THE SAVAII VOLCANO.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 153, 19 June 1908, Page 3

THE SAVAII VOLCANO.

XKEMEXDULo EUCI'XIuX

lU\EIi OF LAVA JOIOIIT .MILES WIDE

I Xi'Ul-X'EDE.NTED OCTFi/lW

SCENES OF DEVASTATION.

ll'rem New Zealand Herald's Correspondent.)

I Apia, .June 1. I New, has just arrived in Apia that the oiiillow of Java from the volcano on J Savaii has been iinmetisely acceleraU'il, aim probabiy just now' amounts to' 2(1U,0U0 or 3U0,0U0 tons per minute. It is said on good authority that Ui:i stream is nowhere less than Uin. in depth, and in many places lift, or more deep, ami as it covers the whole coastline in one almost continuous sheet some eight miles wide, flowing over the dill's at from two to four miles an hour iu speed, it will not be a very diliimlt matter to figure out, approximately, the enormous output; something probably I far greater than civilisation has ever l.elore been able to record. Whether or not this molten basalt contains any valuable ingredient is ,0 far unknown in Apia. .Mr. Jack London, the American writer, left this port for Savaii about two days before this outbreak was reported, and. doubtless. ] h . na, I just in the nick of time to see it in its lull fury, as the liery avalanche slowly | descended 011 the town of Mat.uito an'.! j Ihe adjacent villages.

The IJ.ll. and l'lg..an.l 11. .1. Moor, were trading in this vicinity, and are now ilemo'.i-liing their stations, removing the goods, and even the materials of which their buildings were constructed. .Most of the native people have cleaved mil or ale on the move.

As the wide liery river drops its molten stone into the ocean immense clouds [of steam ari-c to astonishing heights. and vast columns of sea water are raised by the falling of the lava into the sea, and this salt water, in the shape of a fine rain, is blown by the strong trade winds westward along the coasf. destroying vegetation as it proceed,, and bad.y injuring much property far away to westward of (he activities themselves. Even the roofs of houses covered with I galvanised iron are being corroded.

This volcano commenced business nearly three years ago, and lias not Ih'cii quiescent for a single moment siiifi". In fact, it seems to grow and grow, and long ago it certainly exceeded in magnitude any volcano now active anywhere on the face of the earth, Vesuvius Iwing a mere spoonful as compared with this monster. A previous eruption had taken place in Mill out of an old crater some \~> mile* distant, doing no harm and emitting Inn a small Held of lava, and dying out gradually after operating some six or seven months in a very lazy man-j nor. The present outburst was preceded] liy numerous lively earthquake disturbances, extending chielly along the north side of Savaii, though some of the sever- | est were felt in Apia. Kircs were si-cn rcilccttd in the skies aflcr one of the heaviest shucks, and investigation showed thai in a deep ravine, lolllll't. above I lie sea level and eight miles inland, several openings were entitling sieain and smoke, and that incandescent rocks I

were being expelled from three separate small craters. T»c.,c were building up a cone which soon tilled (lie ravine, overtopped it, and assumed the wellknown form of a true volcano crater, after the various openings had fallen into one another.

During the lirst six or eight months rocks weighing up In several tons wen' thrown skyward, falling in all directions and somelimes ml the top of the itnni'uise lava stream which was llowing out of the side of the conical mountain now in existence. A number of streams slarlrd seaward, and one in the direction of Siifiine became chilled and tillinialely stopped when it was about halfway towards thai charming vijlnge. Several streams coalesced to'eastward, and joining in one vast output they proceeded to liil up valleys and ravines, and overtop the hills-in some places

their filling must be upwards of (il)llft. in depth. Of course all depressions of the surface were followed, just as a stream of water would have done. The sea was reafhed, and live thriving native townships were obliterated altogether.

The town of Halo boasted a lofty Catholic Church—its gable reached ipiile 50fr. alwve the ground —ami at this moment a fragment, the mere peak of the gable, may lie observed above the cooled lava, which surrounded and filled the church. In the course of time the lava Held extended east and west, until now over ten miles of the surface have been covered: anil the sea-line extended about three-quarters of a mile into the water, which w.i- from innft. to Wlift. in depth, and In-day the outpour is far and away greater than at any previous time, l'iflv-four square miles have been covered' for a depth of from lift, to linm't. Occasionally the lava stream would not run more than perhaps Kill yards wide, and then perhaps would be found two or three such si reams; hut to-day the stream secin„ almost continuous and is said to be so eight miles across. Your correspondent passed this How about lien davs ae_o in one of the I'nion Company's'reamers, and he judged thai ii \ias then fullv four mile- wide, lie could barely mde a single break in the falling cascade: but from his position he could not estimate the speed of the current. During former investigations he had found that this wiu usually between two and three miles per iionr when the lava was white hot and well on the incline.

The present kind of flow is not in any degree comparable with the old original | output of I hick lava., which was of the consistency of bakers' dough, and often did not advance more than u few feet per day. The lava now exuding resembles molten iron ill every respect, and even at the sea—some eight miles awav from the crater-it is quite as thin'as good hot furnace iron, and could doubtless be run into moulds just as iron is run. When this thin, white-hot molten matter falls into the sea, it. instantly turns into black sand. Often where the flowing stream is several feet deep it is covered with lloaling rocks of "reater or less dimensions. These, being "in an almost incandescent state, explode with violence when they tumble over the dill's into the sea, and their fragments are frequently thrown back again on to the lava field. I 'The slow-moving, thick lava, covered! I wilh rocks thrown out of the volcano, often advanced at heights of from 1011, to llllft.. and the inovenieiil was barely perceptible, but the present material runs'about in little rills almost like water would do. Occasionally the hot lava stream advances against the Mack, well-cooled basaltic dill's, ami these melt and .imp to pices ..Inm-l as soon as t|„. intense heal strikes I hem. (.ie.it bulwarks of seemingly >"!, d rock d.sintegral.'and drop into the l.ery stream, and are hurried into the sea, which swallows all. For more than half a mile from the shore Hie deep salt water i, in a sleamin« slate, and at a mil- the watei is too hot for the hand to stay longer tliau to note its temperature At a distil... f two miles from shore and where the -real ocean is Ui» fathoms ,!,.,.„. the heal is verv noticeable. ■|V-s volcano is not n-isv at present. ■,s the "real extent, of the crater pcrm;|s th'e unobstructed outilow of (lie ..ases. and rocks are no longer thrown ont as in its earlier stages. 'I here seems to be nosier,, „f this monster gelti„„ any smaller: in fact, it seems to be 'constantly enlarging, ami there is no telling to wl'.al enormous extent it may ,„,„„■,!. I'n.bahly no other volcano within living memory has .liscl.aigccl »n much lava.