Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-06-01

RAMA heavy and soaking rain fell this morn
ing, and still continues. II was greatly needed.
The Grand Eruption OF vesuvius.
A letter dated Naples May 10, gives thrilling
account Of the progress Of the eruption Of Vcsu-
vius, Of which we have already had accounts, and
which was absorbing general attention, the king
ministers, people, and all being on the spot. The
lava has advanced ten miles from its source, and
is doing immense damage. The letter says
"Just at the base of it lake of fire has been
formed which looks like red sea In an undulatory
state. In the very centre of this has opened an
other crater, which Is throwing out red-hot stones
On the morning of the It'll, the crater at the very
summit fired, as it were, too heavy cannonades !;
and after sending forth lightning, flames, and
stones, broke up altogether. In the middle Of
the cone ten craters have been formed, and from
these the lava pours forth like river and runs on
the side Of the Cavallo az far az the Minatore
Here four other craters have been formed, which
throw up bitumen in the manner Of the pyramids,
and resemble gigantic exhibitions Of fireworks.
The whole Of the summit Of the crater ia, there
fore, like sponge, and must inevitably fall in
The thin crust trembles under your feet. You
may see the stones dance with the tremulons
movement. The pert Immediately round the crater
looks like the sides Of a heated copper boiler
Such Ia a true statement of what 10 going on ut
the summit. There are reports Of an opening at
Pompeii, which Is now unlikely, and of another
towards Rpssia, bnt have not been up for some
days, as tn danger is now very great"
The writer after an absence Of two days, revis-
tied after night the vicinity Of the eruption, and
thus describes what he saw
"Where walked on Sunday night was now a
sea Of fire. The side road by which had come
down into the main stream from Polena and Mus
So d Somme was now full OF blackened coke
The houses on the borders of the village had fall
en-; in one, thirty poor people lived. A small
chapel was swallowed up, gentleman's villa, and
sad extent of vineyard and garden ground On
the other side Of the great lava bed another stream
branched off to San Sebastiano. The fire had begun
to enter the burial ground Of the little town, but
was diverted from its course by wall On the
opposite side Of the stream were the king and all
the royal family. The banks on either side were
thronged with curious and anxious multitudes,
whose faces were lighted up with the blaze Of
hundreds Of torches, and with the more resplen-
dent flame Of the rapidly descending lava. Since
the morning il had moved mile. II was like a
vast river Of glowing coke. As II moved on, the
tens of thousands of Jumps rolled and tumbled
grating; and when from the very face of il large
lump fell of, the appearance was that of an iron
furnace when the iron Ia being drawn.
"To make the resemblance more complete, at
such times men darted forward with long poles,
taken from tho neighboring vineyards, and pulled
out great masses of lava, in which they imbedded
money for sale. What struck me at first and still
strikes me as the most majestic feature In the
whole scene, Is the slow, silent irresistible motion
Of that fiery food. Active, almighty power with
out an effort Sweeping everything before IT,
overcoming every obstacle growing up against in
teryening walls or houses, and devouring them
bodily, and then marching on in the same silent
unrelenting, irresistible manner as before. There
was a spot beReath my feet where fall Of mason.
work had been built TO break the violence Of the
winter floods To this spot all eyes were directed.
The fiery river would Gall over II in an hour. As
vet il was distant from it seventy yards, perhaps.
Gradually 1t rose In height, and swelled out its
vast proportions, and then vast masses fell off and
rolled forward; then il sweled again as fresh mat
ter came pressing down behind, and so II broke,
and on II rolled again and again till II had arrived
at the very edge. There was q general buzz and
murmur Of voices. The royal family stood oppo-
site to me, intermingled with the crowd, looking
on with intense anxiety. At last II broke, not
hurriedly, still with a certain show Of majesty.
eat first a few small Jumps fell down then
poured pure liquid Of metal, like thick tres-
Gle, clinging sometimes mass 10 mass, from Its glu-
tinous character, and last Of ALL tumbled over ri.
gantic Jumps Of scori@. Then on Ii moved once
more in Its silent regular course, swelling up and
spreading over the vineyards on either side and
now there was rush for the road which traversee
this aya-bed. Houses and the bridge border the
road, the carriages had all been ordered on, and
the bridge was being broken down--we were cut
of completely. We had therefore 10 retrace our
steps, and make long circuit through the open
country, and over walls came round TO the top Of
the bridge. Run,' said the sentnels, or you win
be too late. We crossed the narrow parapet which
was still remaining, and soon afterwards down went
the whole fabric. In this way, Il n hoped that the
lava will be diverted from the townships of Sebss
tiano, Msssa di Somme, and Pollens, which stand
on either side and have as yet only suffered par.
tally. Cercolo, through which, however, the
stream IL rolling, will be sacrificed. The expecta-
ton Is that the lava should the eruption continue
win flow down TO the Ponte Maddaloni and into
the sea. So grand and no destructive an eruption
has not been known for many years, and even now
we cannot tell how or when Il viii terminate The
mountain IL literally scanned with lava, and many
fear violent explosion as the final scene Of the
tragedy"
ALLEGED CASE OF SEDUcrroS.-During the last
few days much excitement had prevailed at Pitts.
burg, In consequence Of an alleged attempt OF Mr..
Jeremiah McKibben, Of Philadelphia, TO shoot his
brothsrin-law, Mr.. Isaac Craig, Of Allegheny city,
against whom he preferred a serious charge. The
Pittsbnrg Dispatch has the following verson OF the
painful affair:
Mr. Craig a few years aro married a daughter