Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Nov. 13, 1910, edition 1 / Page 15
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Vr'v.-- .... iv,. yyyy;' "i -; ---, . '. it ? ? r 1 EOT THE They Were Turtle Eggs Agassiz Wanted Them. 4fL .,v..VV.v t s. - - z . . -v it - r , ' . ;-; '" Y'V .v- j. ;; Y:-V-:jY Y:V Y Y-Y'-- EGGS A WILD RACE AGAINST -TIME. The Professor Had to Have tha Eggs Before They Wera Three Howr Old, , and This la theT3tory ef How '.the'. Hunter MadV Good Hia Promisa.T'Xt When Professor ouis Agassiz was i riling a- book on the turtles of the L'nitod States It became necessary for,, hiui to have some fresh tflrtWj eggs.' He engaged Mr. Jenks of Mlddleboro, -; about forty miles from Cambridge, to pet them for him. , Mr. Jenks promised, that the eggs should be in Agassiz'tr hands before they were three hours . old. Mr. Jenks. who told the tale to', a writer in the Atlantic Monthly, had to wait by a certa-in pond for the tur-' ties to come out and lay their eggs in the sand. Finally, after weeks of waiting, one morning about 4 o'clock a. turtle crawled up the beach, partly buried herself In. the soft sand and1 laid her eggs. "Mr. Jenks went on to say: As she did so the distant clock struck 4. There was no train till after 0, and the eggs must be in Cambridge In three hours. I laid the eggs on a bed of sand In 1 tlie bottom of my pall, filled in, be tween them with tnor? sand, so with another layer to the rim, and, covering all over smoothly' with more sand, I ran buck for my horse. He knew as well as I that the turtle had laid and that he was to get those eggs to Agas siz. 1 let him out. I shouted to him, holding to the dasher with o'ne band.1 the pail of eggs with the other, not . daring to get off niy kuees, although the bang on them as we pounded down the wood road was terrific. Ve, bad , nearly covered the distance to the pike when ahead of me I hetfrd the sharp ; whistle of a locomotive. . With a pull that, lifted, the" horse: from bis feet I swung him into a field and sent bim straight ' as an arrow for the track, By some stroke of luck 1 got on (the track and backed off before the train hit my carriage. I ..j. . K . ... i1- --,. Has Strati0st ttiw&f in Over a Fissure ith M&ntMlSMe, He Cmear 4 ' EtemenimimnW aWMle' Bekr i- Frank' Pdrtfetrnerlcan ;8dlentlst,LI. tenjng ojurDanco; Jtirougn vot. . canlc" Fiaur. on Vesuvivs by- Meant J of uictograpn. .f -- Eartfi . Thrives oti Nerve 1 I I I. hr I Disp eititig Experiences.- ALLOWING. the trail of the tiger and the rmno tnrougn tne traciuess jungle may have its compensating' advantages; aero nautics, its birdlike joys, but for the thrill that really exhilarates, and- Is worth while, you must live on th.e crest of a volcano. ( The sensation is immense.' It may not enchant you to fancy yourself being shot out of a fiery catapult several thou sand feet in the air and deposited niece- meal on some deserted hillside four or five miles away or waking up some bright morning on the other side of the Styx, with the consoling information that while you slumbered the merciful lava had snuffed" out your, life without disturbing your sleep. . But it's the sort of expe- Rut the maneuver rience that is apt to keep you otf edge every minute and was successful.' for the engineer stopCi1111 Pu .nougnts wisuuuy .oacK rto inose . . .. ped. and 1 swung aboard the tbhat 7Uri r,riBT ir r , , j T j .. .. spirit Of adventure lured you i into T danger's . less dew .soaked, smeared, with yellow ! To tQOSe ho have eaten of the tree mud and holding as if it were, a baby cf knowledge and played every string ,on or a bomb a little Uu pail of saud.j. - life's harp, save this one, It's a bully expert "Throw her wide opvu." I ctJtnmaiidr" .ence, , Bot unless you have nerves.Tof steeL and anongler'8 "patience, you had better not try it. No occupation in the world is so con tingent uponthe unexpected happening. When it does , happen the world usually stands aghast sktj the enormity of the catastrophe vIsitedupon some helpless community. mm 4 ti iy 4, i. ft. r.