Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1885-01-23
Avass Explssion.

recent times occurred on the morning OF
the a7th Of August last year. the scene
| OF the csuvulsion being . small Island
| in the Sunda Straits. which ssParate
Sumstra aud Java. It'll region which
there 10 much reason to regard as one
of the inteusest foci OF volcanic activity
on the earth's surface. The main facts
CONNECTED with the event, although slow
! In coming to hand, are now fairly With"
the records OF science. .Krakatos, the
volcanic island which year or tw" ago
was seven miles long by five broad, is
abont thirty miles from Java coast.
When surveyed In 1s6S-69. the island
was found TO be clothed from base to
sunmit With q luxuriant growth Of fer
est and tropical vegetation, but unin-
habited. A few weeks prior to the erup-
ton, the volcano, which had been dor
msnt for two centuries, gave signs Of
awakening. On the goth of Nay several
shocks, accompanied by loud explosions
and hollow reverberations, startled the
inhabitants Of the towns Of Batavia and
Buitenzorg, about ninety miles distant.
These disturbances continued for the
next three months with more or less ac-
rivity. On the 18th and 18th Of August
the energy Of the volcano increased, and
there were symptoms OF criais. On
the 2sth and the night following .ev-
eral' eruptions took place, until the eli
max was reached on the following morn.
;ng. The submarine base Of the noun
tain then seems, according to all avail
able evidence, to have literally "caveG
in." This was apparently accompanied
by an indux Of the sta inro the molten
Interior. rhe instantaneous development
of superficial steam. and then an explo-
sion which, for its colossal energy, is
unparalleled in the annals Of volcanic
outbreaks.
The enormous power Of this eruption
can only be adequately understood by
it's effects; these we now briefly sum
Marie. The explosion itself. according
10 DIR. Verbeek, one of the Dutch Com
mission appointed to investigate the ma
SuIe and results Of this catastrophe,
caused the north part Of the island to
be blown away, and to fall eight miles
to the north, forming what Is now nam
ed Steers Island. Moreover the north
east portion of the island Of krakatoa
was also hurled into the pair, passed
over Lang Island, and fell at the
distance of seven miles, forming what
Is now known as Calmeyer Island. In
proof Of this we have the fact elected
by the newly made marine survey of
the Straits, that "the bottom surround
Ing these new islands has not risen."
This would have been the case had they
been upheaved iE the usual way. Not
only so, but the bottom round those new
islands shows slightly increased depth
in the direction Of the submarine pit,
nearly one thousand feet deep, which
how marks the place Krakatoa occupied
prior 70 the convulsion. But out Of the
midst of this deep depression there rises
'like gigantic club" remarkable
column OF rock of an area not more
than thirty-three square feet, which
projects sixteen feet above the surface
Of the sea. The southern part is all
that is left Of the island Of Krakatoa,
and this fragment on its north side is
now bounded by q magnificent precip-
itous Cliff more than $500 feet high.
Ii has been thought by some, however,
that the frat portion Of the island was
blown away on the evening Of August 26
and on tho following morning the
larger mass, answering to Calmeyer
Island, was shot out by all effort still
more titanic.
The shock of tho explosion was felt
at q distance Of 1000 miles, being equal
10 an area of one-sixth of the earth's
surfsce-that IL, at Burmsh, Ceylon and
he Aldaman Islands to the northwest,
in some parts of India, at Dorey in the
Geelvink Bay New Guinea) to the east,
and throughout Northern Australia to
the southwest. Lloyd's agents at Ba-
tavia, in Java, stated on the eve Of this
vast explosion, the detonations "grew
louder, till early In the morning the
reports and conclusions were simply
dsafening, not to say alarming" So
violent were the air-waves due to this
cause, that the walls were rent by them
At a distance Of 800 miles, and so great
the volume Of smoke and ashes, that
Batavia, eighty miles distant, was
shrouded in complete darkness for two
hours. Nearly four months after the
eruption, masses Of floating pumice,
each several acres in extent, were seen
in the Straits Of Sunda. - Chambers Jour
nal
Formerly weak, nervous, dyspeptic,
and debilitated individuals who found
only disappointment in the various Bit
tiers and secret quack nOstrums, pre-
l.l li.lnau al 81.