The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-06

sent them and the drove to destruction in
the avalanche. on the lower land many
farm hands were employed. and these had
moved away from the zone of danger
scarcely half an hour before. Where the
pasture land had been was an area of bare
rock, cracked and Jagged, from the crew.
ices of which hot vapors arose.
This gave rise TO a report in Kingston
that volcanic eruption had occurred.
The report was ridlculed, but although
the idea of a real, active volcano in jana
lea does seem rather absurd At is never
theiess true that the island is volcanic
In Its origin. as are most of those form
ing the West Indian chain. II is honey
combed throughout with caves and cav
ems. many of enormous size, and more
over boasts not a few subterranean rivers
and lakeets. AT least two OF the large
rivers, the Cave and the Hector, are sub
terranean in parts Of their courses, trav-
esing cavities of seven and twelve miles
In some instances.
Another peculiar Photographed fea-
ture or the island is the innumerable So
called ''sink-holes" that occur In the
limestone formation. These are great
funnel-like openings in the earth's surface
mat lead down precipitous inclines to pro-
found depths, chasms-as has been found
In one or two instances where even par
tial exploration was posslble-forcing the
subterrauean waters
What happened at Craig Min was this.
In the vicinity of the tableland pasture
there Is, or rather was. a small sink-hole
that had never been fathomed II was sur
rounded by a dense thicket of bamboos
and other tropical wild growth, maintained
for the purpose of keeping the cattle away
from II. Some months or so before the
explosion there was a small earthquake
which was felt throughout the island, and
also in the Antilles. Mt that time the
pasture men observed that a considerable
part of the bamboos, etc, had fallen Ia.
ON Investigation IL was found that the
snk-hole was filled to the brim with earth
and debris
II was the proprietors intention to clear
away the woods and add this ground TO
the pasture, but up to the end of January
nothing had been done. Those who wit
messed the explosion aver that the old
snk-hole was the focus of the discharge
of steam. They add that amidst the cloud
of vapor they distinctly saw masses Of
rock hurled high In the air. The shock
that accompanied the explosion was so Sc
we're that 1t threw down several of the
cattle and the mules OF the cattiemen.
They were not a mile from the sink-hole.
and were covered by q shower of dust
and small stones.
The most probable theory seems 70 be
that the earthquake which occurred a few
weeks before the explosion closed up the
old slnk-hole, which was a vent or escape
valve for the confined air In some large
but close cavern In the bowels of the
earth. The sudden and complete closirE
of this shaft compressed the air in the
cavern, and this becoming heated to an
extraordinary degree during the late short
but severe drought burst its way out.
thus forming what for want of a better
appellation' has been called an ''air vol
cano.'
1T Is understood that the museum au-
thorlties of the jamaica institute are pre-
pairing to carry out an exhaustive invests
CATION.