The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-06-06

| UelicdGc lttuI WHY louu( VI SN
among the badly charred victims
The terrific force OF the explosion tore
up huge trees by their roots and laid
them fiat; heavy blocks Of stone were
| scattered about; stone buildings were
entirely destroyed. Debris covers the
city for a depth of - feet. According
to the present estimates the loss of life
was almost equal to that resulting from
the tidal wave which followed the crup.
tion at krakatoa. when 36 900 people
perished.
As vet few facts are obtainahle ol
the eruption of Mt. ST. Soufriere, St
Vincent, which occurred on the 9th OF
May. A large loss of life is reported
and dust from the volcano spread over
the Barbados Islands, IS miles to the
east. This eruption had probably a
sympathetic connection with that OF
Mont Pelee. The Typographical changes
occasioned by these two volcanoes can
not be accurately given at present,
because of the lack of exact scientific
data. 1t is reported, however, that
Mont PeIee, Which vas previously
1923 feet high, has now considerably
less elevation. Rivers that were OBJ
structtd have overfluwcd their banks.
causing floods and landslidcs. lmpor-
tant submarine changes have also
taken place, for in graphing for the
broken cable Off St. Pierre, the cable
ship "Poyer Quertier' reports that she
found the sea bottom 1000 feet below
the surface of the water, where former
" the depth was but thousand feet.
These changes may result in disaster
to shipping until properly recorded by
photographic survey.
Volcanic eruptions are generally
attributed to the expansion Of moisture
in the heated subtcrrancan rocks. The
ori sinal theory that the earth is a liquid
mass, covered Ivy thin crust OF solid
matter is now entirely discarded by
scientists. Such conditions would
seriously interfere with the rotation of
the earth and the stability OF the crust.
We know the effect of the moon 5 and
suns attraction on the thin skin OF
ocean that covers the surface of our
globe Tidal waves are continually
sweeping around the earth in direc-
tion contrary to the carth's rotation.
In comparison with this we can easily
see " hat tremendous drag to the
rotation of the earth would result were
the entire earth liquid mass covered
hy mere shell Of solid matter. Scien-
fists tell us that the wave produced
would bc so powerful as to make even
solid steel crust of 800 miles of thick
ness yield like India rubber to its de-
forming influences. The theory Of a
molten interior was based on the Oh
servation of volcanoes and on the fact
that the temperature Of the earth in
creases on the average one degree for
every fifty feet of descent from the
surface. Following this theory come
others. in which the earth is supposed
TO have solid core and an outer crust,
between which is layer of liquid ma
terial. Any displacement of the crust
covering this liquid layer, whether re-
sulting from contraction of the earth
or other causes, would force the lava
to the surface through the weakest
spot. In rcfutation of this argument
the conditions at Hawaii might be con-
sdered. The crater Of Mauna Loa is
1860 feet above the sea level, and
that of kilauea is 1910 feet. These
mountains are not over 30 miles apart
and vet both are filled with lava. How
could such varying levels he main
tanned, if both craters were fed from
the same source? This query has
forced many to lcl'rve that the liquid
matter was contained in local, vcsicular
spaces beneath the crust. Both Of
these theories were brought forth to
reconcile the requirements of physics
with those of geology, which called for
the existence of fluid matter at small
depth from the surface of the earth.
At present gcologists have pretty gen
orally discarded these theories as un-
necessary; for it is claim d that the
powerful pressure due to the earth $
contraction would prevent material
from attaining liquid form. Imme-
dlately on release of this powerful
pressure, however. the matter would
become tluid and pour out of the noun
tain in the form of lava. AS stated
above, the power which causes the up
heaval is attributed to the expansion
of imprisoned vapor. From the fact
that volcanoes are usually found near
the sea, it was at first argned that the
water oozed down into the heated
regions, either of its own weight or by
capillary attraction Many scientists
think this theory to be absurd, for they
argue that it would be impossible for
the water to enter a regionunder such
compression, also that long before
reaching a sufficient depth it would be
turned into steam and forced back
through the very chlnnels by which it
entered. The most plausible theory,
and one now pretty generally accepted,