The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-10-06
Iceland's Pnmpeii.

From the geyser there is a plain view
of Hecla, that awful volcano that has so
often threatened the very existence OF
the people of this unfortunate island. 1t
is interesting only on account of its his
tory, and looks SO much like other
mountains that, unless you we're a geol-
ogist, you could not tell it from hun
dreds of others. Being 1894 feet high,
it has particular charms for Englishmen,
who seem to be born with a hereditary
propensity to climb, but as most of the
ponies that have attempted to climb it
came down with a rush yer its treach-
erous pumice-lined sides, no sane Amer
lean has yet been up to its top. About
the time they celebrate the next millen-
NAL here, when they put up q Jacobs
ladder, as they have it at Mount WASH
ington, and introduce a railroad, with
calcium-light effects, as the have at
Vesuyius, Americans. I have NO doubt,
will be quite frequent at the summit.
Their representative is there now, for it
is a favorite screeching place of the
eagle. The reputation of Hecla is like
many others-more than her due. She
is heard of in all lands, yet Skapta Jo-
kul has done twice as much in o volcanic
way, and little is known about her.
In my "reminiscences I was almost for
getting about Skapta Jokul. Skapta
may be said to occupy the southwestern
portion of Iceland. She is n 70 ordinary
hill, for she has pre-emptcd a space
bigger than Rhode Island for herself.
II isn't that she Is so big as that she re-
quires SO much oom for what she don't
want. Skapta's greatest effort was per-
-za - 1900 eov1,haan -aoru oftar
Hecla had done the best she knew how.
The reading of the account of Skapta's
work will invigorate the imagination,
for she gets away with anything the
penny-dreadful author ever thought of.
About the beginning of june, OF the year
named, the usual preliminary noise be-
gan in the neighborhood of the mount.
aims, and on the 9Th of the month a
great volume of smoke and ashes spread
over the whole district of Sida, going In
the direction against the wind. On the
10th the river Skapta oyerhowed with
fetid water and then suddenly disap-
peared. Fire broke cut OF the mount
ain, and two days later a stream of lava
came oozing out of the dry bed Of the
river. Notwithstanding that the channel
was 600 feet deep end 200 wide, the lava
overhowed the banks and inundated the
Meddelland country, lifting the grass as
it went as water would float a film of oil.
The stream finally foated into the Med
delland lake, filed it up, and then di-
vided into two streams, one Of them
again seeking the course of the river
and finally leaping, maddened and hot,
into the sea, over the great cataract of
Stapafoss, whose brink is 800 feet above
the sea level. The other stream, after
traversing a wide section of lowland
country, found a line of least resistance
in the Hverfishiot river bed. This last
stream of lava, as far as it has been sur-
veyed-there Is much of it, how much
no one knows, in a country over which
no man has ever been-is forty miles in
length and seven in width. That which
went over the cataract is fifty miles long
and fifteen broad. The lava ceased to
| flow in August, and the convulsion end
ed with a grand earthquake. For a
whole year it continued to rain cinders
and dust end thousands of acres Of grass
land were buried and withered under the
hot showers. 1t is estimated that $780,
600 sheep, $4,000 horses, 1000 cattle
and 5000 men died as a result of the
eruption. Since then there has been
nothing worth mentioningin the volcano
line.-Letter from Iceland.