Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1883 — NEWS CONDENSED. [ARTICLE]

NEWS CONDENSED.

Telegraphic Summary. 75,000 LIVES LOST. Awful Work ot the Javanese Volcanlo Eruption—The Moat Horrible Catastrophe of the Century. The great volcanic eruption In Java and the adjacent islands overtops in horror all the other calamities of this oalamltoas year, and in its extent is unquestionably one of the most majestic as well as terrible manifestations of Nature known in modern times. London dispatches of the 30th ult. give the following additional details of the awful horror: Further particulars of the great volcanic eruption in,Java which have just reached here from Batavia show that the disaster was even more widespread and disastrous than was reported. At noon Sunday the eruptions and shocks were supposed to have reached their height, but late in the afternoon and in the evening the violence of the disturbance suddenly increased, and the island seemed to be about to be completely burled in fire and sulphurous ashes. At the same time enormous waves began to dash with great force upon the shores, coming in some places far up into the interior, and great chasms opened in the earth and threatened to ingulf a large proportion of ths people and buildings. About midnight the most frightful scene of all took place. Suddenly enormous luminous clouds formed over the Kandang range of mountains which skirt the southeast of the island. This cloud gradually Increased in size until it formed a canopy of lurid redesmd whitish gray over a wide extent of territory. During this time the eruptions increased, and streams of lava poured incessantly down the sides of the mountains into the valleys, sweeping everything before them. Here and there a stream of lava would enter an arm of the sea or come in contact with the water of a river. Then the incandescent lava would suddenly produce boiling heat and rapid vaporization, but the superficial consolidation that almost instantly ensued would prevent any further contact with the water. The fissures that opened in this, their crust, as it solidified on the stream of lava, emitted torrents of vapor extending high in the air and making a tremendous seething sound, as if a thousand locomotive i were simultaneously letting off steam. One of the most singular freaks of the eruption was the carrying in the midst of the molten lava of a bed of solid ice of enormous size which had been emitted from one of the craters. It was carried along by the current and landed on the extremity of point St. Nicholas, at the northeast corner of the island. The bed of ice was surrounded by a thick envelop of sand and scoriae, which are non-conductors of heat. It is supposed this ice had formed the crust of some subterranean lake. About, 2 o'clock on Monday morning the great cloud suddenly broke into small section* and vanished. At the same time frightful* rumblings were heard, and the columns of fire and smoke over the southeast corner of the Island ceased to ascend, while the craters in other parts of Java seemed to open their fiery throats still wider to let ont the greatest quantity of lava, rocks, pumice and ashes yet vomited forth. The hissing of the sea became so loud as to be almost, deafening, The-waves rushed up on the shore* to an unprecedented height, when daylight name it was seen that an enormous tract of land had disappeared^covering an extent ot territory about fifty miles square. This section of the island was not so densely populated as the other portions, and the loss ot life was comparatively small, although it must ha,ve aggregated fully 15,000 souls. The entire Kandang range of mountains, extending along the coast in a scmi-eircle for about sixtyfive miles, had gene out of sight. The waters of ' "Welcome bay, the Sunda. straits, and Pepper bay, on the east end of the Indian ocean, oh the south, had rushed in and formed a sea of turbulent watei-s. The debris of the submerged and destroyed buildings was tossed hither and thither on the water—the only sign left that there bad once been inhabited land there. The town of Tanerang, within twenty-five miles of the city of Batavia, was swept away by a lava streak, and fully half of the population, mostly, Javanese, numbering about 1,800, perished. At Speelwyk, near Point Salols, the redhot rocks set fire to houses and swept away all the thickly-settled portion of the town. The river Jacatra, at the banks of which Batavia is situated, was so completely dammed by lava and debris that Its course was changed. FigelInknig, was almost totally destroyed, and a large number of lives were lost there. The island of Onius, five miles off the mouth of the Targerang river, and twenty miles east of Batavia, was completely inundated. Coataye, Claps and Tronwers islands, off the portion ot Java which disappeared, afe out of sight, and not a vestige of them is left. The aggregate loss of life must be fully 75,000, but the number of those who perished can never, of course, be accurately known. A London dispatch of the 31st ult says that after the sudden subsidence of the disturbance in the kingdom of Bantam, on Monday, the eruptions seemed to lose their force for a time, and the people of Batavia experienced a feeling of relief in the hope that the worst had been passed. The quieter conditions continued until about 10 o’clock, when the craters once more began to send up great masses of destructive matter, although without the force of the former actions. The eruptions seemed to be more violent at night than during the dav. By 11 o’clock the Papandaying, which is 7,034 feet high, was in a very active state of paroxysmal eruption. It was accompanied by detonations said to have been heard many miles away in Sumatra. Three distinct columns of flame were seen to rise from the mountain to a vast height, and its whole surface soon appeared as if covered with fiery lava streams, which spread to great distances on all sides. Ston-.s fell for miles around, and the black fragmentary matter carried into the air caused total darkness. A whirlwind accompanied this eruption, bv which house-roofs, trees and mon and horsos were carried into the air. The quantity of ashes ejected was such as to cover the ground ,and roofs of houses at Dcnam > to the depth of ■several inches. Off Point Caay th? floating pumice on the sea.formed a layer two-feet thick, through whicjMyessels forced their way with ■great The rise of vapor produced the appearance oAHcolumn several thousand feet ihigh, based on*tne edge ot the crater. It appeared from a distance to consist of a mass of innumerable globular clouds ot extreme j whiteness, resembling vast balls of cotton rolling one over the other as they ascended, imipelled by the presence of fresh supplies incessantly urged upward by the continue 1 explosion. At a great height the column ■dilated horizontally, and spread into a dark and turbid circular cloud shaped like an immense unbrella. Forked lightning ot great vividness and beauty continually darted from different parts ot the clouds. Suddenly the scene was changed. The mountain was s> lit into seven parts without a moment’s warning, and where Papandaying had st od alone there were now seven distinct j eiks looming up to ■ a great height. In ths seams cpen°d could ;be seen great balls of molten matter. From the fissures poured clouds ,of steam, and the black ejected 'apillo flowed In steady streams and ran slowly down the .mountain sides, lorming beds 2TO or 300 feet in extent. Exhalations of carbonic-acid gas were so abundant that birds and animals ,in large numbers were killed by it, and a few human beings lost their lives in the same way. This proved to be the turning point in the eruption, for the great fissures opened seemed to act as safety valves through which the streams of lava gently flowed down into the valleys. The volcanic fires, though st. 11 burning at last advices, had lest most of their fierceness, and the steam geneiated found vent without being forced through the comparative narrow mouths of the old craters. One of the queer incidents was the sudden rising during Tuesday forenoon of fourteen new volcanic mountair s in the strait of Sunda, forming a complete chain in almost a straight line between Point St. Nich■olas on the Javanese coast, and Hoga Point, on the coast of Sumatra, almost on the tops of what had been the Merak and Middle Islands, which sank into the sea on Monday. The scene on the island of Java when the sun dawmed yesterday morning was beyond description. The worst horrors seem to have jso far surpassed all comprehension that the .Citizens of Java and surrounding islands are dazed by the magnitude of their misfortunes and are helpless in the lace of the most terrible calamity known to history. The number of the dead seems to be even greater than was at first reported. Indeed, many in Batavia think that the victims will number nearly ux',ooo. The extent of the horror will never be fully known.