VOLCANIC ACTION
Pacific Ocean Bounded By
Active Volcanoes.
The recent eruption of Mount Vesu
vius, resulting in the loss of 2,000 lives,
ami the destruction wrought still more
recently by the earthquake in California,
make the following from the Nome
Nugget very interesting reading just
now:
Beginning at home, it is related that
in 17!H> a column of smoke was seen to
rise from the Pacific ocean about thirty
miles to the north of Unalaskn. The
ejected materials having raised the
crater above the level of the water,
flames issued from the islet which illu
minated the country for ten miles
around. Six years afterward, when a
few hunters landed on the new island,
they found the soil in some places so
hot that they could not walk upon it.
Repeated ereptions have increased the
dimensions of the island until now it is
several thousand feet in bight and Ite
t ween two and three miles in circum
ference. In the same region is the Vol
canic island of Kliutschcwk, which, it is
said, rises at once from the sea to the
enormous bight of 15,000 feet.
In 178:5, during a terrible eruption of
llecla, a prodigious stream of lava flowed
from a lateral crevice; moving slowly
down the mountain side, it reached a
distance of 50 miles in 42 days; it then
branched into two main streams, the
one running 40 miles and the other 50
miles further toward the sea. Its depth
varied from 000 to 1,000 feet, and its
greatest width was 15 miles.
About a hundred years ago a volcano
appeared in the centre of the great table
land of Mexico, and raised an area of
nearly four square miles 550 feet higher
than it was before, covering it at the
same time with conical hills of various
bights, the highest of which is Jorulla.
In 1772 a great part of the Papanda
vang.a mountain in Java, was swallowed
up. The inhabitants of its declivities
were suddenly alarmed by tremendous
noises in the earth, ami before they had
time to retire the mountain began to
subside and soon disappeared. The area
thus sunk was fifteen miles long and six
broad.
(Hiring or alter tin* stupendous erup
tion of tin* volcano on the Inland of
Krakatoa,in the Straits of Sunda (which
was accompanied hy a destructive earth
quake wave that swept the shores of
Sumatra anil Java , dust and mud were
deposited over an enormous area.
Volcanic action is limited to particular
regions of the earth. In these regions
the active vents are distributed at inter
vals, and are generally arranged in a
linear direction. The l’acitic ocean is
bounded by an alim**t unbroken line of
active volcanoes, beginning in the New
South Shetlands, where there is an act
ive volcano, we |«t*« to Terra del Kuego,
and then on to the Andes, which are
throughoiit their whole course volcanic,
although the great centers «>f the present
action are confined to Chile, IVru, the
Height* »rh**id of tjuito in Ecuador.
Guatemala and Mcitriv Here, turning
southward, the line may Is* traced
through the hurtle Islands, Japan, b*r*
miss, the l*liil»pp»iie«, Moluccas, New
<»uin«a, and the >**b»ino»» and New
klebrnUs group*. to New Zealand. Ir«*m
t rlrbr*. a branch gmrmli in a n«*rtli«
westerly iltm li*>ii through Java anti *u
iiintia to Barren Island in the Bay of
! Bengal; and even beyond this there is a
j region in Northern India subject to
earthquakes, which may lead on the one
hind to the volcanic region in Tartary,
or, on the other, through Asia Minor to
the Greek archipelago, Sicily, and on to
the Canaries and Cape de Verd. Ac
cording to the geological theory, the
lines thus traced over the globe would
represent rising lands, where the crust
is less strong, and so less liable to repress
the expansive powers below. There are
a number of isolated volcanoes also
scattered over the surface of the earth.
The most remarkable of these are Jan
Mayen, in latitude 70 degrees 40 minutes
north, and those in Iceland, in the north,
and Mount Erebus, in the south polar
land, in latitude 77 degrees .12 minutes
south.
Volcanoes may break through any
kind of geological formation. In Au
vergne, in the Miocene perils!, they
burst through the granite and gneissose
plateau of Central France; in the jieriod
of the lower old red sandstone they
pierced Silurian rocks in Scotland; in
the late tertiary and post-tertiary ages
they found their way through the ma
rine strata and formed such huge piles
as Aetna and Vesuvius; on the banks of
the Rhine they have jienetrated some of
tlie older alluvia of the river. In many
instances new volcanoes have appeared
on the sites of old ones. In Scotland
the carboniferous volcanoes have risen
on the sites of those of the red sand
stone. Somtna and Vesuvius, but yes
terday so deadly active, have arisen from
the great Neapolitan plain of marine
tufa.
it is usual l i class volcanoes as active,
dormant and extinct. The active vol
cano can not be mistaken, but in many
eases it is impossible to determine
whether it is distinct or only dormant.
The volcanoes of the Silurian age in
Wales, of the Carboniferous age in Ire
land, of the Permian age in the Hartz,
and of the Miocene age in the Hebrides,
are certainly extinct. Somma, in the
first century of the Christian era, would
have been regarded as an extinct vol
cano; its fires had never have been
know n to have rekindled; its vast crater
was a wilderness of vines and brush
wool, the haunts of the wild boar and
the wolf. Yet in the autumn of A. I*.
7!t half of the wall of the crater was
blown out by a series of terrific explo
sions, the present Vesuvius was formed,
and the cities of Pompeii and Hercula
neum were buried. From that day to
the present the volcano has been active.
Among the phenomena of volcanic
action may be mentioned the abundant
discharge of water. The volcanoes of
South America often throw up great
nuantities of dead fish, which seems to
indicate a connection with the ocean.
There is a volcano in tiiiatamela that
throws out nothing but water. In one
of the volcanoes of Java there is a hot,
steaming lake of acid water.
