The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1889-02-07
RED skies AND BLUE MOONS.
The British Royal Society investigated
Some Mysterious Phenomena.

lhe great duSt-laden air wave of
1888, following the tremendous Kraka-
toa volcanic eruption and earthquake
of August in that year, has been care
fully and methodieally Investigated
for the royal society of Great Britain
by committee appointed by the so
clety. In our country the sunset after
glowS. with the red skies of the even
ingS and mornings. in the autumn of
1888, were'soOn attributed by Ameri-
can observers to pumice-dust thrown
high into the upper air by the mighty
upheaval at Krakatoa. Blush aspects
of sun and moon also marked the
beautiful displays, and other curious
atmospheric tints observed from time
to time were likewise referred to the
same cause.
: But now the report of the commit
tee reveals new wonders, unseen, but
not unfelt, subsequent to the tremen-
dous conyulsiou. At Kew aud Green
wich, England; at Palermo. Berlin,
aud elsewhere in Europe. delicate in
struments of precision had noted the
passage of an air wave. which passed
and repassed, again and again, lead
ing to the conclusion that the atmos-
phere round the earth experienced
seven distinct pulsations, that were
counted and timed as waves of sound
were timed. 1t took according to this
report, about ten hours for the first at
mospheric waye-believed to have
! been started on its journey by the
shock of the explosion-to reach Green
witch observatory. England, and
after that the wave was noted
passing over at intervals aver
aging about day and a half.
. The speed of a sound wave, as Prof
Ball reminds us, is 723 miles per hour
at zero of Fahrenheit and 781 miles at
80 Fahrenheit; the aerial wave was es-
timated TO have sped per hour at a
rate ranging from 674to 726 miles.
The sounds" from KrakatOa seem
to have been heard in a series of con-
cussions and reports, like the dis
charge of artillery or blasting, that
were observed from island to island.
at distances beginning at Batavia.
ninety-fOur miles away, and extending
in just the proper allowance of time to
stations 2,267 and 2,y6S miles away, or
almost across the whole wide extent of
the Indian ocean, the ''noise" of the
KrakatOa convulsion was transmitted.
1t will be noticed that the ROYAL So
ciety calls some of these wonderful
occurrences, the phenomena ..subse-
quent'' to Krakatoa's eruption, without
affirming that they were actually
caused by it. Although Prof. Ball be-
lieves with a large body of scientists
that the disturbances were not only
subsequent" but were consequent
aud resultant. he is careful to compli-
ment the reserve of statement by
which this body of observers put forth
their magnificent conclusions, cou-
scious that there is still a chance that,
while the phenomena were "poSt
hoc," they might also be "non propter
hoe"
When Krakatoa exploded, two
centuries ago, blood-red skies appear
to have been seen shortly afterward as
far away as Denmark" Everywhere
in the world certainly, where observ-
ers are heard from, the remarkable
skies of the autumn and winter of
1SS3-S4 were noticed. A strange blue
sun made its appearance, and in the
somewhat colloquial phrasing of the
royal astronomer, ''scampered round
the globe in thirteen. days" Green
moons, as well ass blue, were noted;
the dust-stream came into sight as
lofty vOyager-''in an extensive cloud
of cirro-stratus." and the sun had an
occasional corona that the earth's
atmosphere. and not Its own, had evil
IDENTIFY bestowed. "How small the
world is, after all, is Prof. Balls con-
clusion, seeing that SO many of its in
habitants were interested spectators
within brief intervals of time of the
pageantry that Krakatoa's volcanic in
huence unrolled. Philadelphia Ledger.