Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1911-08-04
WONDERSOF LAVA
This Molten Rock Is a .Aosi 20.
culiar Substance.
REDHOT SNOW SANDWICHES.

Curious r,.iset on Mount vesuvius
Produced by the Lava's Amazing
Properties al a Neneonduster Of
Heat-DeadIy Volcanic Ashes
Vesuvius, the most famous volcano
IN the world, with its mighty vomlt.
,ngs Of lava and dust. ia guilty Of
mapy queer freaks Mighty rainstorms
have set In motion the lava dust and
lava ciuders that lie ON its sides. and
torrents Of muddy lava have over.
whelmed towns and villages as II
swept down 10 the sea. The resulting
effect from this has been so great that
II changed the face Of the coast line
by forming Il new promontory.
Lava Is one OF the most curious OF
substances, 1t is simply rock melted
by heat so intense that It flows like
thin cruel. When Vesuvius is In erup.
tion thousands of tons Of II are squirt
ed up the pipe" and out of the crater
As 1t flows out over the edge II soon
cools and leaves thick. ropy coating,
which spreads over the entire coun-
| tryslde.
But it is only on the top that It really
cools. A few inches below the sur.
face OF the lava is often red hot. Wis.
itors are often invited to light their
cigarettes in the chinks of bed OF
lava that has been lying out in the
open air for twenty years or more.
1t is the most wonderful noncon.
ductor OF heat known. Borings made
through some lava beds have shown
that they are made up of layers Of lava
and layers of unmelted snow. As sue.
cessive torrents OF lava came pouring
down the surface that lay on the
snow cooled at once, and the surface
open to the air also cooled at once.
But between the two surfaces there
was blazing heat; so IL you bored
down through some lava beds you
would find cool upper surface,
redhot inside. a cool layer, snow. a
cool layer redhot one, cool one
and then snow again.
In fact, layer of lava VIII let mel.
ther heat nor cold through. II you
built n house entirely of lava on a
scorching summer day you would still
have % degrees inside when there was
snow outside. If you built 1t In the
winter Ice would form in your par!c-
in July.
This clearly demonstrates what an
extraordinary nonconductor lava is.
There is. indeed, on the slopes of
Nesuvius little lava hut into which
summer visitors put bottles. of wine
to get them chilled.
When volcano throws Its lava out
with, such tremendous force that it
Jets high INTO the air it very often
rails In the form of dust, owing to the
explosive power Of the high pressure
steam that spurts out with it. 1t
bursts Into fine spray and falls as
oust-dust far finer than any other |
dust known.
It's so fine, indeed. that sometimes
years elapse before it settles. When /
the mighty island volcano of Kraka- |
toa blew itself nearly into bits in 1893 |
with crashing sound of cannonadIng
mat smashed windows hundreds of
miles away the lava dust was so thick
In the air that for hundreds of miles
round midday was as black as night.
volumes of infinitely fine dust sailed
round and round the earth In the up
per atmosphere and made ngland's
sunsets of that year unusually splen-
1ld. 1t was three years before the
Upper air became quite clear again.
Lava dust has the same properties
Is lava. Shepherds on the slopes Of
Vesuvius sprinkle patches of snow in
he winter with lava dust so that
hey may bave it when the scorching
lays or summer arrive.
1t vas lava dust turned to mud by
orrents of rain such as usually come
WIN volcanic outbnrsts, that, nearly
'NOO years ago, destroyed the famous
'leasure city of Herculaneum, and it
vas showers of volcanic ashes that
overwhelmed Pompeii. Herculaneum
till lies nearly forty yards from the
pen air.
There are rivers of lava mud that are
lottIng out towns and villages now.
A curious point has always been
ctced when Vesuvius is in eruption,
nd that Is the strong odor of washing
ay that hangs around the mountain.
One might wonder why the slopes
I such a mountain are so thickly 4
opulated when there is always dan
er Of eruptions and Of avalanches Of
I've mud, Well, the reason is that {
olcanic sob is always very fertile.
ONE of the best wine of ITALY comes {
'om Fesuvfan vineyards, and people
re ready to take the risBs.-London
merican. 8