Volcanic action may l>e either con
stant or |* riodic. Mromboli, in the
Mediterranean, ha- lieen uninterruptedly
emitting hot atones, steam anti lava
from the dawn of history. Other con
stant volcano* - are know u in the Moluc
cas and Friendly 1-land-. The cone of
Smguay, in tpiito, |<er|s-tuully give- off
hot vapors, and t'otopusi, in Mexico, is
constantly active. Ity an eruption of
tin volcano of t oiiseguina, in Nicaragua,
in Ikfi, ashes fell so thickly that Hi
miles from the mountains they covered
tlie ground to a depth of ten feet, and it
was estimated that the rain of >111*1 ami
sand fell over an area of J7lt geographi
cal miles in diameter,
• tn several occasions as ties from Ice
S. E. HEETER.
HARRY RURRUSS.
HEETER &BURRU8S,
FREIGHTERSand PACKERS
Freighting and Packing to and from all Creeks.
Good Equipments and Service Unexcelled
UUULOJLBJULOJLOJLfiJLSLajULSLSUUL!ULOJL8JUUU^^
lam lie volcanoes have fallen so thickly
between the Orkney and Shetland
islands that vessels there at sea have
had the strange deposits shoveled off
their decks. In 17815 Skaptar-Joknll
ejected so much tine dust that the at
mosphere of all Iceland was loaded with
it for months afterward. It fell in such
quantities over Cathness, a distance of
<500 miles, as to destroy the crops, and
that period is still remembered in Scot
land as “the year of the ashes.”
A lava stream thrown out by Manna
Loa, Hawaii, in 1852, went as fast as an
ordinary stage coach, or fifteen miles in
two hours.
There are also many remarkable dis
charges of gases from the earth which
seem to come from volcanic action. The
most remarkable of these is in Java,
known as the Valley of Death. There
is a deep, liosky hollow, in which from
one small space on the bottom carbonic
acid gas issues so copiously as to form
the lower stratum of the atmosphere.
Animals enticed by the seclusion and
shelter of the spot pass in and are suffo
cated. This is the place that was long
known as the Valley of the Bohon Upas,
ami the poison was supposed to come
from a tree called by that name, and
hence the term “the deadly upas tree.”
In Alaska there are a number of vol
canoes, more or less active, among them
being Mount St. Elias and Mount Shi
shaldin. In 1903 volcanic dust from
Mount St. Elias, probably, was scattered
over a large area.
The eruption of Mount l’eelee, Marti
nique, and the destruction of the city of
St. I’ierre and thousands of people, is so
recent that it need not be mentioned
here.
MINING MIXUP
ON ESTHER GREEK
From the Tamina Teller.
The struck* for supremacy to title of
the lieiiche** on the right limit ‘»t’ Hither
creek ha* Ugmi hy the tiling «>l a suit
against (,’larence Berry, Charles llanlin,
M. Bigler, Janies OhltieM, tin.** Connnl,
Teihly Bloom, II. V. Hogartl, T. Jones,
tin?* Wheeler, l.ouk B. Clark, Hugh
Price, Charles Pyne, Neil Sorreson,
t ’harles Fisher, .1. A Jesseii, .1.1’. \ oting,
.1. T Keiitter, Patrick A. Conroy, K. It.
Jesseti, John MihaNic, Joe Fgler, C. II
Higgins. Alex Stout. Tugenlierg, J. Mix,
F Mrlainghlin, K. I*. Allanl. Charles
Sloan. Jack liavi*, et al., hy II. Atalrak,
I h/aU th Atalrak, B. ••r«»lf, M C I a*on
ar«l, F. Bahhler, William la»r*»* n, W K.
Cantrell, I.. J. Steven**, J. F Johnson
an*l Ann Urwii.
In tin* complaint Ale*I the plaintiff*
claim that they ha*I obtain**!, hy proper
•taking, a lust i* kn*»an a* the Atalrak
a*MM«eiatn*n claim, **n March l\ t‘H\
comprising l*ki acre**, Hill feet a ale. »»t*
RECEPTION
...SALOON...
S. E. HEETER, BOB SCHABER,
Proprietor Manager
Wines, Liquors and
GOOD Cigars....
....Billiard and Pool Rooms
Barber Chair in the House.
' St Uouis
XBC
and Seattle
Ranier Beers
OLD VALLEY WHISKY
The Only Stock.
MIXED DRINKS
Our Specialty
p()L'ND. Lartre plain {fold rinjr. with ini
^ tials. Inquire Yukon Valley News.
the first tier, right limit, running from
No. In to 7b, and the defendants are to
show cause for their claim to the above
property
For some time past on the different
claims mentioned in the complaint men
have been at work sinking shafts. The
association, it seems, has never made
any effort to prospect the ground or do
assessment work, and last Friday Henry
Andrak attempted to work the ground
where Mr. Kerry bad men at work sink
ing. Mr. Kerry notified Andrak to leave,
ami refusing, the men proceeded to re
move bis tools, etc., across the line of
the claim. This list up to a heated dis
cussion «hirli ended in a row in which
fists were used freely. Andrak then*
tl|s>n bad Mr. Kerry and tins Conrad
cited to ap|»-ur on a charge of assault
Commissioner Carr, in passing sentence,
said that to |>u** lightly over the present
case meant tlutt miners would sa*m try
to settle tlu-ir mining disputes ami titles
with guns instead of in the court*. He
was also sorry to imp*,, ri11«■ on Mr.
Kerry, who had proven himself a valua
ble riltcen and resklent of tile district,
but the only course o|*-t> to him was to
ini|s>» a Mne of flW *>n Mr Kerry ami
N"n Mr Conrad.