Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-04-12
A STORY STRANGER THAN FICTION

---"the Most Terrific Disaster Known
in the History of Civilized Man,
Told by the Only Living Eye-Wit-
ness.
There is published in the April Cosmopolitan a
very remarkable article, it being the account Of
an eyewitness Of the great volcanic eruption on
the island Of Krakatoa in the straits of Sunda,
between Java and Sumatra, in 1888. The erup-
ton began in May and continued until August,
when in a final explosion of incoucevable mag.
nitude and violence, a large part Of the island
was blown away and volcanic dust hurled
into the upper regions Of the atmosphere where
it remained suspended. drifting gradually around
the world. and producing for many months the
remarkable red sunsets or twilight glows which
are so well remembered. The sound Of the eX-
plosOn was heard at distance of over2!O0 miles.
Tidal waves 80 feet high swept the neighboring
shores and the atmospheric waves travelled four
and onehalf times around the world. The writer
who describes this terrible spectacle is Jean The.
olore van Geste a native of Holland who was
educated as a civil engineer, and was employed
upon the Suez canal. Afterward he sent by
the Dutch government to Batavia, the chief city
of Java where he was following his profession
when the volcanic eruption began. For the past
ten years he has lived in New York, build.
ing electric plants and railroads. In prefacing
his account of what he rightly describes as the
most terrific disaster known in the history of civ
ilized man " Mr.. van Gestel says II lived to tell
the tale, and if there was any other civilized
spectator on the spot of those dreadful scenes
have not yet heard or read his story
About eleven o'clock on Sunday morn
ing, the 18th of May, 1885, the trouble be-
gan in the island of Java. All Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo were convulsed. 1t
was as though war had been declared I'M
derground. The surface of the earth rocked,
houses tumbled dOwnsand big trees fell
out of the earth as if it had elected their
roots. l saw a tree fully five feet in diane
ter crash up into the air and fall supine.
Day and night the subterranean convul-
sions continued. The earth quivered con-
stantly; from its depths there seemed to
rise strange cries and hollow explosions,
with that all-pervasive ague, which now
began to shake my nerves.
Thursday there came a telegram from
the city of AMER, ninety miles away, on
the northwest coast of Java, that a volcano
had broken out on the island of Krakatoa
about thirty miles west of AMER, in Suuda
strait. The two cone-shaped peaks OF
Krakatoa were familiar landmarks to all
voyagers in those waters. They were
clothed with luxurious vegetation, and
could be seen for miles in any direction.
was requested by the Dutch government,
through the vice-admiral then at Batavia
to be off to the scene of action. At foul
o'clock that afternoon. | started with a
party on a special steamer from Batavia,
to take scientific observations. About mid.
night, we cleared st. Nicholas Point, which
is the extreme northerly extension of the
island of Java, next to the straits. AS We
rounded it we saw ascending from Kraka.
toa, about fifty miles away to the south.
west, an immense column of fire and what
appeared to be smoke. The sky was vel
clear, for the most part, but we could SEE
no apex to this column, whose composition
changed as we watched it, steaming all the
while toward the island. First it looked
like flame, and then it would appear to be
steam, and again take the semblance of a
pillar of fire inside of column of white
fleecy wool. In another instant these trail
ing, whirling masses of wool would hang
from the very empyrean itself. All the
while we heard the sullen, thunderous roal
which had been a fearful feature of the
situation ever since Sunday morning, ant
was now becoming louder.
The terrifying character of the scene OF
which we were now in view can be imagin
ed with difficulty. The ocean was as
smooth as a mirror and our steamer moved
ahead with ease, at slow speed. But evel
growing in intensity was the illumination
spread from this lurid column, rolling from
the northerly peak straight up to the sky
beyond the limits of human vision, tlecked
now and then with dark masses, constantly
wrapped in and now entwining the furious
commngling torrent of volcanic dust anC
smoke which | have described as looking
like wreaths of wool. The diameter of thai
column l should put down at one and q
half miles.
We had remained on deck all night, as
usual in that country, and, without word
watched fascinated The din was gradu
ally increasing until we could with diff.
Guilty hear each others voices. From time
to time, immense fragments of incandes
cent stone would be hurled up from the
crater, three or four hundred feet into the
air, when they would burst with a loud ex.
plosion. The hours passed quickly and
dawn approached.
The sun rises in those ATTITUDES at six
o'clock. AS its rays fell on the shores OF
Krakatoa, we saw them reflected from the
surface of what we thought was a river
and we resolved to steam into its mouth il
possible, with a view to disembarking
When we had approached to within three
quarters of mile of that shore, we sud
denly discovered that what we supposed
was a river, was a torrent of molten sui.
phur. The smell almost overpowered us