The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-12-06
A CHAIN OF FIRE.
twenty Volcanic Penlts HclchInr
Volumes Of SMOKE nnd Steam.

tIu steam.
QErom the San! francisco Chronicle)
me revenue cutter Commodore Per-
~ returned recently from u northern
sea. where She has been confronted
every night for. weeks by n gigantic
line OF fire: AS Captain Smith express
ed II: The devils stokers have been
stirring up the su~btcrranean sea of
names thai is supposed to lie thousands
cI rect under the Behring's bed. and ns
u consequence fully twenty OF the forty
volcanoes In the Aleutian chain are
now active
The line Of Islands lying between
the Behring Sea and the Pacific Ocean
belong to the United States. and Oh
them are probably the only active
lying within Americans ter
ritory. Much has becn written OF ;Boga-
SLOW Island. which has been throwing
up cioua OF steam at times for years.
put II was supposed that all the other
peaks on this singular line Of Islands
were extinct crnters only. .t!!G'.
Now. as far as the eye can reach
from any point In the Behring Sea ad-
tacent or even at q distance from ne
famous seal Islands. the risinf, smohs
ana steam a be seen In both dircc-
tons. The eruption Is general and SO
very lively that at night the airy col
uinns take on the reflections of the fires
deep I'm the earth beneath the craters.
Nowhere else or the globe can such q
sight be witnessed. According to Cap
tain Smith II is as. wonderful as the
merry mysteries on Hawaii.
In the daytime only the white smoke
or steam is visible. AS dusk comes
ana ~rkn follows the wonder grows.
me brighter columns Show u I'm the
old Alaskan night first. and, us IL gets
darker, other vivid curls of smoke are
10 be seen at greater distance. Some
times. when the position of the observer
is advantageous. n dozen of fifteen of
those mn1aIn ffl1n re .f -. a No L. .txt,,
1t is thought that as the winter comes
on the beauty of this TRANCE scehe Will
increase, but few will be the beholdeis
then, for the chilly northern sea Is de-
serted by the time November sets In.
Even the whalerS will be away from the
nightly show OF Natures fireworks. for
they are now seeking shelter In the
coves and inlets off the Arctic hun
dreds OF miles further north than these
volcanoes. While the Perry was in the
Behring, though. much OF the time was
misty and foggy. and often, even at
night. the view OF the mighty escape
valves was entirely INSTRUCTED 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 beheath the
island. a neck of land has been forced
up out OF the sea between Bogaslov
and old Bosaslov, and the two islands
are now one. 1t is d~uecr-looking land.
one of the passes shown or the chart as
connecting the Behring Sea with the
greater ocean to the southwark. Tie
rocks In this neck are manifestly OF
volcanic origin. black and smooth IN
surface. as II once melted.
Il have my own theory about the
eruption said Captain Smith. of the
Perry. yesterday. Il believe there Is /,
lake of fire far down in the earth thu
connects with the outlets In those vol
canoes In the north, and also with The
volcanoes in Central America I am told
that in the Central American States the
volcanoes are especially active just
now. While there is nc great eruption
/ reported. there is steady activity, just
such activity as is observed on that
chain of islands that ! have been look
ing at all summer ] believe tina the
whole lake of fire Is now boiling and
hotter than ever, and that this STATE
of great activity beneath the surface
of the earth, perhaps many miles. Is
the cause OF the rising smoke and steam
in h north and at the same time of the
oud of smoke and the flow of lava
in the south"
The Commodore Perry was guarding
the scaling grounds and cruising after
scaling ~schooners In Boring sea. She
first had what is termed the thirty-mile
zone around the Tribylov Islands. and
then the ~siXty-mile 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 excel.
lent chance to observe the Sraat change
volcanoes on the line of islands, and
Captain Smith is sure that at this time
1t Is not In the least exaeearatlnn' tc
] say that half of them are CrEoklrR.