Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1904 — A Local Volcanic Eruption. [ARTICLE]

A Local Volcanic Eruption.

Ray Thompson and family thought for a while last Saturday that their new house on south Cullen street must be located right over an active dust volcano. A fine black dust poured up into the house, from some place in the lower regions, and filled every room and settled eveiy where; and did plenty of damage to their new painting and papering. An investigation finally showed that the phenomenon was due to a less ex citing cause than a convulsion of nature. It seems that that common source of human woes, the coalman, did it all with his little scoop shovel. He brought 1100 pounds of the precious black diamonds, and finding what looked like a convenient coal hole, he shoveled it into it. Instead of being the coal hole however, it was the exterior opening of the ventilating airshaft and of course all the dust that rose from the coal passed up the shaft and into the house. There was a D. A.. R meeting at the house at ihe time, end the whole charge of 1100 pounds went down into the shaft before the cause of the dust was located. Still, we may say, there was a volcanic eruption of some magnitude connected with the affair —when Mr. Thompson found what had happened. It was sulphuric in character, rather than dusty, it is perhaps needlass to say.