Smyrna times., 1889-01-30
KRAKATOA'S ERUPTION.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE
NOTED VOLCANIC EXPLOSION.

lore 1t descended to the earth. This er1n.
Iion was accompanied by noises which in
! batavia, 100 miles away, sounded lil-a tbo
booming OF cannon, while doors and win
Gows were shaken. The force of This ont
OfeaK soon subsided, and such thinps are
SO common In that part of the world that
ddS az IIe attention was paid to it, On Nav
~ 80 an excursion party from Batavia visited
lhe nelghborhood and obtained n photo
Srapn OF the mountain as it then aDpcared
IN the middle of June another c~,to,.
opened ana the dense pail of vapor that
had been hanging over the rerioo yvos
perceptibly increased. After fIat the
island became every day the scene of
greater activity. On Aug. II there wero
three principal and eleven smaller volcanic
nres visible upon it.
WHEN THE CRISIS CAME.
The climax came on the 21tb of A,,c.rs+
On the afternoon before it could he seen
mat a crisis was approaching. The story
US tod from the logs of various shiDs that
were IN the neighborhOod shows that fre-
quent explosions then occurred, and tbot
Ihe ar was filed with vapor, pumice and
uusC' Illuminated by glow from the vol
Gano below, and by continuous flashes of
HSntnlng from above. The sound of fro
quenJ explosions was heard at great dis
tances, and waves were started fhat were
Ielt hundreds Of miles away.
The Investigations of the committee
nave proved conclusively that these ernn.
tions of the afternoon of Auo oG Nv
bhaJterInS the island and tearing away
great fragments from it down to below
Ine level OF the sea, were the direct couea
OI Ihe terrific outburst of the following
morning, by which the island was neorI1 |
destroyed, and the vast tidal wave started |
IhaJ overwhelmed all the islands for
! IuuuIed miles about. Through the |
breaches made by these explosions in the |
" ans OI Ihe claJers the sea rushed in tor |
IeAIs' Inc nrst effect, as when dirt or .
oOOlles arc thrown into the mouth Of a |
6eyser, was TO deaden the violence Of tl,o
eruption, and produce a season of com
parative calm. This lasted throuob tIa
night OF the goth and well alono into tbo
morning OF tho next day. But tho tcrfi-
Die energy thus smothered waslnoral, eI,,,-
pressed Tor a time. 1t accumulated deem
III INC earth beneath the small sea Thai
IuIGAly nIled up tho crater above. and
ne longer 1t was confined the greater be-
'ame Its power At $50 o'clock in tbo
morning came the first outbreak. but #
vas not enough; the water poured in
aSler than the power below cOnld throw,
I out, end the forces of fire below wore
leId IN subsection by the sea There was
mother outburst at GA o'clock. but His
CO. the sea subdued, driving the beast az
ne volcano back once more into its sinh
eIranean cavorns, where it raced and
umed for nearly four hours. Tbpn ot
WV O'Clock, it burst out with an ayyfnl
IoIcnce, hinging the ocean back in waves
hundred feet high, that rolled on for
Of miles before they wholly
ubsided.
NOISE OF THE GREAT CRAsu.
Inc noise Of this last great crash of the Y
ontilct between the forces of tbe vrator i
nd OF lire was heard over an area eouoI.
lg one-thirteenth of the surface of tLo [
lode. People thousand miles away /
lought a vessel in distress was firing 9
mute guns and sent out q ship to her '
d' At Ceylon, 1000 miles awav. nooDIo @
lonGht that ships were practicinr with c
le,r HeaVy guns somewhere in the neirb- 2
JtLoou and even as far us Rodrir1lez 0
OOO miles from Krakatoa, q sound was a
it'rd Us OF the roar of distant artillery d
oIo man Ihls, the air waves which ac- fl
-uP1'iIieu tAe sound spread after the Ii
~ - user mad become inaudible and q
'i.cdte instruments at various observo. c.
lie5 all9 other stations in all parts Of W
e world recorded the PASSAGE of unac- d
untable atmospheric impulses. not once c,
10 time after time. until it is a scientif. Il
ny ascertained and proven fact that 4bo cl
wave from the explosion passed seven il
nes around the world before it becarno f
!alht that 1t produced no effect unon fa
elnstrumentsthatr record such incidents BIZ
DdtaVla, lOO miles distant, windows fo
re blown In, gas put out, gasometer
1Gu from us well, and even walls yere
y, ICAed merely by the vibrations of the air.
Inc sea waves hurled out from the vol
10 IN all directions were more disas- ~
'us' II less far reaching, than the air %
YES. Thirty three miles from tbo vol fe
&c some OF the waves were 1875 feet re
IN Towns, villages and lighthouses Sa
re swept away. A man of war wos SCI
Tled up the Telok Belong valley nearly en-
o miles inland and left stranded tbirty ma
. above the sea level. The wave WASH IN
y perceptible one all the vvav across ifl
, indian ocean, and at Ceylon. Natal su
/ the Cape Of Good Hope its PASSAGE su
made a matter of record LONG before OH
'Ihlng was known of the explosion. Ia'
EFFECTS OF THE EXPLOSION. an an
the immediate vicinity of the island ~ ~
eifect OF the explosion was almost in Oa'
eSAN dO4S. lWO-JllrQS of the island of II
lkatoa and the whole of neipbbOrino- POS
nj disappeared entirely. Lang Island ~ ~
increased by an addition to its NORTH m eou
end, and Verlaten Island was enIarred F-o %o
hree times its former dimensions. The m IIo
n Krakatoa has boo,1 o' oaio.'ll. oio%n away leg
OOO, O,OOOOOO cubic feet. One Of the in
ntal effects Of the explosion was the
osure OF magnificent section of tbo
nd, nearly 1900 feet high showi.o. era
irably the formation of the interior of woo
ater. vet
he most curious part Of the report is bee.
devoted to the optical phenomena | ity
followed the eruption, including fbo gre,
arkable colored sunsets in all Darfs to t
he globe, which were almost cert6inIv The
result OF it. The Hon. RolIo Russeil stoC
Mr.. Douglas Archibald lad cbarre of cent
preparation of the parts of the re- brin
devoted to this subject They found one.
at the time Of the explosion SO GREAT
lss OF dust and vapOr was thrown
tne air to heights estimated at from eo
70 miles that for $50 miles around
ness prevailed at midday. Mucb Of @ eIrO
matter fell quickly to the earth, lf PIE +
5es OF pumice stone covering the sea 400
ely for long distance about and SoO S.0
carried by the ocean currents TO olI ~ w
OF the world, so that even vet tbov Sillll 5lll
being washed ashore in places far Tucl T,
'te from the straits of Sunda.-New 80 .iia aiI
Sun ~" or pt