Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-02-04
KRAKATOA.
An Elaborate Official Account Of the
Great Eruption In 1888.


Thanks to the liberality of the Dutch
East Indian Government, the world
has an elaborate and thorough account
Of the great eruption at Krakatoa in
MAY, 1888; an account SO full. and by
hands so competent, moreover. that the
full significance of the phenomena is
made apparent. Mr.. Verbeek was dis
patched by the Government in question
Immediately after the great outburst, to
investigate its causes and effects, and
with the assistance of Mr.. J. Schnur-
man has now published the second OF
two volumes covering the ground COM
pletely. A resume of the second vol
ume, which deals with the phenomena
1.-THE first volume treating the history of
the eruption), has appeared in Nature.
The inquiry has resulted in the conclu-
sion that the disturbance was volcanic
and not seismic, though it is ascertained
that a seismic movement of the sea bot
tom occurred in the whole region of the
Moluccas. At the same time earth
uuakes were felt in Australia, and these
movements are supposed to result from
a connection between the subterranean
rccesses which lie between Krakatoa
and Australia. The theory of the erup-
ton put forward is that Of the sudden
influx of large bodies of waterproof
ably the Ocean-tO masses of incandeS-
cent matter in the neighborhOOd of the
old volcano.
The whole theory requires a revision
of some of the suppositons concerning
the thickness of the earth's crust. MIR.
VerDeek holds to the doctrine of 4 GEN.
trail fire, it is certainly necessary to
state, and his facts 90 to show that we
are really less removed from it than
may seem comfortable. What tends
strongly to demonstrate the instability
of the crusts is the extent of the dis
turbance caused by the outbreak of
Krakatoa. In some ways it was felt
over the whole earth, the explosions
were actually heard over an area
amounting to Onc-fourth of the earth's
surface, while the air-wave caused trav-
elcd all round the globe and back to
Krakatoa. The great tidal wave which
followed the principal explosions was
not caused, it is now held, by earth
quake shocks, but simply by the pro-
lection into the sea of enormous masses
of matter, including one side of the
crater itself, and the profuse dis
charges from it. Mr.. Verbeek has cal
culated that at least eighteen cubic
kilOmeters Of matter must have been
elected, and Nature gives this il!ustra-
ton: "ImaGin a box of ashes as large
as Hyde Park and as high as the dome
of St. Paul's, 4 hundred such boxes will
give an idea of the mass of matter
thrown ont by Krakatoa in 1882
The elevation reached by the elected
ashes is estimated at fifty kilometcrs,
or nearly six times the height of Mount
Everest. the highest mountain in the
world. Mr. Verbeek attributes the red
sunsets to the presence in the air of the
finer particles of the dust, together with
aqueous vapor. These particles he be-
lieves made the circuit of the earth
twice, being carried westward by
strong east winds. 1nasmuch as the
same kind of red sunsets have been OBJ
served as recently as the fall of 1885. it
is. however. difficult to accept the ex-
PLANTATION as sufficient The theory
that the volcanic dust has remained in
atmospheric suspension for two years
and half is hardly tenable. After the
eruption the sea was covered with
pumice thickly. Some of this was car
ried as far as the east coast of Africa;
another portion is at present encounter
ed in the Pacific Ocean, between the
Caroline and Marshall Islands: and the
author calculates that this pumice will
reach the American coast at Panama in
1856.
While Mr. Vcrbeek has made most
important contribution to the literature
of a very interesting subject. it is not
to be supposed that the volcanic or the
seismic problems are solved by him.
He has indeed gathered data which
supports the theory of central fire,
and the belief that the crust of the
globe is thinner than commonly sup
posed. There are, however, many in
explicable points, and reasonable
probability is the most that can be
claimed for the differences drawn from
the phenomena of the great krakatoa
eruptioh.-N Y. Tribune.