I'liMto l.y l.iciil. .1. i'.ilai 



A FLASHLIGHT VIEW TAKEN UNDER THE OPEN SKY AT NOON, SHOWING ASH-COVERED 

 CHART BOARD OE THE "MANNING," JUNE 8, I912 — lOO MILES FROM VOLCANO 



"The darkness was intense, and the ash so thick in the air that bright lights failed to 

 penetrate it for more than a few feet. It is said that a lighted lantern held at arm's length 

 could harely be seen, and that the searchlight of the Manning failed to penetrate farther 

 than the liow of the ship" (see page 156). 



couver Island and Puget Sound. 1.500 

 miles away. 



In the violence of the explosion, in the 

 quantity of material thrown out, and in 

 the distance to which the ejected material 

 and sound waves were carried, this was 

 certainly among the greatest eruptions 

 witnessed by man. It differs, however, 

 from almost all other known great erup- 

 tions in that the immediate damage to 

 property was almost nothing, and that, 

 as far as known, it was not the direct 

 and sole cause of the loss of a single 

 human life. 



now THE NEWS CAME 



The stories which came by wire from 

 the towns along the Alaska coast at this 

 time told of an eruption of the first mag- 

 nitude somewhere to the westward. 

 These towns heard the explosion, felt the 

 earth tremble, and saw the air clouded 

 with dust brought in on the west wind. 

 Still no authentic news came as to the 



exact origin of the disturbance. The 

 volcano proclaimed its own news for a 

 thousand miles down the coast, yet si- 

 lenced the wireless by which the .Vlaska 

 Peninsula and Kodiak Island were ordi- 

 narily in communication with the world. 



The first detailed and authentic news 

 came when the little old mail steamer 

 Dora, notorious partaker in many a wild 

 Alaskan episode, returned to Seward 

 from her monthly Aleutian pilgrimage 

 with her decks smeared with ashes and 

 reported witnessing the outl)reak from a 

 near-by point and running out to sea in 

 24 hours of darkness and ashes. The 

 Dora had been unable to reach Kodiak 

 in the darkness caused by the volcanic 

 cloud (see page 154). 



It is highlv probable that other vents 

 in the vicinity of Mount Katmai had 

 been steaming profusely throughout the 

 summer, and they may at times have 

 been in a moderate state of eruption, but 

 all the available evidence indicates that 



133 



