Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-16
RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION.
REMARKABLE VOLCANOES.
Excitement on an Indigo Plantation IA
Mexico-The Eruption OF Ell Faro
del Salvador.

del Salvador.
II see" said one of the savants nj
the Smithsonian institution, that there
| is a great deal of surprise expressed
| over the report that during the recent
earthquake shocks in the Samoan
| Islands mountain rose suddenly from
the surface OF the earth, and has since
been an active volcano. The story
goes that this mountain rose up in a
single night 10 height of three hum
! dred feet, and has since been growing
larger by the lava and rocks that come
out from its crater and are aecumulat-
ing on its sides. While this is a re-
markable phenomenon, it is not the first
time such thing has happened. There
are two active volcanoes on this hemi-
| sphere that have risen out of the ground
within the memory of man. One of
| them is Jorullo, volcano in the state
| of Michoacau. 100 miles southwest of
the city of Mexico, and near tho town
| of Acapulco.
From tho discovery of America down
| to the middle of the eighteenth century
no volcanic disturbances or Garth
quakes occurred in this region. The
| present site of the volcano Jorullo was
the center of large cultivated area
filled with coffee plantations and indigo
fields. In June. 1859. however, strange
sounds were heard by the people 10
| come from underneath the earth. These
grew louder and more tempestuous. and
were followed by terrific explosions.
Then came long succession of earth
| quakes, extending over a period of
/ ~ Ill,
inhabitants to flee from the country in
terror. During these commissions
large crack opened in the earth near
the center of the indigo plantation. and
flames, smoke, and lava were seen TO
issue from it in large volumes. The
natives who fled at the time of the earth
| auakes began to return to the place
few months later, and found that
cone had formed around the crack in
the ground, continually increasing in
size by reason of the discharges of earth
and showers of basaltic lava. The
earth around was SO hot that they
| could not stand upon 1t with their bare
feet, and, having made a general sur
yey of the surroundings, they left the
| place and returned to where they had
taken refuge when the earthquake
began.
This newly-formed crater continued
Its eruption for seyenty-five or eighty
| years until 1927, when it ceased, and
has since discharged nothing but smoke
and occasionally few showers of
ashes. The mountain, however, has
grown to the height of sixteen hundred
| feet from the plain around ii, and forty
| h.,n Ir.nI H.. II. u
sea.
But even q more remarkable case
has occurred in the little republic Of
San Salvador, where is the most WON
derful volcano on this hemisphere. II
stands about nine miles from the sea.
is in plain sight of every passing vessel
| on the Pacific, and its constant and
/ regular eruptions have caused 1t to be
| called 'El Faro del Salvador'-the light
house of Salvador.
Its eruptions occur with great regu-
larity at intervals of exactly seven min
utes, with noise like the discharge of
| artillery, accompanied with dense
| smoke, large volumes of flame, and
showers of lava, which fall upon every
| side and which are continually add
/ ing to the height of the mountain, now
| nearly four thousand feet above the sur
rounding country This volcano is one
| of the most remarkable in the world,
not only because OF its regular erup-
tons, which have continued now for
more than one hundred years. but be-
cause of its singular origin. The name,
as it appears on the map. is Izalco, and
| is in the shape OF truncaied cone. II
| is difficult to conceive OF grander
natural object. IFS base is shrouded
| in the denscsi green from the grass that
| grows in the fields below it. while above
| it is q pelt OF forest, and above that
large accumulation Of lava aud scori9,
| where the various colors are melted i'm
perceptibly into each other, and in the
sunshine or by the light of the flames
constantly being emitted from the
crater they appear 10 have the grandest
hues. First comes the rich lumber, then
the silver tint of the ashes that fall in
showers from the crater, and around
the crest the living gold of the hot lava,
which is elected with the greatest regu-
| larlty, and flows down the sides OF the
mountain in great torrents. One dis
'harge no sooner cools than another is
| upOu IL. 1util dBONt dtV hbp hOAfg
flames and a plume Of smoke that rises
up eternally to heaven.
"This volcano arose from the plain
i'll 1870, in what was then cattle
ranch or hacienda. The owner was
absent at the time in Europe, and upon
his return a few months later was as
tonisned to discover that he had sud-
denly traded fine ranch for an active
volcano. In December. 1869, the ranch
men upon this estate were alarmed by
subterranean explosions and earthquake
shocks, which continued from day to
day, growing more severe, until the
houses upon the ranch were shaken
down and their occupants fled from the
plains. The herdsmen, however, re-
manned about watching Developments,
and discovered about the middle Of
January that the earth bad opened
half mile from where the buildings
stood, and that smoke and fire were
coming out of the cavity. a few days
after they observed a great increase in
the volume of smoke and flame. and
discovered that vast quantities of Gin
ders and stones were being thrown out
from the young crater. Finally, on the
23d of February, 1870, there was one
grand upheayal, when the whole OF the
republic was shaken from one end TO
the other, and tho surface OF the earth
rose and fell like the pillows Of the sea.
| Houses were shaken down. towns were
DESTROYED. and the country was in ruins
At the end il was found that young
mountain had been born. and they
called it IZalco. il was then about
one thousand feet high, but has since
been growing with the constant erupt--
ions OF lava at the rate of one hundred
feet year.
.The only volcano on the Pacific
coast that will compare with Izalco IS
Momotombo, Nicaragua, or old Tom
bo,' as it is called. In 1885 there was
an eruption from its crater which was
| the most severe on record. 1t COM
menced on Jan. 80 that year, and con-
| tinued four days without cessation, dur
! ing which time the smoke and ashes
were go dense in the air that the sun
could not be seen for radius OF 100
| miles around. The ashes fell on the
island of Jamaica. 1900 miles away; in
Bogoto, In the United States OF Column
bia, 1000 miles away in a straight line
and 10000 feet above the level OF the
sea, higher even than the volcano itself
| The explosions were heard o00 miles
| distant. while there was continuous
shower OF ashes all over Central Ameri-
ca. from Mexico to Panama. In some
places they fell to the depth of five or
/ civ inches DESTROYING vegetation, bury