The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-06-27
BIRTH OF 4 VOLCANO.
Natures Process In Forming a
Mountain OF Lava.
THE FORCE OF AN ERUPTION.
UPhsavaI Ira. Destroyed the East
Indian island Of krakatca In 1883
Propelled an Air Wave Three and
Halt Times Round the Earth.

Propelled an Air Wave Three and a
Half Times Round the Earth.
Though volcanoes are often spoken
OF as burning mountains, they do not
burn at all. nor. in the proper sense of
the word. are they mountains ut all
A volcano is really a Jaw IN the crust
OF The earth through which the fierce
glowing heat lying below the crust has
managed 10 burst Il hole. Through this
hole great foods Of melted rock spou,
up Some volcanoes work at inter.
walls: some are in eruption all the time
As the melted rock jets up into the
air and falls IL naturally builds Itself
into a mountain round the hole The
next eruption has TO burst its way
through the heart Of that mountain
The chimney 1t spouts through is usi,
ally called The pipe"
Sometimes an eruption is so fierce
that when The lava another name for
melted rock, spouts out it is burst int.
bits. When it falls it is sometimes as
fine as dust. sometimes the size of Gin
ders. Most volcanoes. indeed. are siut
Ply
When the force is not so great tLe
lava in the pipe simply bubbles owe,
and flows down the sides of the noun
tain. exactly as porrid=e bells over th.
edge of pot. As lava is liquid. thu.
slope Of lava volcano Tor lava cone.
as it is usually called, Is always very
gentle. Falling cinders. on the other
hand. pile themselves up quite steeply
A lava cone. then. is always less steep
than cinder cone.
And a volcano never burns. What
looks like flame Is only the glow OF
the white hot lava on the clouds Of
steam. The more steam there is fore
ing its way up the pipe the more the
lava bubbles. just as in the case OF
the porridge. If the pressure Of steam
is very great. then you have the lava
blown to bits and falling as cinders,
while the mighty clouds Of steam rise
high above the mountain. 1t is this
steam that is mistaken for smoke.
Sometimes cone sends out lava and
cinders alternately. so that you have
a great mountain of cinders bound to-
gether by layers and walls Of lava.
These walls of lava are due to the
fact that sometimes more lava wants
to come up the pipe than the pipe will
hold. so the lava bursts its way out
through weak spots in the sides of the
mountain. Etna has no fewer than
700 Of these cones on its slopes. One
of them. Monte Rossi. is a hill in
itself. being $50 feet high. Indeed. a
model Of Etna looks as If it were COW
cred with pimples
When Etna is really reused it is far
more dangerous than Vesuvius. In
11G9 it nearly destroyed the city of
Catania, killing $4,000 people. In 1868
1t found its pipe so inconveniently
small that it had to crack one OF its
sides. This crack was no less than
twelve miles long. At the bottom
! white hot lava could dimly be seen
through the clouds Of steam. In 1855
millions of gallons of boiling water
were shot out Of the Val del Bove.
which is a great circular pit on the
slope Of the mountain. four or five
mics in diameter. its sides being cliffs
nearly a mile high in places.
The greatest volcanic eruption ever
| known took place in the East Indies
in 1888. The story makes almost in
credible reading. The volcanic island
Of Krakatoa commenced proceedings
by blowing half of itself into thin air
From the opening no less than cubic
mile of rock was shot out.
A column Of steam and lava dust
rose into the air to a height six times
as great as that of Mount Everest. II
spread and spread till for hundreds OF
miles around the air Was black as mid
| night. Sounds as Of distant cannonad
| ing were heard 1000 miles of.
Sea waves fifty feet high killed. IS.