DESTRUCTIVE ERUPTIONS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 49, Issue 14955, 5 July 1923, Page 6

DESTRUCTIVE ERUPTIONS.

(Specially written for “Daily Times.”)

The destructive eruption of Mt. Etna, recorded in recent ; cables, has drawn attention to previous upheavals of the mountain and to volcanic outbursts generally, Mt. Etna is, as the map will show, close to the east coast of Sicily, an island dying* to the southwest of Italy. It is an almost circular, flattened cone, measuring,.loo' miles tn circumference at, the-baSG und, rising .to an altitude of 10,750 feet. The mountain is dotted all over with secondary cones of considerable size. 1 Though the lower slopes arh exceptionally fer—Qp wei’6 cutbreak—abovea»he >700.01 feet: mark all is barren. Eruptions of Mt. Etna occur about every fiye.i years, and the most destructive outbreaks were experienced in 1109, 1609, 1693, 1792, 1832, 1865, 1879, 1886;'and 1892, and, of course, the one just recorded. # * *

The Giant Enceladus. In ancient times the eruptions of Mt. Etna were attributed to the giant Enceladus (pronounced En-sel-ad-us). Enceladus was on e of the armed giants •who made war upon the gods. He was slain by Jupiter and buried under Etna. That is, of course, the story according to ancient mythology. But another section of the ancients held that it was Typhoeus (pronounced Ti-fo-iis) who caused upheavals associated with Mt. Etna. Typhoeus was another ancient giant who wished to acquire the sovereign power over gods 'and men, but he was overcome with a thunderbolt from Jupiter, and .was also buried under Mt. Etna. Ancient legend also made it the scene of the myths of Acis and Galatea, Bemeter and Persephone, Polyphemus and the Cyclopes, Acis (A-sis) was a Sicilian shepherd, beloved by the nymph Galatea. He was crushed, through jealousy, under a huge rock by Polyphemus ~ (Pol-i-fe-mus), the Cyclop, and his blood gushing forth from under was changed ‘by the nymph into the river Acis, at the foot of Mt. Etna. The native Sicilians call the mountain “Mongibello. ” * * * *

The Safety Valve. Active volcanoes are the vent tending to make the earth safer than it would probably otherwise be. It is the safety valve whereby the pent-up energy under the crust of the earth escapes. Were it not for the existence -of volcanoes there would be such mighty earthquakes. that the loss of life would be appalling and beyond the power of the human mind to grasp. An eruption is an unmistakable sign that the central fires of the earth are still burning fiercely. The temperature of the earth increases the further we go into the interior. It averages one degree Fahrenheit for every 55 feet of descent. Below two miles, Miss Agnes Clerke has stated, water can only remain liquid through th e compulsion of the overlaying strata, the slightest relaxation of which occasions it to flash explosively into steam; the devastating power of ‘ ‘ super-heated’ ’ water being one of the chief causes of volcanic outbreaks. The pressure at 50 miles beneath the earth’s surface is of inconceivable power, and it is employed in resisting the expansive tendency of heat.

* » * * Earth’s Most Terrible Eruption. The world lias seen some terrible eruptions and earthquakes. The most violent volcanic eruption was that in connection with Krakatoa, , in 1883. Krakatoa is an island situated in the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java, and had, prior to August 27th, ISS3, an area of some 13 square miles. It was an insignificant island, and was practically unknown except to the inhabitants of the surrounding shores. There was no habitation upon th e island, and hardly a geography had any reference to it. The mariner who navigated the Straits of Sunda only knew it as something to avoid unless he desired his craft to meet with disaster. Krakatoa was “unknown and unsung,” but the earth was soon to resound with the boom of the mighty power stored up under the crust of the earth and of which Krakatoa was to be the outlet for some of it. It was believed before 1883—in the dim, bygone ages —that Krakatoa had once been the seat of an active volcano. But for two or three hundred years there had been no record of an eruption; it had been regarded as an volcano. But the monster within was only sleeping; soon he was to awake in an appalling manner, laying death and destruction all around him.

