The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-09-08

a great wave, and occasionally puff of brown
ish gray smoke or slight shower of rocks,
showed that the volcanoes still continued in
active subaqueous eruption. The debris of
the submerged and destroyed buildings was
tossed hither and thither ON the water, the
only sign left that there had once been inhab-
tied land there.
| The town of Tanerang, within twenty-five
miles of the city of Batavia, was swept away
by the lava stream, and fully half the popula-
ton, mostly Javanese, numbering about 800,
! perished. At Speelwyk, near Point Salcis,
! the red hot rocks set fire to the houses and
swept away all the thickly settled portion off
the town. About ten bazaars belonging to
Europeans were destroyed. The loss of pro-
perty is very large, but no lives are known to
have been lost. The river Jacatra, on the
banks of which Batavia is situated, was so
completely damned by the lava and debris
that its course was changed, and from Franien
bastion it flowed down through Tigers street,
and joined the waters of the river Emerades,
swelling that stream to such an extent that it
rose high on the Castor batteries. Figelenk
mig was almost totally destroyed, and large
number of lives were lost there.
The island of Onius, five miles off the mouth
of the Targerang river, and twenty miles east
of Batavia, was completely inundated, and
Caataye, Claps and Tronwers islands, off the
portion of Java which disappeared are out of
sight and not a vestige of them is left. Baby
and Cheribo islands, off the north coast, lost
the few houses and inhabitants upon them.
In Batavia the loss has been largely increas-
ed since the former reports. The roof Of the
Governors house was crushed in by mass Of
mud, and three of the retainers were killed.
The town bridge was destroyed, the Diamond
and Pearl bastions badly damaged, and the
Burran redoubt was destroyed. In Caymand,
| Molaba on1 I ion ctrnntc tho pripciDol ova-
nues Of the city, the damage is very great.
Fort Aatyoi is entirely destroyed. The town
of Faggal was severely shaken, and few build
ings were left standing.
A violent shock was felt in the island of Su-
matra Monday forenoon, and it was feared
that other disturbances might follow. Midah
island, ten miles off the Javanese coast, and
half way between the extreme points of Java
and Sumatra, was almost wholly engulfed by
the sea. The small island of Singkel, prob
ably originally only a cone blown up by an
eruption, entirely disappeared. 1t was unin-
habited.
The aggregate loss of life must be fully 3d.
900, but the number of those who perished
can never, of course, be accurately known.
LONDON, ENGLAND, August 30.-After the
sudden subsdence of the disturbances in the
kingdom Of Bantam on Monday, the erup-
tions seemed to lose their force for a time,
ing of relief in the hope that the worst had
been passed The quieter conditions con-
tinued until about 10 O. clock, when the craters
once more began to send up great masses of
destructive matter, although without the force
of the former actions. The eruptions seem
to be more violent at night than during the
day. By II o'clock the Papandayang, which
is 1904 feet high, was in a very active state
of paroxysmal eruption. ItwaS accompanied
by detonations said to have been heard many
miles away in Sumatra. Three distinct col
umns of flame were seen to rise from the
mountain to a vast height, and its whole sur
face soon appeared as if covered with fiery
lava streams, which spread to great distances
on all sides. Stones fell for miles around,
and the black, fragmentary matter carried
into the air caused total darkness.
A whirlwind accompanied this eruption, by
which house roofs, trees and men and horses
were carried into the air. The quantity of
ashes elected was such as to cover the ground
and roofs of houses at Denamo to the depth
of several inches Off Point Caay the float
ing pomice on the sea formed layer two feet
thick, through which vessels forced their way
with great difficulty The rise of vapor pro-
duced the appearance of column several
thousand feet high, based on the edge of the
crater. 1t appeared from a distance to con-
sist of mass of innumerable globular clouds
of extreme whitenesS, resembling vast balls
of cotton, rolling one over the other as they
ascended, impelled by the pressure Of fresh
supplies necessarily urged upward by the con-
tinued explosions. At great height the
column dilated horizontally, and spread into
a dark and turbid circular cloud, shaped like
an immense umbrella. Forked lightning of
great vividness and beauty continually darted
from different parts of the cloud.
Suddenly the scene was changed. The
mountain was split into seven parts without
moments warning, and where Papandayang
had stood alone there were now seven distant
peaks looming up to great height. In the
seams opened could be seen great balls of
molten matter. From the fssures poured
clouds of steam, and the black elected lapillo
flowed in steady streams and ran slowly down
the mountain sides, forming beds 200 or 800
feet in extent. Exhalations of carbonic acid
gas were so abundant that birds and animals
in large numbers were killed by it, and few
human beings lost their lives in the same way.
This proved to be the turning point in the
eruption, for the great fssures opened seemed
to act as safety valves, through which the
streams of lava gently flowed down into the
valleys. The volcanic fires, though still burn
ing at last advices had lost most of their
ferceness, and the steam generated found
vent without being forced through the COM
paratively narrow mouths of the old craters.
One of the queer incidents was the sudden
rising during Tuesday forenoon Of fourteen
new volcanic mountains in the Straits of Sun
da, forming a complete chain in almost a
straight line between Point st. Nicholas, on
the Javanese coast, and Hoga Point, on the
coast of Sumatra, almost on the tops of what
had been the Merak and Middle Islands,
which sank into the sea on Monday.
So serious are the changes in the coast, and
the entire formation of the Straits of Sunda,
! that the British Government and the Lloyd's
this evening telegraphed from London to all
foreign points warning vessels that navigation
of these waters had become exceedingly dan
gerous.
In the city of Bantam, where 800 persons
were at first supposed to have perished, the
bodies of $500 have already been recovered
| Some 900 inhabitants of the interior town
of Waronge are now known to have been
killed, and at Talatra, on the coast, 300
bodies have been found. From all over the
island come reports of loss of life and prop
erty, and it is thought at Batavia that the es-
innate, 35, 900 killed, will not prove excessive.
On the lowlands of Batavia, where the wa
ters have receded and quieted down, hun
dreds of bruised and mangled bodies are
lying exposed. A sanitary corps has been
formed, and the corpses are being removed
and buried as fast as possible, in order to pre-
vent the breeding and spread of contagion.
While there is some cause for anxiety on this
score, it is thought the greater number of
bodies in the interior were so dried and
scorched by the hot lava and stones that they
will not putrefy, and the bodies of those
drowned by the tidal waves can be taken care
of with reasonable facility by the Coast Sani-
tary Corps, now getting rapidly to work.
LONDON, September 3.-The Standards
correspondent at Amsterdam says: 1t is be-
lieved that 900 persons perished in North
Bantam in the recent calamity. tits also be-
lieved that the garrison and fort at Anjier were
swept away An extensive plain of volcanic
stone has formed in the sea near Lampong,
Sumatra, preventing communication with
Telokbelong and Southwest Java.
Earthquake Waves i'm the Pacific.
SAN FRANCIsco, August 29.-Earthquake