-y.i&. V cd "wide open! These are fresh tur tle eggs for Piuffssor Agassiz of ..Cam bridge, lie must have them before breakfast." - . '' V The eugiueer and -the fireman no 5Vx it 1 1 tj x r Av U W 11 doubt thought that I' was crazy, buf f j Sut'fMth Call its shortcomings there is they let nie alone, and tin fast freight rolled in swiftly. to Roston. .. , -But niisfcrlinie was ahead. ' Ve came siding something' impellingr something stirring in the , excitement of making your home on a rfeal, live crater; which is hard to resist. Fom whatever angle you gaze on the en slrcling horizon, the vista is. one of death, and desolation. It is a spectacle that inspires, yet chills and depresses, and unless you have the real sporting strain in you, it may make you wish you were back on dear old Broad-x-rayr with Its plethora of caviar, and lobster. and the ambrosial Wurzburger that cheers.' - Of all places In the world, this is the last one, to. appeal to the fancy of a mollycoddle, It is.tlrerplace.for the adamant. man, tbeTiu 'man stoic, who is not over particular .whether , Stirring Up Trouble ..v. -. slowed iluwii in the yards and to a stop. We were put ou a to wait no one knew how long. I suddenly jumped from the engine, slid over a high fctfce and belted for the street. Iu the empty square stood a cab. , " - ' The cabman saw me coming. 1 waved a dcllar at him and Chen an-" other, dodged into the cab, slammed tue door and called out: "Cambridge! Qabrfel calls him uno kts.own from amidst Harvard college! Professor Agassiz's the gayeties of civilization or the flame-seared house! I've got eggs for Agassiz:" and' rlbs of old Stromboll. 1 pushed another dollar up at him Truly might it be " called ' the sport . of through the hole " Wngs, if it did ot have a serious side to it "Let him o'" l" ordered "Here's an.' ind there's fbe hunch. Out of curiosity klng3 and princes, orerea- "e e.8 an sickened 1)y;the obsequience of their courts, occasionally uUuCr uo.,ar lor.you ir you mae Agas. ceek goiacend gfimulus In its noisy environment, as the vs.uvlu, on slzs house in tweuty minutes!" , . ,.b inoKrtat iv, , b,t,t veauvius on v, r .' : ----- m cyb bi an mug uy. - - . . ; The treatment- being hgrolc, little of the tonic suffices and such." excursions, are invariably of short duration. . TheyUare embarked upon generally when there is rela ; Utely iittle or no danger imminent; enabling the royal Pilgrim to gather such experience as the momentary in activity Vof the ; slumbering monster affords without un necessary, risk. V Whatever feeling of .Instability it may conjure In the 3U T i We flew to Cambridge. There-was a sudden lurch, and' I dived forward, rammed my head into the front of the cab and came up with a rebguud that landed me across the .small of my back on the seat and sent half of-my pail of eggs helter skejlter over the uoor. But we were at Agassiz s uouse. tT- 1 tumbled out and ponaded. the doof. mind vOf-otheja, the -prospect of a sepulture of red hot "Agassiz!" I gasped when the maid ashes has no terrors for Frank Alvord Perret, an Ameri cans. "I want Professor Agassiz, can ol Brooklyn, N. Y., who has spent the last five years quick!"- , . 