Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-08-30
DESTROYED JAVA.
TIE GREAT vOLUANIo EBUPTIos

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rHE GREAT voLUANI0 EBUPTIoNs.
Bsvssty-nvs Thousand Livss lost-Towps
DeseRuyed-Filty Square Bilss OF
Territory Swallowed Up.
Further particulars of the great volcanic
eruption on the island of Java, which
show the disaster to have been even
more widespread than reported in yester.
day 3 advices. At noon on Sunday the
eruption and shocks were supposed to
have reached their greatest height, but
late in the afternoon and evening the vio-
leooe of the disturbances suddenly in.
creased and the island of Java seemed
about to be completely buried in q mass
eame time the enormous waves began to
coming in some places far up into the in.
earth and threatened to eDguf largo
proportion of the islands people and
buildings. About midnight the most
frightful scene of the whole disturbance
took place. Suddenly the enormous lum.
inous cloud, similar to that which was
seen over the Cunning Gunter, but much
fA00SOA ~ OASObUS AOA WOu ovCA SAo AA0hA
ang range of mountains which skirt the
southeast coast of the island. The cloud
gradually increased in size until it formed
a canopy of lurid red and whitish gray
over a wide extent of territory.
During this time the eruptions increased
and streams of lava poured necessarily
down tho sides of the mountains into the
valleys, sweeping everything before them.
Here and there q stream of lava would
enter an arm of the sea or coma in con-
tact with the waters of river. Then the
nearest incandescent lava, as it protruded
from the great stream, would suddenly
produce boiling heat and rapid vaporiza-
ton, but the superficial consolidation that
almost Immediately ensued would prevent
any further contact. The assures that
opened in this thin crust as it solidi-
fed would emit torrents of vapor, extend
ing high into the air and making a
tremendous Kissing and seething sound, as
if thousand locomotives were simultane-
ousiy letting off steam. Here and there
in the lava streams were innumerable
thin, plate.like crystals of feldspar,
arranged in trains, one behind the other,
in the direction of the flow of the current,
and felspathic spherolites were rapidly
formed in the vitreous matter, resembling
those which form in the Stag of glass
furnace. One of the most singular Ireons
of the eruption was the carrying in the
midst of the molten lava of bed of solid
ice of enormous size, which had been
emitted from one of the craters, carried
along by the current and landed on the
extremity of Point St. Nicholas, on the
northeast corner of the island. This bed
of ice was surrounded by q thick envelope
Of sand and scoriae, which are such non
conductors of heat that red hot stream
Of lava running over them will not melt
snow. It is supposed that ice had formed
the crust of some vast subterlanean
lake.
About two O'Clock on Monday morning
the great cloud suddenly broke into email
sections and quickly vanished. At the
same time the most frightful rum5lings
were heard and the columns of fire and
smoke on the southeast corner of the
island ceased to ascend, while the craters
in the other parts of Java seemed to open
their fiery thrOats still wider to let out the
greatest quantities of lava, rocks, pumice
and ashes yet vonhted out. The kissing
of the sea became SO loud as to bs almos,
deafening, and the waves rushed up on the
shore to an unprecedented height. When
daylight came it was seen that an euor
nous tract of land had disappeared, ex
tending from Point Capucin on the south
to Negery Pafsoering on the north, anG
west to Low Point, covering an extent Of
territory about fifty miles square. In this
were situated the villages of Nsgery and
Negery Babawang. or the people in.
| habiting these places and the ma
tives scattered sparcely through the for
ests and on the plains none ESCAPED a
frightful death. This section of the island
was not SO densely populated as the other
portions and the loss Of life was Compare
lively small, although it must have aggre
gated fully $1,000 souls. The entire
Kandang range Of mountains, extending
along the coast in a semi circle for about
65 miles, had gone out of sight. The
waters of Welcome bay, tho Sunda straits
and Pepper bay on the east and of the
Indian ocean on the south had rushed in
and formed great sea of turbulent waters
Here and there the peak Of high crater
was exposed for q moment by the receding
of . great wave, and occasionally puff of
brownish gray smoke or slight shower of
rocks showed that the volcanoes still con-
tinued in active subaqueous eruption. The
debris of the submerged and destroyed
buildings was tossed hither and thither
over the tumultuous waters, the only
sign left that there had once been inhabi-
ted land where all was now q waste of
water.
The town of Tanerang, within twenty.
five miles of the city of Batavia, was
swept away by the lava streams and fully
half the population, mostly Javanese,
numbering about 1900, perished.
At Speelwyk, near Point Salcis, the red
hot rocks set fire to the houses and swept
away all the thickly settled portion of the
town. About ten bazaars belonging to
Europeans were destroyed. The loss of
property is very large, but no lives are
known to have been lost. The river Jaca-
ira, on the banks of which Batavia is
situated, was SO completely damned by
the lava and debris that its course was
changed and from Franiero Bastion it
flowed down to and through Tigers street
and joined the waters of the river Emera-
des, swelling that stream to such an ex-
tent as to rise high on the Castor batter.
les. Fjelenking was almost totally de-
stroyed and large number of lives were
lost. The Islands of Onius, five miles off
the mouth of the Tangerang river and
twenty miles east of Batavia, was COM
pletely inundated and the floating dock
there was totally destroyed. Caataye,
Claps and Tronwers islands, off the por-
ton of Java which disappeared, are out of
sight and not q vestige of them is left.
Baby and Cherybo islands, off the north
coast, but small in extent, lost the few
houses and inhabitants upon them.
In Batavia tho loss has been largely in
creased since the former reports. The
roof of the governors house WAS crushed