Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1911-01-20
WONDERS OF LAVA
This Molten Rock Is a Most Pc
culiar Substance.
REDH0T SNOW SANDWICHES.
Curious Effect on Mount VesuVius
Produced by the Lava's Amazing
Properties ss . konoonduetor OF
Heat-Desdly Volcanic Ashes.

Produced by the Lava's Amazing
Properties as Q koneonduetor OF
Heat-DeadIy Volcanic Ashes.
yesuvius, the most famous volcano
IN the world, with its mighty vomit
,ngs Of lava and dust, Is guilty OF
many queer freaks. Mighty transforms
have set In motion the lava dust and
lava cinders that lie on Its sides, and
torrents Of muddy lava have over.
whelmed towns and villages as IL
swept down to the sea. The resulting
effect from this has been so great that
It changed the face Of the coast line
by forming new promontory.
Lava IL one of the most curious OF
substances. II Is simply rock melted
by a heat so intense that II flows like
thin Cruel When Vesuvius is In erup,
ton thousands of tons of II are squirt.
ed up the pipe" and out Of the crater.
AS II flows out over the edge II soon
cools and leaves a thick, ropy coating
which spreads over the entire coun.
tryside.
But II Is only on the top that II 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 a 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. Behring'S 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 10 the air also cooled at once.
But between the two surfaces there
was blazing heat: so II you bored
down through some lava beds you
would find cool upper surface. a
redhot inside, cool layer, snow. a
cool layer. a redhot one, a cool one
and then snow again.
In fact. a layer of lava will let nei-
IL.
built house entirely Of lava on a
scorching summer day you would stiil
have % degrees inside when there was
snow outside. II you built Ii in the
winter Ice would form In your parlor
in July.
This clearly demonstrates what an
extraordinary nOnconductor lava Is.
There Is, indeed, on the slopes of
Vesuvius 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 il
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 1t. 1t
bursts into fine spray and falls as
dust-dust far finer than any other
dust known.
1t Is so fine, indeed, that sometimes
years elapse before II settles. When
the mighty island volcano of Kraka-
toa blew itself nearly into bits in 1888
with crashing sound of cannonadlng
that 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 England's
sunsets Of that year unusually splen-
did. 1t was three years before the
upper air became quite clear again.
Lava dust has the same properties
as lava Shepherds On the slopes of
Vesuvius sprinkle patches Of snow in
the winter with lava dust SO that
they may have 1t when the scorching
days Of summer arrive.
1t was lava dust turned to mud nv
torrents OF rain such as usually come
with volcanic outbursts, that, nearly
1000 years ago, destroyed the famous
pleasure city Of Herculaneum, and It
was showers of volcanic ashes that
overwhelmed Pompeii. Herculaneum
sun lies nearly forty yards from the
open air.
There are rivers of lava mud that are
oiottlng out towns and villages now.
A curious point has always been
noticed when vesuvius is in eruption,
and that is the strong odor of washing
DAY that hangs around the mountain.
one might wonder why the slopes
or such a mountain are SO thickly
populated when there is always dan
ger OF eruptions and of avalanches of
lava mud. Well, the reason is that
volcanic soil is always very fertile.
Some of the best wine of Italy comes
from Vesuvian vineyards, and people
are ready to take the risks-London