'j on .MounV Vesuvius, studying its phenomena. American si. a nmfnCf fh,f tourists; who .went': out to see the volcano-this -summer 'Ht! ! 5 wasB1 Jbe founa-nlm-bay, Exploring the opening of the great cra- nnu threatened the police. But Just ter -which destroyed Pompeii and which has put the Eruption. great, white robed figure appeared on the dim landing above, and a quick, loud vojce called excitedly: "Let him In! Let him in! I know liim! He has my turtle esrsrs." sown. '-iu, uis, arms exieuaeu, laia , most loruiuu hold of me with both hands and. drag- to the quiet Ping me and my precious pail into his iful .olcano. He calls It his nest to be polite people call It a villa. . It is a, simple but attractive little' abode, suggesting. in its spare furnishings a keen realization of its gwner's sense of insecurity.. A" few ' chairs, a table and a bed, with some pictures on the walls and a few pieces; of bric-a-brac to give cheer to an otherwise weird environment, , constitute its only appointments. , ..At first the awful solitiide of the hermitage palled on him, but he has now gotten used to his Isolation from the world's noise and bustle and does not. mind it. - Indeed,' so absorbing has his" self-imposed task become to him- that only a disturbance, on Mouat J2tna, or tb blowing up of old, Stromboli, can lure him away from it In this mountain retreat nothing escapes his observation. The house of the scientist commands a njagniflcwi view of the country for miles around in every- direct! ss. Standlpg on Perret's front porch Pompeii,, oppresslr-;. imDresslve in its seDUlchral silence, looms but o5-V" haze in the distance. That ha'may -not altogether, fa himself forsaken, even though he is, alone,' picttu-s-i-jr ; blight of death, upon all 'living things hereabouts ' s In . this inferno, which has been home, playground, laboratory and evlrything to him through the alternating periods'of quiet and eruption, which apply the acid test -to -pne's courage and shake the stoutfest heart,, his lot With. all its trials and anxieties has berserenely happy. Aud the apparition, slipperless and ftveT,t to ervtc;ln a mad house-Is to him a fasclnatinsr Cli'.U 111 il 11 Vf hillfr hnf nn orolom)n i t iv.i. tl . i-u nlil Monica oerlnnr mlHi .tha Ufa nTlrl rotrT an TP.1' ' B " uvuuvunv m Hinnv. in Llieir HUeKCSllUU Ul U1IKUII WWCI IUQ OCcUllCMk JiBV'Hi) " " mjv. - ---7 -r fame sailing downstairs. The and scarred ridges of .the volcano presenting one of the radiant throughout Italy, beams beneficently on Croat man. his. arms extend! in wi most forbiddinar lookine nersDectives In all the world, is his loneliness, from across the -bay. little Brooklyn man the most sublimely beau- ro tna scientists xnis seiung oi eirauge cun .tH r mentally uplifting-and majestic, picture nature af- stimulating. In bis studyof the volcano it is arJut KtiHlv with n wit nin .f.i. "lordft 'in its iprorasion ana variety , ot , lanascape, cue - . uusuuiu .nuvw w : .. .. ,2 ; 1 6 laidl earth over. . - : . ; - 'v - : In his five years of residence there his contribution. u one of the eggs as the watch Inj - Lrke a Daby -cooed to sleep by its mother's lullaby, this to Vesuvlah lore have greatly enriched that tntenselyiin tretnbiiug hands ticked its wav to - ,Mi,r.M,aitj vonVu. sfnirghtn renmo nirhtw hilia. trestin? field of Investieatibn.' To his zeal': and enter- fullr indifferent-to the rocking and the writhing of J;he - prise Jthewofficlals of the royal -observatorjr. are, maeDiea earth, the belchtag ' fortbof molten lava; and the terrific for manr important, discoveries,, which haVe" shed- new detonations throiigh whieh nature expresses Its internal . light upoff the phenomena of, iVesuus A-Uhofigh asso- - agony, xscrxnougni oi,peru periurua mm. v . r - tpicu utf iuCm , T- ,J VT. From hA ,, . . t , h No peasant in tne, pastoral vaueysDyon(i' xiyes. m , , 19 taone. maepeuacuo ui , mew , danger tnan he.' v - .