Evening star., 1895-10-31
KINGS PALACE
8H2=8H4 9TH ST. N. w.
us rlarket Space.
A CHAIN OF FIRE.
Twenty Volcanic Peaks Belchiug Vol
umes of Smoke and Steam.

Twenty Volcanic Peaks Belchiug Vol
umes of Smoke and Steam.
F. ON the Sal Francisco Chronicle.
The revenue cutter Commodore Perry re-
turned yesterday from a northern sea,
where she has been confronted every night
for weeks by gigantic lire of fire. AS
Capt Smith expresses it: THE devils stok-
ers have been stirring up the subterranean
sea of flames that is supposed to lie thous-
ands of feet under the Behring'S bed, and
as a consequence fully twenty cf the forty
volcanoes in the Aleutian chain are now
active
The line of islands lying between the
Berng sea and the Pacific ocean belong to
the United States and on them are prob
ably the only active volcanoes lying withln
American territory. Much has been writ
ten of Bogaslov Island, which has been
throwing up cloud of steam at times Tor
years but it was supposed that all the 9TH
er peaks on this singular line OF ISLANDS
were extinct craters only.
Now, as far the eye can reach from
any point in the Bering sea adjacent or
even at a distance from the famous seal
islands, the rising smoke and steam can be
seen in both directions. The eruption Is
general and so very lively that at night the
| airy columns take on the reflections of the
| fires deep in the earth beneath the craters.
Nowhere else on the globe can such sight
! be witnessed. According to Capt. Smith it
| is as wonderful as the merry mysteries Oh
Hawaii.
In the daytime only the white smoke or
steam is visible. AS dusk comes and dark
ness follows the wonder grows. The bright
| er columns show up in the cold Alaskan
night first, and as 1t gets darker other vivid
| curlS of smoke are to be seen at greater
! distance. Sometimes. when the position of
| the observer is advantageous, dozen or
| fifteen Of these modern pillars of fire are
| in sight
| 1t is thought that as the winter comes
| on the beauty of this strange scene will
| increase, but few will be the beholders
| then, for the chilly northern sea is deserted
| by the time November sets in. Even the
whalers will he away from the nightly
| show of natures fireworks, for they are now
seeking shelter in the coves and inlets off The
arctic hundreds of miles further north than
| these volcanoes. While the Perry was IN the
| Bering, though much of the time it was
| misty and foggy. and often, even at night,
| the view of the mighty escape valves was
entirely obstrLcted by the haze.
The show of subterranean force IS the
most noteworthy ever observed on American
| soil AS proof of the mighty power that is
at work beneath the islands a neck of land
| has been forced up out of the sea between
! Bogaslov, and old Bogaslov and the two
| islands are now one. 1t is Queer-looking
| land, one of the passes shown on the chart
as connecting the Bering sea with the great
| er ocean to the southwark. The rocks in
| this neck are manifestly of volcanic origin,
black and smooth in surface, as if once melt
ed.
II have my own theory about the erup-
| tion." said Capt Smith of the Perry, yes
| terday. Il believe there is lake of fire Ear
| down in the earth that connects with the
| outlets in those volcanoes in the north and
| also with the volcanoes in Central America.
| am told that in the Central American
states the volcanoes are especially active
| Just now. While there is no great eruption
reported, there is steady activity, just such
| activity as is observed on that chain of is
| lands that have been looking at all sum-
| mer. / believe that the whole lake of fire is
| now boiling and hotter than ever, and that
| this state of great activity beneath the sur
| face of the earth, perhaps many miles, is
| the cause of the rising smoke and steam in
| the north and at the same time of the clouds
| of smoke and the flow of lava in the south -
| The Commodore Perry was guarding the
sealing grounds and cruising after sealing
| schooners in Bering sea. She first had what
| is termed the tbirty-mile zone around
| the Pribylov Islands and then the s:xty-m!le
zone In hunting for the wary sealers IN the
| extensive spread of sea she was brought
| close to the Aleutian chain at many different
! points and had, consequently, an excellent
| chance to observe the great change that has
| been going on. There are forty volcanoes on
! the line of islands, and Capt. Smith is sure
| that at this time it is not in the least eX-
| aggeraton to say that half of them are
| smoking.