The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-03-27
gaaerson gntelli9enter,
4 Chat About Volcanoes.

chimneys for the great fires deep under.
ground. There are nearly three hun
dred at present which are hot and smok
ing mountains. The great crater, or
opening, is generally near the summit.
AS volcanoes are not always active, the
crater sometimes becomes dead, and is
filled with great masses Of cold black
lava. Mountains have been known 10
remain in this quiet state for centuries,
when suddenly noises like thunder are
heard, and the crater begins TO throw up
boiling lava and hot ashes and smoke.
\ volcano in eruption is one Of the
grandest sights III nature. Vast Guanti-
ties of heated matter are thrown hun.
dreds OF feet in the air. great bombs c%'
plode with terrific noise, and at night
the sky appears like sheet oi flame.
The volcanoes Of North America are
all situated near the Pacific coast. There
are none Of them very active ut present.
Mount Saint Elias, which stands on The
boundary Of A aska and British America
is volc"lic peak nearly 1900 feet
above the vel Of !hc sea. 1t is the high
cst point in the Northcru half Of tho
Western continent
Popocatepctl, which is the next high.
est, is less than $4,000 feet. 1t is Tie
largest volcano in Mexico, and although
it is crowned with snow all the year, i,s
crater is still very hot, and all the snow
which falls inside Of he great hole rc''s
as soon rs it touches the warm !ri, ..
black laYa. The last great c.ur:ipn o.
Popocatcpctl was two huulrcC aud #ev
cntccn years ago, but rs late as lS.i' i.
would now and then throw mr dirt and
small stones. Now nothing RI IS !rGul
the cracks and crcyicci Of the crater bu.
little spirals Of hn: vapor, which smell,
like q burning sulphur match. The
whole crater of Fopocatcpet! is filed he
meath the surface with beautiful yellow
sulphur. Deep holes have bccn dug
there, like wells, aud Indians go down 10
gather the sulphur, which is carried dowL
the mountain and sold. The mir is -"
hot underground in ,hc crater that The
Indians can not stay long, and they wear
big wooden shoes to keep their feet from
becoming blistcrcd.
Ito peak Of Orizaha is another famoI,,
volcano Of Mexico, almost rs high ~
popccatcpell. 1t has not been active for
more than three hundred years. Now II
is very cold, and the great valley Of lis
crater is filed with ice and snow.
SAlIama, in Bolivia, which r:.c, - 900
feet above The sea; but the largest crater
il that OF Mauna LOa, one Of the great
volcanoes of Hawaii, in the Sandwich
Islands. NIauna Loa has two craters,
one near the summit, about $4,000 feet
high, and the large one which is called
Kilauea, about 5000 lee! lower down tie
mountain slope. The great lower crater
is nearly eight miles around, and about
eight hundred feet deep. The sidcs are
steep and rocky, bu, there is II zigzag
path by which people go down to see the
great lake of liquid fire at tho bottom.
The wind on the mountain is very cool
and sometimes it hardcns the surface OF
the lake 50 that it appears like. n great
plain of black earth, just as the cold mir
in winter forms coating Of ice on the
rivers and ponds. But the fire is under.
meath the black crust just as the water
is under the ice, and It is constantly
breaking out into little fiery lakes, Which,
as the heat increases, overflow the whole
bottom of the crater and form n great
boiling mass.
Mauna Lon is full of strange rumbling
noians like thunder Several times great
iissu -es have suddenly opened in the
fiery lava have sprung several hundred
feet high, and, in falling, formed rivers
OF fire which poured down into the sea.
These streams of hot lava which burst
from volcanoes sometimes come so sud
denly that whole villages near the noun
tain are swept away in nn instant, before
the inhabitants can escape. Great clouds
of hot ashes are often thrown from the
crater, which cover the plain around the
mountain many feet deep, h,lrying all
the cities and towns, together with their
inhabitants. In 1885 tho volcano of
Cosequina in Nicaragua threw ont such
vast quantities of ashes and powdered
stone that the mir was filled with them
for hundreds Of miles away. The surface
of the ocean was so tllickly covered that
ships sailed with difficulty, and liz the
island Of Jamaica, eight hundred miles
from Coseruinn, ashes fell Or Tie fields.
The people who lived near the mountain
ran wildly in al! directions in search of n
place Of safety, and i: il saioi they ycrc
Joined in their flight 10y hundreds of
monkeys, and by tigers and other wild
beasts, whose savage nature was com.
pletely suhdued by fright.
The largest volcano in Europe il Mount
Ntua, which stands in the Island of
Sicily in the Mediterranean Sen. 1t il
nearly 1900 feet high. 1t has always
been very active volcano. A little
more than two hundred years ago a stream
of boiling lava poured i .wn from its era.
ter, and completely destroyed fourteen
large towns.
Mount Vesuvius, which stands on the
shore Of the Bay. Of Naples, is also one
of the most active volcanoes of modern
times. II has very curious history. At
the time of the birth Of Christ the whole
mountain, which is only about four thou
sand fset high, wga covered with forests.
The people called it the Burnt Noun.
tain," because they knew from the old
crater that it had been n volcano Mt some
time, although it had never been known
to smoke, aud even the crater was Il green
valley full of trees.
About sixtythrce years after the birth
OF Christ the cities near Vasuvius were
startled by an earthquake, and sixteen
years later the whole Southern half of the
mountain burst with terrible explosion,
and vast cloud of hot ashes sprang
forth, which covered the country to a
great depth for miles around |, was at
this time that the beautiful cities of
Pompeii and Hercllaneum were de.
stroyed.. They were buried in the vol.
caSie ashes SO suddenly that very few of
the inhabitants escaped. Even the high.
est houses were covered, and nothing
could be seen but a great bare plain Of
volcanic matter. Centuries passed away,
and the buried cities wero forgotten, un.
til in 174S some workmen who y ere dig.
ging well discovered remains q, ancient
buildings. Now large part of these old