| Show II I I STRANGEST STRANGEST OF OP ALL LL LAKES LAKES It Covers Ninety Acres of Ground in Trinidad Washington Post Mr Edward R Smartt a civil enl engi engineer neer In the employ ot of the British gov government government last w week ek at the Na National National where he arrived several days daya before from the island or of Trinidad There for tor the past fifteen years he has been engaged in making a number ot of extensive surveys for tor this one o othe of the richest and most valuable ot of the British West Indies TrinIdad Is the Island on which Is situated the cole cele celebrated asphalt lake that supplies this and other countries with paving ma material tonal and which Is without doubt one ot of the most remarkable natural won wonders dora ders In existence The Island of oC TrinIdad said Mr Smartt Is nearly square with the cx x ot of its Ita western coast which runs out In two long capes partly tn en encircling circling n a body of oC water known as the Gulf Gult of Paria The capital of the ml Island and and principal seaport Port or of Spain Is situated on the southernmost of these two capes while the pitch lake Is located at a place called Brighton on the northern cape miles across the Gulf Gult or of Parla Paria from Port ot of Spain The lake Itself Is sit situated one mile mUe 1 inland and nd covers ninety I acres Extending over an area ot of near nearly nearly ly acres to the north of the lake Is Isa isa a black and barren tract of asphalt that appears to have dried out and hardened and which Is mixed with the soil to such an extent that It Is not Quite so good as that ot of the lake 1 doubt it if there Is anyone any one outside of those who have visited the lake who understand Its true character Most people em eem to think that it Is isa Q a spring of some sort but this is n a I mistake The facts are that almost I the entire Island of Trinidad Is under laid with seams or strata of the same kind of pitch that is found In the I lake Wherever n a well Is dug to any depth eighty eIght feet teet or more those do doIng dolog log Ing the digging are sure to pass through a seam of this asphalt before they strike water and the well has to tobe tobe I be at once curbed with bricks or boards to prevent the asphalt in these seams from flowing Into and filling up the well I Along various arlous parts ot of the seacoast wherever the banks are high and cut cutaway cutaway away by the waves these seams ot of I pitch are exposed but so hardened on the surface that they have not flowed I outward to an any great reat extent The lake seems therefore to be n a pocket or of this pitch The various layers seem to have dipped upward and run together at thIs point forming the lake Jake the surface of which under perfectly natural and undisturbed conditions would be sta stationary stationary neither rising nor failing The lake belongs to the British crown but is leased for tor a perIod ot of years to the New e Trinidad Asphalt company whose hOS time limit has more years ears to run This company payS no rental or lease money for Its right but Instead pays a roy royalty alt alty on every ton of asphalt exported from its 1111 station Brighton on the coast I near the lake From this thin royal royalty Great Britain derives a revenue or of Ot per r year which Is 18 spent In building roads and making improve ments over the thern island The company compan Iii is an English corporation but owing to the tact fact that pearly nearly all of the as asphalt exported is shipped to New York the th concern lIS is managed from that point and all Gl ct the white clerks su gad and managers to the number of eight or more stationed at atthe atthe the plant lant at Brighton are young Oung men from the United States The New ew Trinidad Asphalt company has a long wharf harr extending out to deep deepwater deepwater water at Brighton From the end of this wharf a ble tramway extends to the power house hoWK a milt mile inland and andOn andOn On the edge of the lake and front there a email makes a loop out and over A part ot of the lake which Is f hard bard enough to walk upon except perhaps in n the center where It is very oft sott This railway or tram tramway tramway way I should have said is laid up straw to prevent its sinking down Into the asphalt but even this is s not sur suf to prevent its and andas andas as further means ot of support It 1 is an anchored by long cables ot of steel wire to the stanchIons of wood driven In Inthe Inthe the ground around the shore ot of the lake which in form Is almost cIrcular circular lar These cables not only prevent the railway from sinking but also keep the track front from sagging on one side kle Or getting out ot of shape In other ways The cars that run over oer thIs rood roadway way carry two buckets that hold pounds of asphalt each The asphalt is loaded into these buckets from pits along the side