The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-30
DESTRUCTION or NRAkATOA.
The Appalling CONFUSION of Nature
That Happened I6 Years AGO.

1t is just sixteen years since the mos.
stupendous and appalling OF all the con-
WILSON'S of nature which have occurred
either in anc.eut-or in modern times tooa
place Aug ~ 1883 a 10 a. no, The srta.-
er portion of the island OF krakaloa. u
the straits of Sunda, was destroyed while
Two new islands were created by volcanic
action. We in England remember the ncj
mainly on account of the magnificent sg1-
sets which followed the event and were
witnessed all over the world. These slo-
sets, It is now hardly necessary 60 state,
were caused by the impalpabe dust ana
vapor particles which had been cj,.ed
from Krakatoa TO a hight of twenty miles
or more from the surface OF the earta ana
were still floating in the upper air The
eruption caused a great seismic wave OF
the sea, which overwhelmed the villages
on the neighboring shores and drowned
upward Of $1,000 persons The h.-h. OF
the crest of this wave has been vdu0usIy
estimated, but at Telok Betoue. jog Su-
matra, The water reached within Six feet
of the reSidencY. which stands on q hill
1 seVenty-eight feet above the sea. ana
/ the Dutch man-Of-war BerOuW, anchored
/ off the coast, was carried oy the wave
| up a valley nearly Two miles inland and
was left high and dry more than thirty
! feet above the sea level.
| If a gentleman were to tell us that while
walking down P.ccadily he had heard an
explosion which had taken place Gull
/ ford or any town situated some thirty
miles away we should probably think that
he was under a mSappre heuSiOn. But If
! he told us that he mad heard one that
occurred at Newcastle-on-Tyne al dis
lance of 300 miles we should lave no
doubt as 10 the condition of his mind. 1t
IS nevertheless a fact that the explosion
Of Krakatoa was heard not only thirty
and 800 miles away, but also at a dis
tance of 5000 miles. il was heard in In
dia and it was heard in Australia, and
also in the island of Rodriguez which is
about 2,96S miles from krakatol in a di
| rect line. Moreover, the seismic wave of
the sea above referred 10 was noticed
not only in South Africa but also at Cape
Horn, which is 1850 miles distant from
the straits of Sunda.
But perhaps the most extraordinary of
all the phenomena connected wi his cat
aclysm of nature was the atmospheric
disturbance, or air wave. produced by the
explosion. This air wave, ii is stated went
three times around The earth and it has
been remarked that "lhe character of this
d StUrbance would seem amos, mere iible
were il not for the fact that !. is attesied
]
by me Daroglams or every graz III teof-
olc3icaI station on the worms surface:
FROM TINS the time oil us genesis cou'u
eashy De calculated with lo!eap.1 eAscti-,
tude. It is given by Lieut. Gen. Stra-
chey as two hours ffty-six minutes, Grezn-
witch mean time which il .ocai time,
would correspond wi. 9;5S o'clock on the
morning of Aug. n"
Ii may re mentioned tnal a.luousn lhe
explosion ala not take place uNtI 5'oS a.
night continuous roar like the discharge
Of heavy cannon, or thund=r had been
heard, so that the peop.e in The towns ana
Vllia ges OF Java ana Sumatra We u
and did not dare 10 90 to heA Lveil on me
previous day the nth the SNy, we are
pearance, fierce flashes OF aehning, pen
etranng the dense masses Of cloud over the
island. clouds of back matter were rush
ing across me SKY falHo'3 ',e NC