Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-09-13
yESUYIUS' RIVAL.

Thousand Lives acknowledgements De-
scription of the Awful Calamity.
NEW YORK, Aug. %.
A special cablegram frorl London gives
the details of-rthe volcanic eruptions in
Java. The first eruptions were on Satur-
day night on the island of Kraokateo. At,
noon on Sunday the Maha Meru Mountain
began to belch forth fire and lava, and the
eruption soon spread to tho Cunning Teng-
ger, the crater of which is the largest in
the world, being nearly four miles in diam.
eter, the Cunning Guntun and other minor
mountains, until by Monday morning near
ly a third of the forty five craters of Java
were in state of activity.
While these terrible elementary forces
were at work on the land the sea became
sympathetically boistereus.s The air was
SO sureharged with electricity that at one
time fifteen water-spouts We're seen. Hum
dreds of the unfortunate people, unable to
escape from their dwellings before they
were crushed beneath the mass of falling
stones anil lara persisted. On the top OF
the Cunning Tenggersa mountain of flame
made scene of terrific grandeur. Fissure
after fissure appeared on the mountains
side, and here and there in the valley
yawning chasm opened. The tracts of for.
ests in the northern portion of kraokateo
were soon in a blaze of fame, and immense
trees, some of them centuries old, topplsd
over before the advancing of fire like
wheat before a gale. AS the eruption in
creased in violence and frequency the dis
tur5ance of the waters surrounding the
coast became more and more violent. The
waves rushed with terrific force up theT
steep, rocky incline, and meeting the burn-s
Ing lava cooled and fashioned it into tho!
most eccentric shapes. The receding, wa
tiers carried away many tisherman's hut.
Along the shore are mostly plains which
the sea overwhelmed, rhining growing crops
of coffee, rice, sugar, indigo or tobacco, and
it is probable that not single crop will be
saved.
Late Sunday afternoon and in the evening
the volume of the disturbances suddenly
increased and the island seemed to be about
to be completely buried in a mass of fire
and sulphurous ashes. At the same time
the enormous WIVES began to hurst with
greater force upon the shores, comingl lin
some places far up into the interior. Great
chasms opened in the earth and threatened
to enguIf large proportion Of the islands
people and buildings. About midnight the
most frigAtful scene of the whole distur-
Dances took place. Suddenly an enormous
luminous cloud, similar to that which was
seen over the Cunning Guntur, but. much
greater in extent, formed over the Kanda-
ga range of mountains, which skirt the
ually increased in size until it formed
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 the sides
of the mountain into the valleys, sweep
ing everything before them. Here and
there a stream of lava would enter an arm
of the sea or come in contact with the waters.
of river. Then the nearest Pincan-
descent lava as it protruded from the great
stream would suddenly produce boiling
heat and rapid vaporization. But the SUI
perfine consolidation that almost instantly
ensued would prevent any further contact.
The assures that opened in this thin crust
as it solidified would emit torrents of vapor
extending high into the air and making a
tremendous kissing and seething sound,
neously 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 direc-
ton of the flow of the current, land field
sparc spherolites were rapidly formed in
the vitreous matter, resembling those which
form in the Stag of glass furnace. One Of
the most singular freaks of the, eruption
was the carrying in the midst of molten lava
OF a bed of solid ice of enormous Which
had been emitted from one of the Jcraters,
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 thick envelope Of
sand and'scorhe, which are such; non-con-
ductors of heat that a red-hot stream of
lava running over it will not meltthe snow.
It is supposed this ice had formed the crust
of some vast subterranean lake.
- About two O'Clock Monday morning che
great cloud suddenly broke into small Sec
tons and quickly vanished. At the same
time the most frightful rumblihgs were
heard and the columns of fire and smoke
Oh the southeast corner of the island ceased
to ascend, while the craters in the other
parts of Java seemed to open their fiery
fbv.Co re cfiJ ia fr lat
quantity of rocks, lava, pumice and ashes
yet vomited out.
The kissing of the sea became so loud as
to be almost deafen;ng, and the waves
rushed upon the shores to an unprecedent-
ed height. When daylight came itswas
seen that an enormous tract of land had
extending from Point Capucin
or the south, to Negery Pafsoerrang on the
extent of territory fifty miles square. In
this We're situated the villages of Negery
and Negery Babawang. OF the people in
hahiting these places and the natives scat
tered sparsely through the forests and on
the plains, none escaped a frightful death.
This section of the island was not so dense
" populated aus the other portions, and the
loss of life was comparatively Small,
although it must have aggregated fully
.5O0ssouls. The Fenttre kandangs range Of
extending along the coast in q
semi-circle for about sixty five miles, had
Bay, the sunds Straits and Pepper BAY On
the east and of the Indian Ocean on the
south had rushed in and formed a great
sea OF turbulent waters. Here and there
the peak of a high crater was exposed for
Il moment by the Feeding of a greatwave
and occasionally puff OF brownish gray
smoke or a slight shower of rocks
9 howed that the volcanoes still con-
tinued in active subterraneous erup-
ton. The debris of the submerged and
destroyed buildings was tossed hither and
thither over the inhabitated land where all
was now q waste of water.
The aggregate loss of life from the vari-
ous elements of the terrible disturbances
must be fully 5000, but, the number Of
those who persisted can Of course never be
appropriated. 49,
A violent shock occurred in the Island Of
Sunatra Monday forenoon, and it was
feared other violent disturbances might fol-
low. Middle Island, ten miles off the Jaw
and half way between the ex-
treme points of Java and Sumatra, was al
most wholly engulfed in these. The small
Island OF Singkel, probably only ORIGINALLY