Evening journal., 1914-07-29
MT. KATNAI now THREATENS ALASKA

led the fall and midnight blackness
In the daytime extended as far cast
as the Kennai Peninsula. Darkness
lasted for so hours at Kodiak, 100
miles away. Dust fell as far away as
Juneau, Ketchikan and the Yukon
Valley 750 800 and 600 miles. The
fumes were reported from points as
far remote as Vancouver Island and
Puget Sound, 1900 miles away. Sub
sequent terrific explosions occurred
at and II p. m, Of the same day
"A description of the fall Of ashes
is given by John L. Thwaites. Of the
steamer Dora. which was 55 miles
away when the shower began. And
now began the real rain of ashes: it
fell in torrents; il swirled and ed
died, he says Gravity semed TO
have nothing to do with the course of
the fall. The under side OF the decks
seemed to catch as much ashes as The
sides or the decks under our feet
Bright clusters of electric light could
be seen only a few feet away, and we
had TO feel our way about the deck
II was with the greatest difficulty
that the man at the man at the wheel
could see the compass, through tile
thick dust that filled the room. Lurid
flashes OF lightning glared continu-
ously, while q constant boom of thun-
der, sometimes coinciding with the
lash, increased the horror OF the in
ferno around us. AS far as seeing or
hearing anything pertaining to earth
we might as Well have been miles
above the surface Of the water And
still we knew the sun was two hours
above the horizon. Birds fioundered
crying wildly, through space and fell
Helpless to the deck
The magnitude of an eruption is
not properly measured by the loss Of
life and damage to property. but rath-
er in terms of the natural phenom-
ona; the quantity and distribution Of
the elected material, the distance at
which the sound waves, dust. dark
ness and fumes were observed. the
violence of the ACCOMPANYING earth
quakes, and the distribution ard In
tensity of the resulting atmospheric
conditions. The greatest eruptions
on record include those Of Krakatoa
IN 1888, Coseguina i'm 1875 Tomhoro
IN 1913, Skaptar-Jokull in 17S3. and
Fapandayang IN 1872. The eruntion
OF katmai was apparently OF a mag
nitude comparable with some ~
these The deposits from Katmai
vary in thickness from So inches al
the head Of Amalik Bay. Is 1-2 miles
from the mountain, to 3 1-2 inches AZ
the east end OF Afognak Island. 112
miles from the volcano.
THE effect Of the eruption on what
ever vegetation clothed the TANKS ~
the volcano was annihilation Tho
position of the death line aroupd tbe
volcano came practically down to the
sea- 10 miles from the crater. Mar
inc life was affected TO larger de-
gree than would perhaps be eNpect-
ed. Bears, rabbits, reindeer and other
animals and birds were made blind.
Dead geese, ducks, ptarmigan. snipe.
hawks and many small birds we're
found at the mouth Of the Kak-
hinak river Man was Indirectly ar
fected by the eruption through the
injury TO other animal life and to
vegetation. The eruption differs from
almost all other great known erup-
tions in that the immediate damage to
property was almost nothing, and
that, as far as is known. ii was not
the direct and sole cause of the loss
Of single human life. The sparse
settlement Of the district alone was
responsible for this condition"