-r fj vauons aiong. rones uiuereut;iium. wuao uouMjj. iuuwni' has been, feigagediln .His.experimentSf botn aneid a.na:ainqme nave aevewiie,u ha ti ntiaii.- 0 nitmiiiif-rnf hew.fatur'es-in connection -with;'-the crater royal observatory With that haver proved of great hclpto the prqfesso.r&.of the nd observatlonsmaybe 'iobservatbryin their i consideration xZ certain Tphases of be invisible to thft n.a-i ova ,m of value to the world; his long .residence; there hM; kUlnlmoHt instantaneously'thest est man. ()rie fifteea-thotisandtb part f a grain of it has caused the death of a horse 1.000,000.000 times its own Pight.-Pearson's. tb,35 i t . . ,. -ff' 15 Wreck, of Trolley Line Leading Up to i Vesuvius After an Eruption. 3 cosmic crust. It is- no idle -boast c$ thi American when be claims . to: have ao complished by t this agency . a vfea achieved by tfo other scientist or ai ' least never CO effectually by any other Thus where others end their labon ; with their departure from, their Jabor atory, perret is enabled to contlnui, his studies ad libitum, through thi niehi, whenever the promise is hek out to him of enlarging on his alreadj extensive fund of knowledge respect ing the volcano - - Like vigilant sentinel nothlni 1 here escapes his notice. With; eart keenly-attuned to the abnormal, that which means . nothing, to the unlnitl ated bears to him a message pregnant with significance. It may be- an a) most imperceptible tremor ' which tc those not adept in the volcanic nomea clature, signifies little, but -to the sc$ entist presages the approach of one ol those storms that shake the world to Its vitals and command the Tiyia pathetic .attention of all clvi'.Iza ' tlon. - it Tothe layman, unversed In this lore, all Interl6r di' turbances of the earth are pretty much' alike.. But to th scientist "whom experience has enabled to classify eaci variety of. detonation, they have a separate and distinct meaning. Of these he must keep record, day and night Through' every working minute, by means of the littU instrument alongside his bed, he contrives to keep abreast ograph, which magnifies sound waves, bf each one of these kaleidoscopic changes that are being wrought in the stirring drama piayea out 01 sight ana often out of hearing of the curious. ' , A slave to detail, these records of the American set entist are said to be the. most completes made of anj Vesuvian scholar in recent years. A cold, calculating temperament, deadened to all etna tlon, fortified with a large measure of personal courage, is necessary to the enjoyment of life In a place, like this, the permanence of -which is so insecure. It takes' more than an ordinary sense of repose. to be able. to grin' and laugh at the Idea of being Jolted 'out of bed at two 01 three o'clock in the morning by an unlooked for eruption of old Vesuvius, and It can be accepted as a certain sign that one's nerves are all. right when one is able to spend' month after month in the realization of this ever-present danger, without' falling a prey to tha torture of Insomnia and nervous prostration. - ." 7 If the lure - of such ' a vocation is difficult . to under stand, - It Is much more difficult to appreciate the spirit of enthusiasm which produces In the scientist a feeling of felicity when he takes up his dictograph and disco v era that old- Ned is about to, break loose .below. To ', Perret it's all In a day's work; , he thrives on It, and he likes it. . x. . . v ' v An interesting story. is told of Perret's experience on. Mount Vesuvius during the last eruption. At the time he was a comparative novice In Vesuvian exploration, With the professors of the observatory, which is,lo ,"! on the mountain near the mouth of the volcano. 