The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-09-13
JAVA'S CANOPY OF LIFE,
"a neadiy Rain From Two-Thirds of IIor
foriy-Five Volcanoes

lirst indicated. Little alarm was EcI, a
hts', pnt within few hours shower, a
stones began to fall at .JogiaSrrla. Soura
oaEa ana SanIaraug. al through IN,
hiSht showers OF red hot rocks ant
ashes iell, making complete darknes, in
All these towns. In Batavia there wac
an occasional fall, and it was difficult tt
Keep lhe street lights burning in the
| European quarter. BY the next morninp
al communication with AMER WAS cui
| on ~! lie bridges having been ,ir,iroycd
by the descending rocks and ashes ind
tie road rendered impossible.
The first eruptions were on Sa,urd,v ~
hlsht. On Sunday morning the distur.
oances iiad extended beneath the waters
"i ,he strait, and they were soon boiling
ahd Kissing violently, while great waves
dashed upon the Javanese shores, and
'he temperature of the sea went IN
nearly twenty degrees. Even as far
away from The original point of distur.
oance as Madura, more than five hundred
h'iies' the iuri0us waves were lashed into
mountains OF foam Us they came rolling
IN. lhe threatening rumblings gradual.
fiiy became more and more distinct and
by noon the Maha Mern, the larges, Of
tue volcanoes OF Java, was bclchinr forth
liames at an alarming rate. This erup.
ton soon spread to the Cunning. the
crater of which is the largest 10 the
world, being nearly four miles in Diane.
ter, the Cunning Guntur, and many
olher minor mountains, until more than
third of the foriyiive craters Of Java
were either III active eruption or serious
iy threatening it..
Just before dusk q great luminous
cloud formed over the Gunung Guntur
aud the crater of tha, volcano began to
vomlt up enormous streams of white
ACID, sulphurious mud and smaller ouau.
titles OF lava. There were rapidly sue.
ceedlDg explosions, followed by trcmen
dous showers of cinders and enormous
fragments. which were hurled high into
inc AR anu scattered in all directions, to
iaii after the force was spent upon the
valleys below, carrying death and de.
struction. With these terrible eruptions
came sympathetic demonstrations from
the sea. The overhanging clouds were
SO surcharged with electricity that at one
time more than fifteen huge water-spouts
were seen. These have continued at
somewhat long intervals ever since.
Men, women and children rushed in
terror from their tottcring dwelling.
places, filling the air with their shrieks
OF horror. Hundreds were unable to
get out before the houses fell, and were
buried beneath the great masses of rocks
and mud which were piled up where a
lew hours before all had been peace.
happiness and fancicd security.
The Cunning Tcngger has not had All
eruption before since the year 1900, when
an extent of land seventeen miles long
and seven broad was completely covered
with the white sulphurous mud so pecu.
liar to the erup,ions of Java. Tie peak
Of Cunning Tengger is G,000 feet above
the sea, and the monument of flame ON
top OF this made scene Of wonderful
grandeur. Every moment huge bonl
der al a red or white heat would be hurled
from Iengger's crater with terrific force,
and, after going hundreds Of feet into
the air, would fall back with Il whirr,
crashing through the thatcheI roof of
some Chinese iishcrman's hut, or crush.
ing beneath its huge mass the body of
some native peasant. Fissnre after fis.
sure appeared iu the sides OF the noun.
tains, and here and there in the valleys
there came great yawning chnsms. On
the elevated plains If kcdiri and Bandong
the showers Of stones, mud and lava
were not SO frequent as in the lower por-
tlons OF the island, but were still drstruc.
tive.
Much of the northern portion of the
island, which was covered with tracts of
forests, was soon in one great blaze.
The red hot vomitings from the craters
had set the trees on fire, and the giants of
the wood fell one after another, like so
many sheaves of wheat before a gale.
AS the eruptions Increased in frequency
and violence the disturbance of the
waters surrounding the barren coast be-
came more and more violent Here the
waves rushed in terrific force up the
steep, rocky incline, breaking up on the
overhanging crags and receding rapidly,
leaving Il lava flow cooled just ut the
moment when it was about to fall over
a precipice, and there remaining, quick
ly hardened by contact with the waters,
and forming distinct strata of black and
bright red, purple and brown, all thrown
about in the most eccentric masses, while
huge peaks of basalt rose at frequent
intervals. There the waves came whelm-
ing over marshy plain along the shore,
suddenly engulEng hamlet OF fisher
mons rude houses, and, turning suddenly
back, swept away almost every vestige of
what a moment before had been scene
of bustling activity. What few hours
before were fertile valleys, covered with
hourishing plantations of coffee, rice,
sugar, indigo or tobacco, the staples of
the island, were now but mud, stone and
lava-covered fields of destruction and
ruin. Probably not single crop in
Java will be saved.
At the entrance to Batavia was large
group of houses extending along the
shore and occupied by Cinnamon. This
portion of the city was entirely swept
away and Of the $4,000 Chinese who
lived on this swampy plain it is hardly
probable that more than 5000 managed
to save their lives. They stuck to- their
homes till waves came that washed them
away, fearing the torrents of the fame
and lava of the interior more than the
torrents Of water. OF the $500 Euro.
peans and Americans in Batavia perhaps
800 perished.. 1t is impossible to make
any estimate Of the great pecnniary LOGS.
Many OF the Dazaars in the higher parts
Of the city were demolished. The Ex-
change and the military hospitals suffer
ed great damage.
At AMER the European and American
quarter was first overwhelmed by rocks,
mud and lava from the crater. and then
the waters came up and swallowed the
ruins, leaving nothing to mark the site,
and causing the loss Of somewhere in the
- a. s.l,