Orange, Tex., Feb. 21.—J. W. Link is filling in some low lots with ashes and charcoal that he is hauling from the pit where A. Gilmer at one time burned the slabs and refuse that came from his sawmill. The mill was destroyed by fire Sept. 13, 1899. When the wagons commenced hauling the mound of ashes was 20 feet high and nearly 40 feet in diameter at the bottom, tapering as it went up.
To-day when the men had worked in about 15 feet, but before they had reached the center of the heap, the teamsters discovered smoke issuing from the charcoal as it was being brought in contact with the air. One of them felt of his shovel and was startled to find it very hot. He picked up a piece of charcoal and blew it with his breath, when it developed into a blaze of fire. The experiment was repeated several times to-day and each time the charred lump would become a live coal. The ashes were about 16 feet thick that stood above the live coals, and from the outer edge to where the hot ashes were first discovered, a little above the ground the fine ashes were fully as thick.
No smoke has been seen to come from the big ash pile for nearly two and a half years, and these coals have been in their present resting place probably for a longer period, as the cone-shaped mound was much larger when the mill was destroyed than it was at the time the wagons commenced removing the ashes.
The Volcano of Kilauea is very active at present. The cavity produced by the last breakdown has not filled up, but there is an active lake 200 to 300 feet below the general level of the floor and a quarter of a mile in diameter.
A WHOLE VALLEY LAID IN WASTE.
FIFTEEN CRATERS DESTROY WHAT WAS ONCE A DELIGHTFUL SPOT.
Lunahuana, United States of Colombia, March 30, 1891.—This beautiful valley has experienced a topographical change, and I may now call a desert that which was formerly a delightful spot. Fifteen craters have been constantly at work since Sunday, March 22, throwing out masses of mud and water which on its precipitate descent and with the great strength of the current, is carrying ruin in all directions and sweeping houses before it, together with their inhabitants and the cattle, vineyards, farms and irrigation works.
All the roads north and south of here have been converted into ditches, through which the water is continually pouring, and all communication between Canete and Chincha is interrupted, while the bridge across the river has been swept away.