1 V' H4 MAiaA jUrJ. j, of ,,VeauvJns, .Jut- any - is - is - ,-.-, -inordinately r violent - shock ' originating 1 frT v .- anvwhere on the en- -. - - . - tire continent of Europe. . The selsmome- ivvi ll teh measures the intensity and -direction . A of the disturbance. By. means 'of the. ij I . di 'i m 1 '.. .. . . 1 - I I ' ' nB is aDie 10 aetect me mosx nunuie mm "T-i3jf1 I mnr below the surface of the earth. ? In . V ill ' malrlnr his obrvatIonB. Perrat drons a diaphragm . of this instrument, con nected with two wires. Into a fissure at , the side of the mountain Over the fla- ; sure he places a cone covering, much ', like a phonograph horn) through which the hot vapors escape, as steam from a peanut roaster. Through this . the .-wires are extended to the top, being connect ed on the outside with ft receiver. By placing this to his ear the explorer is able to hear the faintest rumble In the bowels of the earth, and determine the condition of the troublous area below. These observations are taken at different hours of ;the day and at various points in and about the volcano. An accurate record of them Is kept, the data -thus collected being exceedingly; valuable from a scientific standpoint, showing as they do every premonitory symptom." of a' gathering storm. - f i '. " : ' ' Frequently the experiments begin before sunrise and are extended late into the nteht,-whenever in the v Judge ment of the Yankee explore?" fhere is warrant for sup posing tht Ser wd TioM fzzjK-v. results.- ; .-- - mv. m rtt M 1 --mT.-- in develop-- if i.-- 1- V I if cf .t t ts - -V-. a?- vr i v. . 9 Tu.- or S : 4 1 iff- is it nothing unusual were' hap 1'oning in the history of the world. A Fearful the ink-robe ris "i human hplno-a tn u ,i,'a...A i. ,, ; ? : . ::"urui dora from anypersonai .fear 01 - -.uUB. ui locajaw. a poison called' ' For, a'iiumber, of, years-Perret lei.innie w obtained whUh la ntoi. inn '.'ni.t . ninniin Inoti nf nines more powerful than strychnine. Oration wtthithe officials of- the'" A fragment of tetnnino mn aa tr. thA bona that "Ms researches ?a ...... FuMy Informed. a, ,Lth a11 Jour waith are you nn-aid of the proletariat?" asked Americans, among them George Gould., . ; ment9 are made with the aid PonaDie seumograpn, . AttanAaA ti-o- A.fthfBi nU man Rft'rvflnt 'PVrrpf makes .? a . fleismbmeter. and a dlctoferapli." With the seismograph his1' home -in' the 4 mountains,' under &he Ishadow ' of the- he ! Is' able - to ; register not -only; any .linufuai; disturbance ) the tern , tie wtflri&rl-a TOLseadous conflift-i ; oa down in theHeolrails of the earth iTb ft f4-.'ii-.v needle .which registers '.every change thU. . struggle, knows "not a 'tranquil moment.-ft, ..po the ' year to' me omer, its vioieni:nur::n --".'v . chart, reminding' one Of the! homeward 'i V tV i"i verhiat godd-feUoV" after a StttfW?:., : -JIlly mterestlng and ;va tained with, the 'aid of the dictoeranlL Aa.ln.the.'fielii observations a powerful- diapfii-agin'. is VlSwejed'i iixUt. the. seek other quarter&ABu;ib;Were.-dlsfnclkie4 ,to leav fissur e by - meantt ot a set of ;wire. .;.These. pass; through .the : pretty, little., GaAabrtantsea port Hnd.