Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1891-08-29
KRAKATOiS ERUPTION.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION or THE
NOTED VOLCANIC EXPLOSION.
Preliminary Performance. oI the Volcano.
when the risi~ tamr--Nols. of the Great
Crash--tnrets OF the Ispiosiaa Optical
rhenonlruH.


crash--Enrct~ OF the Espiosiaa optical
Y Fhenomrna.
IN 1850 there were earthquakes along
the shorc{ III the Straits Of Sunda, but
hrakalna gave NJ sign ot eawak ening until
MAY %, lsSi, rnen there was a sudden
and violent eruption, by which a column
of dust aud feaLi was thrown 10 a height
OF seven mi.a, anu lne uf he matter
elected WAS carried fHr as SEQ miles be-
fore it descgui,'si tntleclrth This erup-
tion wa accompanied by noises which in
Batavia, loo r.iles HWas sounded like the
booming Of rannuu- u sid, doors and win
dows were shah,a Ire iarse Of this out
breaS soou ,at~ioed. aud such things are
50 common IA ihal part of iAr world that
Hiti" atteni IA wa, rtid Ia 1t. On MAY
20 an eNeufa ion partv IL "a Batavia visited
the neighborhuod and obtained photo
graph OF ttIe tduunia ain a. Ii then appeared.
In She middle of Jme another crater
opened, and the dense pail of Sapor that
had been hanging over the region was
perccptibly Increased After that the
island became every day the scene of
greater activity. On Aug II there were
three principal aud eleye smaller volcanic
fires visible upon II,
wutN THE CRISIS CAME.
The climax came on the 2;ih of August.
On the afternoon before it could be seen
that n crisis WAS approaching The story
as told from the logs of various ships that
Were In the ucighburhoud shows that fire.
qucnt explosions then occurred. and that
the air WAS filled with yapor, pumice and
dust, Illuminated by glow from the vol
canO below aud by continuous flashes of
lightning from above. The sound of fro
quent explosions was heard at great dis
tanccs, and waves were started that were
felt hundreds oi miles away.
The invest igations Of the committee
have proved cuncusively that these erup-
tlons of the afternoon of Aug. 20. by
shatterins The island aud tearing away
great fragments from it down to below
the level ot t4c sen. were the direct cause
OF the terrific outburst of the following
morning. by which the island was nearly
destros ci. and The vast tidal wave started
that overwhelmed all the islands for "a
hundred miles about. Through tho
breaciic, made by thcsc explosions in the
walls Of the cratcr4 he sea rushed In tor.
rents. Tine first effect, as when dirt or
stones arc thrown into the mouth of u
gcyser. was so dradcu the violence of tho
eruption and produce u season Of com
paraiiyc calui This lasted through the
night of tho Goth and well along into tho
bic energy hu stnothered was merely sup
pressed FOR i'ae. Ii accumulated deep
In tho earth beneath the small sea that
quickly filled up the crater above. and
the longer ii was confined the greater bo-
came IL power. At 5.30 o'clock In the
morning came the first outbreak, but it
was not enough; the water poured in
faster than the power below could throw
II out, aud the forces Of fire below were
held ia .ubiection by the sea- There was
another oulburst al 6sii clock. but this,
too, the sea subducd driving tho beast of
the volcano back once more into its sub
terranean cayerns. where /, ragged and
fumcd Tor nearly fogr hours Then. ut
1000 O'Clock. Il burst cut with M awful
violence, fiinging the ocean back in waves
hundred feet high, that rolled on for
thousands Of miles before they wholly
subsidized,
NOISE or 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 Thousand miles away
Thought a vessel in distress was firing
minute guns and sent out u ship TO her
aid. AT Ceylon, 1000 miles away. people
thought that ships were practicing with
their heavy guns somewhere ia the neigh
borhood and even n far Us Rodriguez.
5000 miles from krakatoa, sound was
heard Us of the roar of distant artillery
More than this. the air waves which ac-
compauied the sound spread after the
sound itself had become inaudible and
delicate instruments at various obserya-
tories and other stations in all parts of
, the world recorded the passage OF unac-
, countablc atmospheric impulses. not once.
but time after time. until IL is a seientih.
, cally ascertained and proven fact that the
i air wave from the explosion passed seven
, times around tie world before it became
! So faint that it produced no effect upon
the inst ruments that record such incidents.
At batavia. 100 miles distant. windows
were blown in, gas put out, a gasometer
lifted from it's we'll. and even walls We're
, cracked merely by the vibrations of tho 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 lbs feet
/ high Towns. villages and lighthouses
were swept away. A man of war was
a carried up the Telok Belong valley nearly
:, two miles inland and left stranded thirty
! feet above the sea level. Tho wave was 4
a very perrcptible one all the way across
a the Indian ocean. and at Ceylon, Natal
i and the Cape Of Good Hope its passage
!, was made matter Of record long befors
: anything was known Of the explosion.
4 EFFEcTs or THE EXPLOSION.
In the immediate vicinity of the islane
!, the effect of the explosion was almost In
h conceiyable Two-tkirds of the island o
: Krakatoa and the whole of a neighborinl
island disappeared entirely. Lang lslant
was increased By an addition to its north
ern end. and Nerlaten Island was enlarged
20 three times its former dimensions. TIL
mass OF matter which WAS blown ava.
u from krakatoa has been calculated a
Q 200 600 coo 900 cubic feet. One of the IN
! cidental effects of the explosion was tn,
. exposure Of "A magnificent section of thu
D island. nearly 1000 feet high, showinl
> admirably the formation OF the interior o.
q crataa
e The most curious part of the report II
!, that devoted TO the optical phenomens
! that followed the eruption, including The
u remarkable colorUa sunsets In all parts
of the Globe. which were almost certainly
the result OF it, The Hon. Rollo Russell
and Mr. Douglas Archibald had charge ol
9 tile preparation Of the parts uf the re
p port devoted 10 this subject They foure
!. that at the time of the explosion so greai
a mass Of dust and yapnr was thrown
into the mir to heights estimated At from
2 IL 10 % miles that for loo miles arouns
y darkness prevailed at midday. Much o
u This ps,nttgr fell aslirkiN IN tho parth Ia