Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1851-10-17
The Recent Fart hquake in the King
dom of Naples.
LEGATION OF THE U. S. OF AMERICA,
Naples, Aug 26, 1851.
To the Editors Of the Washington Republic !:


Nolture, about 100 miles to the southeast Of Ma
Piles. 1t is a detached and insulated emnence
1000 teetin elevation, rising at the point where
the Appenine chain terminates, on The borders of
the Baslca and Ampua-its slopes and sum-
mits are broken into numerous craters of, the
vitality OF which no record exists but which vet
bear unmistakable evidence oferuptve violence
at some remote period.
The city of Melf, separated from Mount Vol
ture by deep ravine, is built upon the summit
OF hill, the composition OF which is grey lava,
intcrsected by strata of travertine upon layers of
ashes, sand, tufa and decomposed staactcs, all
denotlng the site of an extinct or dormant volca-
no. Previous to the first shock small stream
which runs near the town suddenly disappeared,
and tie shepherds OH the mountain were alarmed
by loud rumbling noises beneath their feet. The
monks of an adjoining convert, admonished by
these phenomena, escaped from their building al
most AT the moment it was rent in twain.
AT the first shock MeIh, which contains TO-
900 inhabitants, was Frustrated in the dust moth
ing out few Crumbling walls surviving the GEN
era ruin. An unknown number of the inhabi-
tants were buried under the falling mass Of fab
RIGS; up to the present moment 700 dead bodies
have zen dlslntered, and others are constantly
being tUund-more than 200 persons lie in an adj
Jaccnt hospital suffering under grevous wounds
while many have been dug out alive from the ru-
ms Among others, a female infant year old,
after lying buried Two days was brought out
living and unframed and restored to its alllct-
mother, widowed by the same calrmity.
The ncighboring towns of Atala Romero,
Barile, and Rapola, are sufferers by the same
CONFUSION. Romero is a general wreck, not a
sound house remalnIng-more than hundred
persons have here persisted and As many have
been MANNED or wounded. In Barile, the only
cditice not entirely destroyed is the orphan asy-
lum while the discovered dead amount to about
one hundred and fifty. In the commune of Ba-
| ri, the towns of Cerato, Mncryno SpinazzoIa,
Andria, and Trani, were all injured more or less
In Canooa the ancient CanosIum, founded by
Doomed and whose walls once enclosed circuit
of sixteen miles, three hundred and seventy-siX
houses were thrown down. At the last reports
the shocks around Mt. NoIure continued and one
half of the city of Nenosa, the ancient Nenu-
sa, containing six thousand nha biiauts, and cell
cbratcd aS the birth place of Horace, was de-
sroyed. The mountain province of the Abruz-
ri and of CaIabrla, where the earthquake of
1888 DESTROYED thrce-hundrCd cities and burned
thirty-thoUsand human beings, have thus far es-
capped.
The recent earthquake commenced with a
sharp conclusion, which was succeeded bv an
undulaturv movement, the first shock being about
sixty seconds in duration. At Meiti there wes
SIX shocks, the first at , ID Z. NJ. the second at
3 the third at i IA, the fourth at 0 P. NJ the
fifth at 3 A. M and the sixth at a. NJ. At my
summer residence in the country, eight miles
from Meiti, the house shook to its foundations
and. such was the vibration, that it was difficult
to descend the staircase. For ten minutes pre-
vious tine house dog howled in most dismal tones
the chickens cack!cd and hurried about as if
h,cing from some anticipated Danger, and par
| of turkeys rose in the air and flew around the
I house screaming as il seized 10y secret terror,
while all the dogs i'll the ncighbnrhood were in
/ full bav No damage was done at La Cava, or
! at Naples beyond slight cracks III old walls.
! All ewes are now turned upon Ncnsuvius, as
/ the satc,v-yalvc through winch the struggling
/ subterrauean fires and steam may hnd a safe vent
and II is generally supposed that an eruption
i, IN niurut, although no local signs are yet APP
parent The whole country, from Naples To Reg
/ 90 and the Straits of MesSina. is Il volcanic re-
zion. forming that great yiaduct of fire which
! flows from ftua and Ne>uviu>, SrcmboIi, in the
/ Iilari group, which las been burning for three
hundred wears before the Christian era down tl
/ tie present time, is one of the csCapc-plp"s o
his field Of submarine and subterrancan comhu>.
ton. but il is inadequate to those great occasions
when the gases of the ovrrcEargcd earth seek a
vent: Ncsuvius or .Etna are alone equal 10 such
emergencies.
1t is a curious fact that the apparently extinct
/ volcanoes often produce the greatest devastation
Nc>uyius Was silent for immemurIal perIoC
down To- A. ID. 10, the date OF the destruction o
lIrrcuIancutn and Pompeii After loag inter.
val OF ,lumNrr, Sount Epomco III lochla buro
ont A. d 1901, and covered the whole island
with driuce OF lava, and \. ID. 1888, Monte
Nuoyo, in the Camp Phlcgraei, in thirty SIN
hours rose from the bowels of the earth TO Il
height OF four hundred aud forty feet, near the
site of and old crater. The Soitaterra, in the
same vicinity, continues to smoke, while the
twentv-siX craters around it, supericlaiIy Judg-
ing are extinct. 1t would be rash prediction
however, to make that they will never return tc
HE. 50 long as the smoke issuing from the Sol
atcrra indicates the existence OF Il bed Of living
fire around their foundations. From The found
alton of this latter crater theory of volcanic
ton NAV be dcduccd, winch, whether Just or not
possesses some plausibdty. From forty To 1T
~ feet below the surface of the Suitatcrra, IN
sinking pits for sulphur, boiling water Is aIWay
found. which heats the sad up To The surface. a.
any one ma" test by collecting a handful ; ans
IN nlso ba, the effect, with the underlying heat
to bod the water IN Jur alum watts SUNK te"
feet in the earth. Steam and >u,, Re are con
stantly issuing from the submits OF the hlls
around the crater. as well as from large cavity
at their base all indicating that the earthly strata
rest upon lake of water. beneath which Is II
cry furnace This probably Is the formation OF
Nc>uvus and all other volcanoes, which II Ii be
the case. may eXplalnt their eruPtlons by the aEen
cy OF these Subierranean waters heated into
steam, aad. when choked or overcharged iron
distant and communicating sources ct como Us
ton. bHrSglne ike boiler, and turlously cNPlod
ING into the ar The superintendent mass ant
their obsIruCting contents. This suppo>ltIun dc
riveS some support from the fact that boiling
water Is always eJected in eruptons.
The less Of he from the earthquake on The
4th uIlimo, il i supposed. will amount to more
than two thousand tive hundred souls Every eli
fort is making by the proper authorities to mti
gate the calamity. ana the government has al
ready contributed len thousand duCai> To the re
lief of the survivors Ii i IL b. hoped that fresh
disasters NAV not arise, but serious aPPrehen, Of
will be felt on the subject unll Lima or Nesu-
yius get into action.
Truly yours,
EDW'D JOY NORRIS.