-.ax mtt jthe fate - an oiienirig ,ii- the- floo ot thecientist'sjsleepfidg ttim - ,-thftt- befell sso , jnanarrth6ahd others; hi '. (vi. t and extend' up to the side of - his bd.Vto'iwhlch-,th;re-1 r-. .Whenthe .cataclysm ccurrea - Perret was. one- of 4h : ceiver'i attacbed WithUhe' same-facility with' whiqU y first to reach lire, stricken vdty, going there as a special ?tfie occupant of -ft tnodkrn 'oftlee building dr felling" can r " envoy fit the itate department; and.' assisted; in th earcs telenhone tb-a.dlstantmt:Perrrby-.adJuStihif -the re-- for the remalni of thft5bnsul and his -Wife. This was" one Aceiver the tenter : - cAned in-the little brick building occupied by them j entire period of the disturbance. Thousands yjs':. 4 ot lava fell all around them and threatened T d to. overwhelm the structure. - ' .. ;i intensely dramatic experience, : with which j .m on earth is comparable. There was anew r y minute. From out of the earth's entrails A vn unceasing stream of fiery ashes, 'mud and t jk ' .-.at seemed to Inflame everything, about them. u - ound rocked and .wrenched itself Into" a fearful sm, as if the earth was being torn asunder. Hugo r es appeared 'In the surface of the mountain, from ;h Issued etouds of steaming vapor that added io the 1. vor of the-scene.- .- . v ,. ' ?".:. : Vivid flashes of fire lighted the heavens to the accom anhnent of the" deafening crash': of thunder "To the ' jool, collected -Yankee the end of" the world-can produce nothing .more calculated' to Instill one -with the horroa Of diSSOlUtiOh.: i'J f '' 'A V:- ..if'' ' fc-'w;,- -.ib. IU- ' -V , , Perret is - Said 'to have predicted ,alx months ahead ol time the earthnrake- which destroyed Messina. . He was ay. warm friend of Arthur. H. Cheaey, lh . American consul at Messina; .who: with hjs wife Ipstihis. Mf In the collapse ot the consulate: there on theimoraing'of the fatal disas ter. Talking with 4he;' Cheneys iitt4 te- early, summer: of 1908. "on -observation he haditaken-Ia the nelgb borhood. Wlchsfn;eshad'owed) the tqualta, eret -advised .them to' ft kll j .'i not tha er in sofioloiric.il nmhUmo . f" .. 1 "'n't." snapped Mrs. Newrich UV f n our drinkin- watervriill adelphla IJerora 1 Mae ycnrself nn ,10110St raaDt -u .vw.j may he sui.e rva! In the vltfb1 Every and thfre is ont -CarJyle., housewife "in ! ?!.5herrf hom ""DPlies-aca. filVouTU Cv tatlcraa Md Penalty of th yrtLpormtbHt.vmnaur. acOMpMy xnera. r ,Ta,IAarerapuB"' isyii nen irai mu u ueiw uaetabieT eAUlbrittm riii: ' An't-cloada wlattk so perf ectly rea T7 k ' Tbo dorrpiaH ox thee lrgre inbiemiMt Bvaltiatha Jiave f orme Miuoi ralMd -the flflsr hf the CrtltaT'tO formed (eYlM of conei aurauna ;;lKwWera, botedlnjf from the iUa e Ur repro f Uef otU M tmlly r- J I xfiA"ed???'.oT .W -1. V L- J B- - SSaily7irapW " r""j ;; C-U - y v Tire jr aa3. )yu..4 Vt. to ms ear is toiervo. Amen vpc0mmunlcalTOn, wim t ,01 Bac3outy.. yi-uifjiw,, uu,,?awuJ Minu - M nl 41 of volcanlo atfmtyt many? leagues heneathrrthe ence in xnevoicanic, cone 04 wygj.-v zzyn.hix:i. ' , lU'LXi J':-'' ti-vffr- -V "". ;r-.r-. vrv Vfy.-v-r-ji , ' V J' 1 11 ill ' 1 ! ." .. .... -- .:ry..rr: y- .-.y. v - ., i f. . i .- . . - - . IT"". .... . . III . Ht.4VtL .-, Mfms,ft w , ! . . iT . . it- - . ' - r J . m :"-: "' ' - - J,. '-f r ; . - ' k,. Ill " : ,.l i:Ht k tu - lakld of tav MtMV ' eflce. i? Ill v JH I J r III' . .. i .- -T 1 - Y Y; H Sd the ttrommfereiwfcp ot thU So c ttl.tly;roWI aft 'iaad-ailate as ft eovy io'r aante lAa of tike. jtriiiw pl the, ; ta wah- ttT. Toe aaotioa, kotft-ef traalat of dyopae&f Im ex- j 1 II 1jf -et1WS -' Tr:; (gb'.'.V.', -t?1'-C ": Y4 "T 'Vs" i -' V lioate fAa I Baa. x'c t Vt , ". l ; ! - ".l - - i mm: again. -t
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Nov. 13, 1910, edition 1
15
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