The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-05-18
Destruction of Krakatoa Was Like
That of Martinique. and st. Pierre
Rain of Lava and Ashes Fell
for Three Days-The Survivors
Sought the Jungles.

earth (which I knew Immediately to be ar
earthquake. gentle at first. but gradually
becoming violent. alarmed me. Turning
FOUND to look at the window the glass
seemed falling out. Calling to mind tbs
miserable fate of Callao in the West Indies.
! dreaded a like catastrophe; and remember
ing that our house was so old and weak.
that any heavy passing carriage made i
snake throughout. | ran directly into the
Arada. To see il the nefghboring houses
were aSitated with the same violence. Thi-
pihce was "A single room at the top of tine
house. with windows aI around the root,
ana supported by tall pillars. 1t was only
one story higher than my chamber. but
commanded Il prospect of some part II
the river. and of all the lower part OF the
city. from the Kings Palace up to the
Castle. | was no sooner up the stair than
the most horrid prospect the Imagination
could picture appeared before my eyes. Trr
house began to heave to that degree. that.
TO prevent being thrown. | was Obliged To-
put my arm out of the window and support
myself by the wall. Every stone in tre
wall. separating ard grinding against tacn
other, caused the most fearful jImbling OF
noises ears ever heard. The adjoining wall
OF u room next to where | was. fell first:
tnen followed all the upper part of the
mouse. and of every other as far as / could
see toward the Castle. when turning my
eyes quick 10 the front of the room flor l
thought the whole city was sinking into the
earth), saw the tops of two or more pill
lars meet. and saw no more"
The writer of the above awakened in the
basement OF the house in which he had
llVed. Cut IN a score OF places. with an arm
broken and shoulder disiocated. he man
aseG 10 find an exit. Then he graphically
tells of the burning of the city and the rush
Of the people to the surrounding country.
Eruption on Island of
krakatOa in 1883.
The eruption on the Island of Krakatna
in 1882 was fully observed at the time BIZ
students OF volcanic action. and the phe-
nomena attending it carefully noted.
The island for two centuries had been
uninhabited. Ii was about five miles long
and three wide. There were two volcanic
peaks. or cones. of which the highest rose
mp ESQ feet Surrounding the island were
otter and smaller cones. prutruding above
the surface of the ocean. Experts unit.
in the opinion that none of the cones were
craters, but that all were lava spurs upon
the edge of enc vast crater. the greater
part of which was submersed.
In ltSo. 200 years before the recent out
break. the island was fertile and inhabited.
At that time came a terrific eruption. which
changed the appearance of all ground above
water and annihilated the natives. When
this was ended. the volcano rested and was
thought to he extinct
In the month of May. 1889. came the first
Warnings that Krakatoa WIS to once again
open up with its subterranean and subma-
rine artillery. The spurs above water. in
size. were as nothing to the hundreds of
other towering mountains of the indian
Ocean, but the crater yielded to none in
respect to its hidden power. In May were
explosions causing noises which were heard
in Batavia eighty miles away. These con-
timed with uninterrupted vigor for eight
o." nine weeks Masses nf rtrpaipa ctn,. nrI
ashes were vomited into the air. which
were carried by the wind as far as the
Island Of Timor. 100 miles away.
In August came the elimination. 1t is
supposed that the continued minor expIo-
slons had opened a wide vent in the crater
and that the waters had rushed in only to
be converted into steam, which. expanding.
demanded an exit. krakatoa was in paroX-
ysms, and now its voice was heard 2.r@
miles away in Australia and 2.267 miles
away. at the Chagos Islands. The nights
were pitch dark. save for the electric flames
at the volcanoes mouth. which shed a
lurid. fitful terrifying light.
Fall of Lava and Ashes
Continued Three Days
About noon OF August % came Krakatoa's
last mighty effort. and the ~detonations, the
discharges of molten stone, steam and
ashes continued for three days. The ex-
plosions augmented in intensity. and by 10
O'Clock on the night of the 18th the entire
Strait of Sunda, between the islands Of Su-
matra and Java, in the center Of which
lay the mighty crater. was rendered inky
dark by the ascending masses OF smoke. The
sounds were deafening in Java as far as
Batavia. and over a large portion OF Su-
matra.
In the morning the explosions ceased for
a short period. The inhabitants of neigh
boring towns in Java. Buitenzorg, Serang.
AMER and Merak. sought to get a little
sleep. But at 7 O'Clock came q crash so for
midable that all were startled from their
beds. Normally it should now be daylight.
but the suns rays could not pierce the
dense overhanging canopy. Lamps were
used in the houses.
There was no interruption of the seismic
artillery during that day. nor during the
next day. Krakatoa's bottled up energy
seemed inexhaustible. TIL terror of the
simple minded natives of Java and Sumatra
was Understandable. They covered in their
huts or sought the businesses of the jun
gle, praying Historically to their multifarl-
Gus gods.
The reports of sea captains who ventured
near the Strait Of Sunda and escaped to tell
the tale-few did-are graphic in the ex-
IRENE. Captain Watson of the English ship
Charles Bal was ten miles south of the
volcano ON the 18th. He described the island
as shrouded in a dense. black cloud. which
slowly spread out until it obscured the blaze
vault of the heavens. Aside from the .hun-
derous explosions. he speaks of cracking
noises. which are ascribed to the contact of
great rocks ascending and descending in
the atmosphere. He tells of a rain of
punice in large pieces. quite warm. which
fell a foot deep upon the ship. He remained
near the scene until , o'clock in the after
noon. when he dared to do so no longer.
Another captain describes the electrical
which accompanied the eruption. On
the afternoon Of the 18th, from a distance
of forty miles. he speaks of great yapcr
clouds being lighted up by bursts OF forked
lightning. which seemed like large fiery
serpents. rushing through the air. After
dark, he reports that the great upsoar,ny,
overarching mantle appeared like a blood
red curtain. with edges of all shades Of yell
low, the whole of 4 murky tinge, through
which cleaned fierce flashes of lightning.
students OF such eruptions-cablegramS
from Martinique tell of similar phenomena
being observed-state that this generation
o: atmospheric electricity invariably accom-
pantes volcanic disturbances on n large
steam jets rushing through the
orifices of the earth's surface constitute an
hydro-electrical engine. Elected
materials striking against each other bro
dlce the friction necessary to strike
'sparks"-sparks as large in proportion as
a cliff of 100 cubic feet is to the fint-pebble
from which a lad strikes fire with his pen
knife.
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