Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-02-09
kRAkATOA'S ERUPTION.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION or THE
NOTED VOLCANIC EXPLOSION.

Phenomena.
In 1880 there were earthquakes along
tie shores Of the Straits Of Sunda, but
krakatoa gaveno sign of reawakening until
May 20, 1883, when there was a sudden
and violent eruption, by which a column
of dust and steam was thrown TO a height
Of seven miles, and some of the matter
elected was carried as far as 300 miles be-
fore 1t descended to the earth. This erup-
ton was accompanied by noises which in
batavia, 100 miles away, sounded like the
booming of caunon. while doors and win
dows were shaken. The force of this out
break o subsidized, and such things are
so common in that part Of the world that
little attention was paid to it. On May
26 an excursion party from Batavia visited
the neighborhood and obtained a photo
graph Of the mountain as it then appeared.
In the middle of June another crater
opened, and the dense pail of vapor that
had been hanging over the region was
| pcrceptibly increased. After that the
island became every day the scene Of
three principal and eleven smaller volcanic
fires visible upon it.
WHEN THE CRISIS CAME.
| ne ClluluA CuIue Oh tuc Gun VI august
On the afternoon before it could be seen
that IA crisis was approaching. The story
as told from the logs Of various ships that
were in the neighborhood shows that FIRE.
quent explosions then occurred, and that
the air was filed with vapor, pumice and
dust, Illuminated by "A glow from the vol
cano below, and by continuous flashes OF
lightning from above. The sound Of fire.
| nt,npt nvn1puintS a. hoo ri ~ rraaf die
tances, and waves were started that were
felt hundreds of miles away.
The investigations of the committee
have proved conclusively that these erup-
tons Of the afternoon of Aug. 20, by
shattering the island and tearing away
great fragments from it down to below
the level Of the sea, were the direct cause
of the terrific outburst Of the following
morning, by which the island was nearly
destroyed, and the vast tidal wave started
that overwhelmed all the islands for a
hundred miles about. Through the
breaches made by these explosions In the
walls Of the craters the sea rushed in tor
rents. The first effect, as when dirt or
stones are thrown into the mouth of a
Ceyser, was TO deaden the violence of the
eruption, and produce a season Of com
parative calm. This lasted through the
night of the Goth and well along into the
morning Of the next day. But the terri
bic energy thus smothered was merely sup
pressed for a time. 1t accumulated deep
in the earth beneath the small sea that
quickly filled up the crater above, and
the longer it was confined the greater be.
came its power. At $50 o'clock IN the
morning came the first outbreak, but 1t
was not enough; the water poured in
faster than the power below could throw
it out, and the forces Of fire below were
! held il subsection by the sea. There was
another outburst at 6:44 o'clock, but this.
too, the sea subdued, driving the beast Of
the volcano back once more into its sub.
terranean caverns, where II ragged end
fumed for nearly four hours. Then, at
1902 O'clock, 1t burst out with al awful
violence, hinging the ocean back in waves
a hundred feet high, that rolled on for
thousands Of miles before they wholly
subsidized.
NOISE OF THE GREAT CRASH.
The noise of this last great crash Of the
conflict between the forces of the water
and Of fire was heard over an area equal
ing one. thirteenth Of the surface OF the
globe. People a thousand miles away
thought q vessel in distress was firing
minute guns and sent out a ship TO her
aid. At Ceylon, 1900 miles away. people
thought that ships were practicing with
their heavy guns somewhere in the neigh
borhood, and even as far as Rodriguez,
5000 miles from krakatoa, a sound was
heard as of the roar of distant artillery.
More than this, the air waves which ac-
companied the sound spread after the
sound itself had become inaudible and
delicate instruments at various observa-
tories and other stations in oil parts of
the world recorded the passage Of unac-
countable atmospheric impulses, not once,
but time after time. until 1t Is Il scientit-
cally ascertained and proven fact that the
air wave from the explosion passed seven
times around the world before it became
so faint that it produced no effect upon
the instrumentsthat record suchincidents
At Batavia, 100 miles distant, windows
were blown in, gas put out, a gasometer
lifted from its well, and even walls were
cracked merely by the vibrations of the air.
The sea waves hurled out from the vol.
cano in all directions were more disas.
trous, if less far reaching, than the air
waves. Thirty-three miles from the vol
cano some Of the waves were 135 feet
high. Towns, villages and lighthouses
were swept away. A man OF war was
carried up the Telok Belong valley nearly
two miles inland and left stranded thirty
feet above the sea level. The wave was q
very percept,ble one all the way across
the Indian ocean, and at Ceylon, Natal
and the Cape of Good Hope its passage
was made a matter of record long before
anything was known of the explosion.
EFFECTS OF II EXPLOSION.
In the immediate vicinity Of the island
the effect of the explosion was almost in
conceivable. Two-thirds of the island OF
Krakatoa and the whole Of a neighboring
island disappeared entirely. Lang Island
was increased by an addition to its north
ern end, and Nerlaten Island was enlarged
TO three times its former dimensions. The
mass Of matter which was blown away
from Krakatoa has been calculated al
200, 600, GOO, 600 cubic feet. One of the in
cidental effects of the explosion was the
exposure of a magnificent section Of the
island, nearly eco feet high. showing
admirably the formation Of the interior OF
a crater.
The most curious part Of the report Is
that devoted to the optical phenomena
that followed the eruption, including the
remarkable colored sunsets in 6ll parts
of the globe, which were almost certainly
a. -. - M H., Do1lo D,..ol