Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-16
NEW ZEALAND VOLCANOES.
Interesting Information Concerning tho
Earth's Great Volcanic System.


Interesting Information Concerning tho
Earth's Great Volcanic System.
Only a few weeks ago Mt. Etna's
eruption threatened Nicolisi and the
surrounding fertile valleys and vine
wards of that region. Now the news
comes of volcanic disturbances in New
Zealand, the antipodes of Etna, and Of
great loss of life resulting therefrom.
New Zealand is, by the fastest ocean
and railroad communication. about
thirty days removed from Chicago. The
steamship lines run from Auckland to
Sar Francisco. and some twenty-five
days between these two points is con-
sidorcd good time, or nearly three
tines longer than the modern trip
from New York to Liverpool. The
group or cluster of islands composing
Now Zealand is divided into two main
parts, known as North Island and
Suth Island, The well-known city OF
auckland is on the North Island, which
With its fine harbor is on every chart.
The islands are quite mountainous, SO
that the most intelligent and observant
travellers and writers agree that me
tenth of the surface of the North
Island and four-fifths of the South
Island are occupied by mountains.
Among the extinct volcanoes of New
Zealand are Ruapehu that is 8, 100 feet
high, and Mount Egmont hat is $500
feet high. Tongariro, which is $500
{eethigh, is occasionally active. When
Mount Etna began to pour out smoke,
asheA scorie, lava, &c, the first to
suffeA severely were those who Guilt
vatedthe vineyards that produced the
rich f41itage that grew on the hillsides
and i1 the valleys there. So the first
in NeE Zealand to feel the terrible
rains AID torrents from the suddenly
awakcled crater have been those who
inhabi4d the districts in the immediate
ncighbdrhood of the disturbance. The
mountain peaks of New Zealand are
about the same altitude as some of the
great Rockies back of Denver and
Cheyenne, and would hold their place
beside Cloud Peak. the crest of the Big
Horn range, and thus the valleys are
easily commanded by them.
The natural wonders Of New Zealand
suggest a parallel with the National
Yellowstone Park. New Zealand has
not been visited by any serious earth
quakes or volcanic eruptions for some
thirty years. The last severe earth
quake occurred January %, 1855, but
it was not attended by any fatal results.
Three prominent places on the earth
are mentioned where geysers exist with
marked characteristics. These are Ice
land, the North Island of New Zealand
and the National Park in the Rocky
Mountains. Geysers may be described
as volcanoes in which heated water,
instead of molten rock, is forced out
from the vent by the escaping steam,
and they occur in great abundance in
districts in which subterrrnean action
is becoming dormant or extinct. The
significance of the parallel will be seen
when it is stated that there are three
active volcanoes in New Zealand.
The theory of advanced scientists is
that there are great bands or systems
of volcanoes, which are ranged along
lines of assures; and some also hold
that the great linear bands of volca-
noes, which stretch thousands of miles,
have had their positions determined by
great lines or assures in the earth'!s
crust. The greatest of these bands
extends from the Arctic Circle at Behr-
ing's Straits to the Antarctic Circle at
South Victoria, and this includes more
than half the active volcanoes of the
world. The great focus or center of
this intense volcanic action may be re-
garded as lying in the district between
Borneo and New Guinea. A large
number of lines radiate from this cen
ter, one of which embraces South Vic
toria, New Zealand, the New Hebrides,
Santa Cruz, the Solomon Islands and
New Britain. Related. as it is seer to
be, to the great volcanic system, it is
not surprising that earthquakes are re-
corded as having visited these islands.
Although, as already intimated, there
have been no serious shocks felt there
since 1855, yet in 1882 alone twenty
eight shocks are mentioned, ten of
which are recorded as "smart," and the
remainder as only slight tremors.-
Chicago Inter Ocean.