« * * * The First Rumblings. Early in May, 1883, came the first rumblings. There were warning earthquakes; then suddenly Krakatoa burst forth. The most brilliant of spectacles was witnessed. After the first shock of the eruption was over, the people of Btaavia began to look upon the display as an entertainment for their special benefit. Some people even went las far as chartering a steamer and holding a picnic on the island while the pyrotechnic display was in progress. Some even clamoured up the side of Krakatoa. As the weeks went by the eruption became more violent and the noise increased. A darkness hung over the adjoining islands anl seas; then for a hundred miles round the darkness of midnight prevailed in the middle of the day. The people became terror-stricken at the furiousness of the fiery monster. Bight through July the drama held the stage. August came and the days dragged slowly by with increased volcanic activity and terrible earthquakes. •s * * # Doomed to Death. On August 26tli, 1883, thousands of the inhabitants of Sumatra and Java

ETNA AND KRAKATOA.

Terrible Tolls of Life.

were doomed; they would never see the sun set again. Between 5 o’clock and 10 o’clock on the morning of August 27th, there was a series of violent explosions which culminated at the latter hour in an upheaval such as never before recorded in history; a column of steam, pumice, dust, etc., shot up into the air for a distance of 35 miles, the quantity of matter being estimated at over one cubic mile. Three parts of the island were blown up into the air, and the noise was so great that it was heard at the island of Rodriguez, nearly three thousand miles away. The noise was the loudest ever recorded.

Huge waves were created, attaining in places a height of 100 feet, and swept the coasts of Java and Sumatra, wiping out whole towns and taking toll of over 40,000 lives. .The dust from the volcano was shot so far up into the air that it was carried round the earth several times by the fierce hurricanes above, and for two and a half years caused the most wonderful sunsets in various parts of the world. The eruption proved to science that in the upper regions of the atmosphere there is continually raging a disturbance compared with which the worst hurricane wo know on earth is comparative calm. There are many volcanoes in the Dutch East India Islands, there being in Java alone 49 big volcanoes, some of which are over 12,000 feet high.

Vesuvius the Vast. Vesuvius (in Italy, south-east of Naples) is one of the best known and most studied volcanoes in the world. This volcano has taken a terrible toll of life in its time. Everyone is familiar with the devastating eruption in the vear 79, when Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as other towns, were destroyed, with heavy loss of life. . Vesuvius* has many times changed its appearance during eruptions since 79. The upheaval in the latter year was succeeded by others is 203, 472, 512, 685, 993, 1036, 1139, 1500, 1631, and 1660. There were very violent eruptions in 1794, 1822, 1872, and in 1906 when roofs fell in at San Giuseppe through thegreat weight of ashes upon them, killing 80 people) and the village of Ottajano was destroyed. * * * *

Tarawera and Mt. Pelee. In 1886 occurred the terrible Tarawera eruption, as the result of which the pink and white terraces were destroyed. The devastation of Martinique in 1902 is one of the worst eruptions on record. The island showed no symptom of volcanic activity for over 200 years after it was discovered. In 1792 there was an eruption of Mt. Pelee, and violent earthquakes, after which the volcano slept till 1851, when there was a further eruption. From 1889 till 1900 the eruptions gradually increased until on May Bth, 1902, there occurred a terrible* tragedy. Amid eruption and earthquake, thunder, lightning and torrential rain, a huge molten wave of lava rolled down to the sea and in a few minutes the city of St. Pierre, with, approximately 30,000 of its inhabitants was blotted out.

The eruption of another West Indian volcano, La Soufriere, in St. Vincent, in 1902, caused the loss of 2000 lives at St. Vincent.

There have been many other deathdealing eruptions in various parts of the world, but lack of space precludes reference to them. It may be said in conclusion that a great ring of volcanoes encircle the Pacific. —8.1.