The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-07-18
LIFE APPREHENSIvE ON
VOLCANIC AZORES ISLAND
Newest Volcanic Outbursi Brings Terrors
to Children Out in Mid-Atlantie

Washington.-Even the children
of Fayal, the Azores island that
gave birth to rampaging volcano
less than a year ago, feared that
the worst was yet to come.
The worlds youngest and, for
the moment, most violent volcano
burst from the sea off western
Fayal last September. 1t vanished
month later, then rose spectacu-
larly again and attached itself to
the parent island.
The volcano became silent in
March but started erupting again
in late May. Current reports are
that part of Fayal, which is IL by
8 miles, has been closed off and
it's inhabitants hurriedly evac-
uated.
Closer to a Nightmare
At the height of the volcanoes
activity, writer John Scofield and
photographer Robert F. Sisson of
the National Geographic Magazine
visited the Portuguese island
group. Their eyewitness account
of the volcanoes birth and the is
landers' ordeal appears in the
June issue.
Mr.. Scofield found the young
and old equally apprehensive, es-
pecially in Fayal's scorched viii
lagos of Capelo and Norte Pc
queno. Each outburst pushed them
closer to nightmare of homeless
ness and hunger.
"We have land but it is covered
with ashes" said tiny schoolgirl
in Norte Pequeno. She added, in a
frightened whisper, "We have
enough corn for this year. After
that ;"
"And what do you think of the
volcano" a schoolboy was asked.
at might kill me-" he replied
with sudden emotion.
"He dreams that lava and stones
are crushing him." the village
school mistress explained. $50
many of them are frightened. They
think the whole island may blow
up"
AS fear has corroded the island
ers' emotions, so has volcanic de-
bris devastated the countryside.
Fall-out of ash and salt-laden rain
has turned green pastures and
vineyards into heartbreaking
wastelands, Mr.. Scofield wrote.
Dead cornstalks thrust up from
fields covered by blankets of ash
the color of stale chocolate. Houses
and roads lie covered; only an oc-
casional lime washed wall punctua-
ties the featureless countryside.
Thanks to surplus American
food distributed by the Portuguese
relief organization Caritas, peo-
pie have been fed. In the new
emergency, a shipment of food has
been sent from New York by the
Cooperative for American Remit
tances to Everywhere (CARE).
Losing Battle
Prior to the latest outbursts,
many islanders stuck to their
homes. They battled the falling ash!
with brooms, cleared it from roof
tops, and reset scattered tiles.
The deeply religious FayalensesI
have sought spiritual help by
prayers and pilgrimages. ''When
there are too many earthquakes" 81
Capelo housewife said, 1--WE take
Our Lady of Fatima out of the
church and walk with her, many
of US, praying in the streets"
The volcano, which the Fayal-
enses call 1lha Nova Portuguese
for ''new island"), is one of the
worlds 500 active volcanoes. 1t has
added a square mile or SO to the
area of Portugal.
Many other volcanoes have
swelled from the ocean floor in a
similar manner. The famous Bogo-
slof, in the Boring Sea, has pop
ped up and down. half dozen
times since 1876. Myojin, $50 miles
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