The morning times., 1895-12-08
MILES OF VOLCANOES.
Twenty Aleutia II Pea ks Belching Forth
Volumes OF Steam and Smoke.

Twenty A AIeutia Pea ks Belching Forth
Volumes OF Steam and Smoke.
san Francisco Chronicle.
The revenue gutter Commodore Perry re-
turned yesterday from a northers sea,
| where she has been confronted every night
| for a week by a gigantic line OF fire As
| Capt. Smith expressed it, The devils
| stokers have been stirring up the subterra-
mean sea of flames that Is supposed to lie
thousa nds of feet under the Behring'S bed,
| and as consequence fully twenty of the
| forty volcanoes in the Aleutian chain are
now active"
The line OF fislandsiying between the Bering
| Sea and the Pacific ocean belongs TO the
United States. and on them are probably
| the only active volcanoes lying within AnleFi-
| can territory. Much has been written OF
Bogasloy Island, which has been throwing
| up a cloud OF steam at times for years. but
| IL was supposed that all Of the other peaks
on this sing line of islands were extinct
| craters only.
Now, as far as the eye can reach, from
any point in the Pering Sea adjacent or
even at a distance from the famous seeI
| islands, the rising smoke and steam can be
seen i'm both directions The eruption 10
general and So very lively that at night the
airy columns take On the reflections or
the fires deep in the earth beneath the
craters. Nowhere else on the globe can
such a sight be Witnessed. According to
Capt. Smith, it Is as WONDERFUL as Tie nery
mysteries ON Hawaii
In the Daytime only the white smoke or
steam is visible. As dusk comes and dark
nessfOllo W the wonder grows The brighter
columns show up in the cold Alaskan night
first, and as II gets darker other vivid curis
of smoke are to be seen at grester distance.
Sometimes, when the position OF the OBJ
server is advantageous, dozen or fl1leen
of these modern pillars of fire are in sight.
1t is thought that as the winter comes ON
the beauty of this strange scene VIII IN
crease, out few will be the beholders then,
for the chilly northern sea is deserted by
the time November sets In. Even the
whaiers viii be away from the nightly
show of natures fireworks, for they are
now seeking shelter in the cuves and in
lets off the Arctic, hundreds of miles fur
ther north than these volcanoes While the
Perry was in the Berng, though, much op
the time it was misty and foggy, and
often, even at night, the view uf the
mighty escape valves was entirely obstruct-
ed by the haze
The show OF subterranean force is the
most noteworthy ever observed on Amert-
can soil. As proof of the mi ghty power that
is at work beneath the islands a neck OF
land has been forced up out Of the sea be-
tween Bugaslov. and old Bogaslov and the
two islands are now one. Il is queer look
ing talu, one Ol iHt pHsSss SllcNH On mo
chart as connecting the Berins sea with
the greater ocean to the south ward The
rocks in this neckare manifestly of volcanic
origin, black and smooth III surface, es II
once melted.
II have my own theory about the erup-
tion," said Capt. Smith, of the Perry, yes
terday. Il believe there is lake of fire far
downintheeartht that connnects with th e out
let's 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 re
ported, there is steady activity, just such
activity as is observed on that chain of isl
ands that haTe been looking at all sum-
mer. I believe that the whole lake OF fira
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 thefIow of lava IN the south"
The Commodore Perry was guarding
these whaling grounds and cruising after
scaling schooners in Bering Sea- She first
had what is termed the thirty mile zone
around the Pribylov 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 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 10
not in the least exaggeration to say that
half OF them are smoking