Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-05-15
Famous and Disastrous Erup-
tons of History.
The Terrible Havoc Raised in Tropic
Lands.
Some Active After Sleep Of Many
Centuries.

| fall a community. The causes pro
| Gucine the two geological disturbances
| 50 prolific of fear and terrible havoc
are practically the same. They result
from the fact that the interior Of this
globe is still intensely hot, radiatina
heat into space and consequently con-
| tracing in bulk. Portions of molten
rock are from time to time elected and
sudden seismic disturbances occur
| which, cause destruction like that at St
| Pierre from volcanic eruptions, or the
| earthquakes which have recently killed
! hundreds of people i'll several of the
| Central American countries.
| During the existence of this world
many important geographical changes
have been made through this natural
! phenomena. Scientists have found
| traces of this in many quarters Of the
globe where there have been no heavy
earthquakes or volcanic eruptions for
| ages and ages. Volcanoes range in size
from diminutive cone to a huge
mountain. In both cases they are
formed from material which has been
belched forth from the earths in
terror. They can break through any
kind of geological formation, and have
como through granite of immense
depth, and also through silurian rock.
such instances of their awful power
being demonstrated by extinct vol
canoes that have been discovered in
France and Scotland. Those known as
Etna and Nesuvius emerged from be-
meath soft marine strata.
They are generally classed as active,
| dormant and extinct. In many cases,
however ii is impossible to distinguish
| the latter two. and many that have re
manned cuescent for hundreds of CEN
turtles have been known to suddenly
break forth in the most violent manner.
Such one was Sornena, which after
being dormant almost beyond time i'm
memorial became active in the first
century of the Christian era and ulti-
mately produced Vesuvius. The latter
| in ~ y. D. vomited forth lava and
deadly gases in such gigantic volume
ana 50 rapidly that the inhabitants Of
| the city of Pompeii and several other
| adjacent towns We're destroyed as We're
the people Of st. Pierre But Pelee
the volcano which so quickly ended st.
| Pierre and its people. was another one
which was always considered extinct
Mt Epomeo. on the island of Ischia
furnishes another illustration of the
uncertainties of these dread creatures
of the earth's hidden mysteries. 1t re
NAMED dormant for about seventeen
| centuries and then. in 1902, burst forth
with the utmost violence. In operation
| a volcano emits gases, vapors, ashes,
| bouIders and lava. Sometimes the
acids are as destructive to life as is
the lava and ashes. The orator Of
Idjen. a volcano in Java, turned loose
| n huge lake of acid water, which
| rushed down the mountain side. and
| the poisonous properties of the liquid
caused widespread destruction among
human beings, cattle and birds The
ashes sent forth by volcano are gen
orally 50 fine that they will penetrate
house through the smallest cracks and
| crevices. They are generally SO hot
| that the inhalation of the smallest
amount will cause death. Ashes have
been known to fall over a country COW
ering Il radius within 100 miles of the
volcano from which they We're dis
charged. That occurred when Vesu-
vius broke loose in 1922.
On another occasion, when the Cose-
quina volcano in Nicaragua became
cruptive in 1885 utter darkness pre-
| vailed WITHIN circle of thirty-five
miles. and eight miles away they COW
cred the ground to depth of ten feet.
Four days later some of the ashes.
which had been caught in an upper
air current. fell at Kingston. Jamaica,
I or HOY hoe
sent hurting through space for great
| distances by volcanoes in violent
activity Many were found in the ash
es which buried Pompeii. A volcano at
| Antuco Chill. is said to have sent
stones thirty-six miles. and Cotopax
| is said to have hurled a 200-ton boulder
nine miles. Molten lava can rush down
| a mountain side at faster rate than
4 mile an hour After it stops flowing
a crust will form over the top of the
bed. which becomes hard and cool,
| while the body of it will retain fiery
heat for years.
When Mauna Loa, the terror Great
ing volcano of Hawaii. had its awful
eruption in 1852, it belched forth a
| solid fountain of lava which was 1000
feet wide and spouted 900 feet into the
air. Other fiery fountains of the same
country have been known to perform
similar feats and have continued to do
SO uninterruptedly for several weeks
The output from one of them travelled
fifteen miles in two hours and con-
tinued to creep along for months. de-
stroying everything in its path Lava
il as variable in its moods after set
1 Ting down on top of the earth as it is
in getting there. Sometimes it quick
~ becomes good soil. while on other
occasions it always remains barren. AS
| Il rule. volcanoes are located on noun
tain ranges in the neighborhood of the
sea. Most of the oceanic islands are
volcanic. Very seldom is a volcano
found far inland. and when it is so sit.
Uated it is generally in the vicinity Of
| n lake or where body of water has a
some time existed. The largest one:
are on the Hawaiian Islands. In age:
| mast their terrible upheavals must hav,
convulsed the world. Beside them
Vesuvius. which has a base circumfer
ence of thirty miles, is a pigmy.
The largest volcano in America il
Z Popocatapetl. in Mexico. 1t rises to
E height of 1858 Spanish feet above tn
J sea level and the circumference of tn
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