Paricuin Volcano, 1950s

[Music] [Music] w [Music] covered with their Eternal snow caps magnificently arrogant the Everlasting guardians of innumerable civilizations that have come and gone the descendants of races whose Beginnings no one knows the volcanoes of popo petal IA Seatle and the Pico de oraba rear their Majestic Peaks over the surrounding Landscapes like silent Watchmen guarding the entrance to the high plateau of [Music] Mexico [Music] it is Instinct in man this desire to conquer Great Heights and here they go spirited mountain climbers the only prize sought as reward for their energetic exertion is the privilege of communion with the Grand Heights of easat whose only natural inhabitant is the strong winged eagle the light Sharp air dagger edged cuts into young faces and lungs all vegetation has been left behind but now we are well into the kingdom of snow and ice and here we see the magic of nature transforming in midair as it were a rushing rivet into a cacti [Music] fantasy [Music] [Music] but there is more and more to climb the sleeping woman which is the familiar name for ekar Seattle sees her dreams disturbed by the measured footsteps of the alpinists by their labored breath and by the rapid pounding of their stout hearts [Music] with every step the mountain graciously presents new vastas of great magnificence fatigue counts for nothing when the objective is attained when we see opened at our feet this glorious Panorama beneath lovely clouds lightly fleeing ahead of the Winds of these remote and high levels [Music] the great effort is over for our purpos is we have reached the top of the [Music] world [Music] [Applause] [Music] now we abandon the Eternal Snows of the ancient volcanoes and travel to the Western terrain of Mexico here Rises the interesting range known as the meakan Sierra the red Earth that makes a vivid contrast to the brown frush stroke of the pine is generous and munificent giving kindly and graciously to all who cultivate and care for it these red lands have always secured for the peasant tillers an abundant [Music] Harvest but one unhappy day this picture of peace and plenty was suddenly torn asunder by an unaccustomed disaster as the plow turned a smooth Furrow there opened a small whirl pool of smoke and hot liquid Earth that grew and grew until Devastation panicked the countryside soon it was known this amazing disturbance it was known to the world as the bartine volcano [Music] here we see the ruins suffered by this little town this is the village of San Juan deases it has since this picture been entirely obliterated with the exception of one Tower today the tower stands as a silent reminder of [Music] yesterday here the monster SWS its own crop one of grief and desolation over the Sierra of urwan like a giant Forge the volcano snorts and belches its fiery destruction dooming to creeping death all that stands out against [Music] it [Music] bartine has undergone various changes and transformations in two years of life but from its crater has run constantly a river of deadly lava that moves fatly to the Southwest blotting out Villages and ranches in its [Music] course [Music] it is possible to walk over the encrusted lava but even so this excursion is seriously endangered while the movement of the great partially solidified mass does not cease for an instant and there have been registered the deaths of several sight seers who attempted to pass over Lava Beds that were apparently cold and [Music] settled this dramatic but dreary element dominates everything visible and we see only a desert where a few months ago we had a fragrant Sierra land that was the hotti state of meakan today her rich agriculture her great wealth and the timber industry of this region are no more than sad [Music] Recollections the Indian has no means of explaining his Misfortune even after examining his simple conscience to its very bottom his pupils dilate when they regard the monster that is caused all his pain and [Applause] misery by day the column of smoke from Partin is visible for more than 50 kilm and obscures the sun's bright [Music] face [Applause] by night from about a mile it is an irrespec a pyrotechnical display of many luminous colors as one explosion follows another each flinging far Aloft unaccountable fragments of glowing rock that fall bursting and dissolving into a rain of a million stars [Music] and in the pale Dawn the red Flames commence to fade until at last it seems they have been extinguished just as the sun comes up to reveal the ghostly landscape and another day