAI AAAbAAANA NOAS1A4fO
Americans RI accustomed to
of volcanoes because of the array
of them on the Alaskan Peninsula,
headed by huge Katmai, and their
occurrence In the Hawaiian Islands
and the Philippines" says a bulle-
tin from the Washington, d. c.,
headquarters of the National Geo.
| graphic Society.
"Volcanism, however, is not a Ear
| away thing after all. The renewal
| of activity at Mt. Lassen, in northern
| California, early in March, empha-
| sizes the fact that we actually have
a live volcano within the boundaries
of one Of our most populous states.
| This example of me of Natures
most powerful forces Is only about
200 miles north of San Francisco
and 800 miles south of Portland.
Eruption of 1914 Historic
"When Mount Lassen became ac-
/ tive In 1914 1t was an epoch-making
event, for it was the first volcanic
ERUPTION within the borders of the
United States proper known to have
| taken place within historic times.
Stones and mud were thrown for half
a mile from the crater, While ash
drifted for Is to 20 miles. Previous
ly the region had been a sort of yell
lowstone with boiling mud springs
emitting sulphurous gases; and a
| few agitated springs that approach
| geysers in activity.
"Mount Lassen does not present a
case of a volcano appearing mex
plicably in a peaceful countryside.
| 1t is on the edge of one of the great
| est ancient lava-flows in the world
"a flow which covers large areas in
northern California, Oregon, Wash
ington and Idaho. Upon another
edge of the same lava-flow is situat-
ed Yellowstone National Park with
its near-volcanic phenomena.
ION this same flow, farther north,
are the huge volcanic cones, now ex-
tinct, of Mount Rainier. Mount Hood
and Mount Shasta. The activity re-
sponsible for these large peaks and
| for the extensive flow took place
| hundreds of thousands, OIL even mil
| lions of years ago, before the last
ice age. The region Immediately
around Lassen, alone, apparently
has preserved a channel with the
deep fires.
Our Volcanic National Park
IA few miles north of Lassen is a
cinder cone from which probably
took place the latest eruption in the
United States before 1914. Tradi-
tons among the Indians of the
neighborhood tell of o time believed
to have been 200 or 500 years ago
| when smoke and cinders belched
forth from this peak %darkening the
sky for days and scattering ashes
lover a large area. The age of trees
fgrowing in the crater of this cone
indicate, by one Interpretation, that
there also was a slight eruption
about so years ago but the America
of that day, without telegraph wires
and news. services, was ignorant of
an eruption if one actually took
place. Material from one of the
eruptions of this vent damned a
small valley, creating a lake in
which the standing stumps of
drowned trees still are to be found.
In 1907 when all volcanic vents
were believed to be extinct, Lassen
and Cinder Cone were set apart as
small National Monuments to serve
as examples of recent volcanic ac-
tivity. Since 1914 when it became
known that there was present ac-
tivity in the region, an area of 125
square miles around the craters has
been made into the Lassen Volcanic
National Park. Automobile roads
have been constructed from the
nearest railroad station about 40
miles away, and hundreds of tour
lists have visited the region"