The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-06-29
By Rene Bdche.

whole upper atmosphere until no
part of it remains unaffected.
In 1912 there occurred on the Alas
kan Peninsula one Of the greatest
volcanic Outbursts on record Mount
Katmai, a peak 1900 feet high, ex-
ploded The noise it made was heard
in juneau, $50 miles away, and across
the mountains at lawson $50 miles
distant Intense darkness, black as
midnight in the daytime, prevailed
ever a vast area, lasting for sixty
hours at Kodiak, 100 miles away. Sui
phurous fumes were distinguished
able in Puget Sound, 1900 miles from
the burning mountain. Dust fell at
juneau and in the Yukon Valley, if
teen miles from Katmai its deposits
were four and half feet deep. All
vegetation was annihilated, and
bears, rabbits, caribou and other animals
went blind.
If the Weather Bureau had known then
what it knows now. it could have predicted
a year at least Of exceptionally cold
weather to follow The eruption occurred
June 6, and. as a matter Of fact. more than
a year of unusually cold weather did fol-
Iow-not only in the United States but in
Europe also.
Following the great volcanic outburst
OF Krakatoa, in 1888, there were two years
of red sunsets all over the world, due to
dust-cloud that enveloped the entire earth
The dust originated from one spot,
Krakatoa. but soon it was distributed by
the winds everywhere throughout the up
per atmospheric levels. And that is what
happens more or less whenever there is a
volcanic outburst anywhere in the world.
Krakatoa was a mountainous island in the
Straits of Sunda, between Java and SUI
matra. but the dust 1t threw up on the
occasion mentioned gave the United States
three cool Summers and three very cold
Winters All over. the earth the tempera-
ture was below normal for that length Of
time.
Krakatoa literally blew itself to pieces.
1t killed 10000 natives dwelling along the
shores of the Straits, in the middle OF
which. in a single night, 1t built up
brand-new mountain twenty-five miles in
circumference and two miles high. The
explosions were so tremendous as TO be
mistaken at a distance of 1000 miles for
cannOnading.
Pelee on the island of Martinique. blew
its head off in 1902 1t was disaster far
greater than that which overwhelmed
Pompeii and Herculaneum, because the
loss of human lives was much greater. 1t
was a much more tremendous Outburst
than that Of Vesuvius in 70 A. D., and the
dust it kicked up kept US cold for year
thereafter
Eighteen ifty-One was the famous year
without a Summer" which some very old
citizens Of this country are still able to re-
member 1t followed the great eruption OF
Mount TumbOro at the east end of Java
which destroyed $4,000 lives. For three
DAYS darkness prevailed over all that
legion 10 a distance of 800 miles. II was
estimated that enough dust was thrown
out TO cover the whole State Of Texas 10
a depth of two feet.
During the year that followed the United
States had snow in every month! For
some reason the heaviest part Of the dust
cloud lowered over America.
The greatest volcanic catastrophe in his
tory occurred in 1888, when Asamayama,
on the main island of Japan, blew up.
The mountain threw great volumes Of dust
to height OF fifty miles, and for years the
atmosphere all over the earth was fOggy
with IL.
Benjamin Franklin wrote; There was