of th the tr track k and when the cars reach the shore of the lake the buck buckets buckets ets are lifted up on the cable tram tramway tramway way and whirled down to the end ot of the wharf where their contents are dumped Into the holds ot of vessels ly lyIng lying Ing alongside the pier Th They y are then sent back empty over the same ame cable wa way to he refilled The laborers employed tn in getting out the asphalt are all negroes Some SomeI I of oC them are front from Barbados and St Vincent but the majority are natives or of the Island of oC Trinidad Those from Barbados speak English but the na natIo nativo tivo tIo TrInidad negroes speak n a French patois They dig the asphalt out in lumps with pickaxes to a depth or of front from four to five feet loading Jt it Into the buckets with shovels It If the asphalt stands In the buckets for tor n a period as long as four hours It con and has ha to be dug out with witha ltha a pick It Is poured Into the hold of the vessels just as it comeS front from the lake lakein I In large lumps but by the time the vessel reaches New York U it has hall run together In such fashion that It h has hasto s I Ito to be excavated In the same manner that It Is taken fresh from the lake Some of the I pitch Is converted Into what Is known as or purified asphalt ThIs Is done by placing the lumps of oC crude asphalt In n a vat which Is heated by a steam coal What water there Is In the asphalt is soon evaporated orated and after atter several and boiling down it is and exported to New York In nearly every geography history or work In which this lake Is described you will see the statement that the lake Is Inexhaustible and that ns as last fast as the asphalt Is taken out It hIm up again Such I assure you Is not the case such statements being founded on a miscon misconception The lake is III In reality aub td Ing and may last not longer than an another another other years under the present heavy drain The way this statement got Into circulation was at ac follows The com company party pany takes from the lake about tons Jer day Now It this tone should b be taken out ot of one pit by the then n next morning there would be no lt left of the excavation ot of the da dar be before tore fore foreMost Most 1 people eople would at once jump at atthe t the conclusion that the holes had filled up during the night but such is 18 not t quite the case and If one will take the trouble to stroll around the border of the lake h will find that there is a slow but subsidence going on all the time The holes instead of basing filled up have simply sunk to a uniform level for like water asphalt is a pub stance that seekS its level whenever its equilibrium is disturbed by diggings o excavations There is of course a certain amount of asphalt flowing In Into to maintain the level disturbed by the constant diggings This comes In from the stains of pitch far ground and which seem to meet in the caster of the lake where the asphalt is softer than elsewhere but the flow i not rapid enough to maintain the lake at its original level In other words the company In tak taking ing out the asphalt faster than It is For example if the corn I pony removes tons from the lake about tons flow in front be below low to the pIece of that removed so that on account of this tEen between the amount taken out and the quantity flowing in the lake is gradually sinking the marks of the old oldshore shore line being far above the present one The vegetation around the lake is islow low and stunted There are sevrai Islands in the lake supporting a scant vegetation but no trees and although the island Is the home of the dread the coral snake and other venomous reptiles the lake and the shores round about are completely den of animal life There are several very curious things about the lake some of which have never been for nor sat explained You can walk walkabout about over the lake which seems per perfectly solid and firm except In the con conter ter where it is so soft that it is possible for a person to walk over it it is out of the question for a pair of oxen and a cart to attempt Its pen sage but If you stood five minutes In any one spot on the lake you will find that you have sunk one inch into the black pitchy substance Another remarkable thing is that the asphalt seems to flow upward fm the center and In sa doing brings up every now and a big eds tree of ofa a ory n th Island The movement of the asphalt s be front the center out lh sides and am these trees come up with the current they follow the lion and are drifted out to the sides or shore of the lake Where tresi come from is a mystery that many have tried but which none has en in solving They are not in tb least carbonized hut seem to 1 in as fresh and green a state no though had been cut in the only afew days before They have got Into the lake before the was formed though the |
