Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1925-03-14
ASPHALT SUPPLY
Is INEXHAUSTIPLE
Interesting Facts About
Devils Pool" in Trinidad.

washington, -. u lie pdNe1ueIltS
of city streets cry to the cloop of
horses hoofs and the whir of auto
mobile tires. Trinidad in tribute to
the islands asphalt deposits. Radio
and telephone wires reverbprate the
refrain. Even the walls of houses
shut out these sounds. as well as the
cold, with the WOrldfamous product
If this emerald island of the southern
Caribbean" says a bulletin from the
Washington Cd. c. headquarters of
the National Geographic society.
THE most southerly island of the
West Indies and the largest of the
British islands In the Caribbean with
The exception of jamaica, lying just
few hundred feet from the Venezuela
coast. Trinidad ships yearly to the
United States more asphalt and b.
;umen than ali the other countries Of
The world combined. Our S0,OOO-ton
Importation from Trinidad. however.
Is only about One-fourth Of the guam
tity used in the United States. Much
nf our road material is a by-product
of the petroleum and coal tar indus
tries
Supply Seems Inexhaustibie.
when Sir Walter Raleigh stopped
on the shores of Trinidad to pay his
vessels with pitch from the famous
lake he declared that there was
enough of the substance for all the
vessels of the world for centuries to
ONE. and even the demand which
modern civilization has put upon the
supply has scarcely changed the truth
Of his statement.
about a mile from the shore, near
La Brea, the peculiar phenomenon,
which has been variously termed an
inferno 'Stygian pool and the
fountain Of Styx.' is located. Had
Dante known Of its existence, 1t prob
ably would have served to stimulate
his Imagination to still more fantastic
flights. However. the lake about
which so many interesting stories have
been told does not deserve it's repu-
tation. A man who contemplated sui
eide in its black depths would die of
starvation before the ooze dragged
him in above his knees.
1.-THE situation produced by walking
over it's surface is much like that of
treading upon some great beast whose
flesh gives beneath the feet-it Is soft,
blOod-warm, and the wrinkles over its
surface in the binding light of the
sun seem to rise and fall with his
breathing and the water which gath
ers in the burrows suggests that the
animal Is perspiring.
1T is said that the area Of the
pitch-bearing lake is 40 acres and no
one knows how deep it is. There IS
an almost uncanny feature connected
with the removal of the asphalt from
the area. Rails and sleepers have
been built out into the lake and each
day the laborers dig up chunks Of the
pitch, which break off with dry. blue
flintlike fractures. and throw them
into a car which runs on rails. Each
day they make trough along the
sides Of the track with their picks and
when they return the next morning the
trough: is filled again level and solid
for them to dig up-a furrow that is
never finished.
Scars "HeaI" by Night.
Like the Burning Bush, the lake
seems never to be consumed, and like
the daughters Of Danaus, who had to
catch water In sieve, the men never
see the results of their labors. AT
night a great gully runs across the
horizon, and at dawn the surface Is
level again.
about every three days. however.
the pitch swallows up the rails and
the sleepers and they must be raised
and readjusted on the surface.
"The subtle movements of this queer
pool have produced some 'spooky' eff
fects-islands wander like lonely
ghosts from shore to shore; sometimes
a tree trunk sticks up out of the sur
face like the arm clothed in white
samite which bore 'Excalibur,' points
it's warning finger, and again is drawn
back into the Cimmerian depths.
zone writer has estimated that at
least 100000 tons Of the mixture
have been churned into asphalt by gas
uUIlAS LIE uScS LII llSll AohCS "hASA 40
known as Devils cauldron among the
natives. About 100000 tons have al
ready been removed. and by 1920 the
surface of the lake had fallen Is feet
below it's former level. Once during
it's history the viscous fluid overfowed
its banks and made it's way to the sea
near La Brea Now the worlds supply
Is shipped from Brighton, which fairly
reeks Of it's stock in trade. Asphalt
boulders stick up out Of the sand along
the shore like mysterious black sea
worms, the piles Of the piers are
caked with pitch, the pavements are of
the same material, and the black chill
dren of the island play with dolls
whose little black faces and bodies
are made of pitch.
Columbus Saw Island Peaks.
'The island is really a beautiful re-
sort, it's roads are excellent, and 1t
is easy to reach from the Venezuela
shore, it's green trees towering on the
sky line from far out at sea. On his
third voyage Columbus saw it's three