The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-11-30
ORR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE
MOUNT vEsvvIus,
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE Of THE ArnAlu.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MRMp
The Grand Volcanic Eruption u Is81-"A
Pillar of Cloud by Day and Pillar Of Fire
by Might"
Nxrru. Nov. Is, 1901.
All summer lenL under tba Jbnsing sun, Mount vs-
savius has sssd ssFf and without sign Of life. like
lazy .sner 49, sncap Of earth and ashes The few
vstors who came here after the canonizaon at Rome
in june despite the prevalence OF the cholera were OF
coursc, disappointed at seeing . more hill, In no
respeca differing from other hills whom viewed from
distance. instead Of the smoking, flaming mounts'n
which pictures Of Vesuvus had led them to expect.
Rambling through the ruins OF Pompei and Hercula-
neum, they were unable to realize how such trenen-
dous havoc could havs been caused BY 80 apparently
commonplace IN elevation ~ vesuvius seemet to b.
Even when you assembled the mountain itself, and
the jets Of smoke curling beneath your feet aud f the
heat Of the ashes and smslt the suphuric odor and
looked down the horribly rough. rugged sad ghasty
crater filled with fumes and vapors and suggesting
close connection through subterransan phssagss with
the Internal regions was not easy to reconcile the ap
psarance Of the volcano with what you had read or
heard OF is maanincencs and power Blu. vosuvius
10 flames the earth trsmblss. aAd Of tho most
sublime spscacss ON earth Is presensbc to cur eyes,
All summer long the veteran guido, OF Naples have
limited visitors that eruption va at hand, basng
their predictions upon observations and experiences Of
which the ordinary tourist can know nothing But,
~ usual, these predictions wsN regarded a.
nero traps 70 induce travellers TO stay awhile
longer At this most soonc most va and most enjoyable
lous smiles and shakos Of the head Whom the autumn
came the attention Of the guides and OF every body
su .he Us SarSaa
declared his crusade agaus Roras and tho red shirts
Neopolau lads turned oat 70 follow their leader %
Rome or DEATH" and Fe no,I sleeping forever be-
When the ai-starred .alusads was over fears were
entertained By the government that the returning Carl
baldians and their frienas at pes already dsaected
and whispered about that lazxini was hand to
head the movement In fact, swo or three smeues did
but nothing Serious ana the government had SO
strengthened tie garrison Of the CITY that any rising
short Of general revolt Of the population could DO In
and the people grunbied abou5 Garibalds arrest and
French Intervention and the strangers hurried away to
from SIEGE and nobody thought Of vssuvius. stand
Ing sulkiy n the distance and hardly distingushabs
Last night however as IL jealous of these counter
attractions and tired of its long naction the famous
volcano suddenly burst feGth IN glory OF smoke
and fame Everybody WAS taken by surprise. All
Naples in state Of OF cement. Sgnor Pslmteri,
the superintendent OF the national observatory, who
the spot with his instruments, started At once
in haste for the mountain, to record scientifically
orators formed, or in COURSE OF formation and
the great central crater These new craters are small at
present i've e feet snS Sas ay
slowly youit forth boiling lava The lava now pours
into and upon the central crater when that IS hied
when Poupeii pthered and Hcrculaneum choked
out Of ez:te.so ey 40 eruP,,oa ss sudden Susmrch
and tho mountain proper is abou. twen.yfour
But rom the Up Of tho mountain perc6sd nearly the
centre ntruncaed cone 1eon hundred feet high,
toa Of 1853 the Of this the form Of an
old fashioned tsacup the sides varying IN thickness
sm Ave feet and ss DD
not yet changed this FORM and the new cratsrs have
not greatly modified the interior Of the cone AZ any
moment, however, the demon who groans beneath the
mountain IN his burning bed may transform the whole
exterior OF Vesuvius.
TO observe may be the preliminares OF an immediate
eruption the grandsst possible scale, or may die
months or years Nobody can tell whether scenes
Of azf 1850 and ls5o are 20 be repeated or whether
and serving only 20 dsan visitors At Naples and attract
crowds OF ourists Thus far u presents tho combined
These phenoms ma are not always concdent
Although there were undoubtedly streams Of
is no very accura record of discharge Of liquid lava
unth 1885, Some eruptions have been accompanied by
bses beneath the set Of those who visit the mountain
detonatons he ord, from subterranean cannon,
and the ground treueles g Though y wero about TO
thnga Only when you pass down from the loose ashcs
Of the cone the biacl deso'as belts of asged
tho foot Of this fiery ana uneasy monster, does
the sense Of security return, and evsa then this
Of security is again disumtea when you glance
back at the smoking an rocoect how far the
winds have often carried the fatal ahswers Of mud and
ashes that vesuvius vonits foltN. This s the time
to visit Pompei and to inspect whalAreuans OF Hercu
ancum for In full view, and appar enky preparing for
another ou.bur Is the agency whien destroyed them.
Sodom and Gomorrah wore hardly UeAc wicked than
the other cities OF The plain. Pompch md Herculaneum
certainly not more immoral than sm,dcrr Naples
Has Providence changed HIS plans OF pupis bmsn or is
vice be dealt with In the old wayY
Thinking OF this Scriptura parallel sca us perhaps
the best description that can DO given OF 30
pearancc OF Vcsuvius Tue flames rise Sxo thai pillar
Of fire night aud the smoke curls upw Nvs like that
pillar OF cloud by day which led tho child san OF Israel
through the Wilderness towards the Proms " Lane Az
night, contrasting grandly With the surroun Gag gloom,
OF Gre flashes constantly from the later. Tho
sight so beautiful, bewdsrng, engr, ssinR that
people In the streets at the wndowst or div
ING upon the Chiaja, watching and COMMENT ~ upon
As this letter 10 written early In tho morning catch
the quickest mail the spectacle from my windo,v SUI
psrb. Near vesuvias the sun 70 rising In Wy OF
sky. glowing In tho fow ncecy clouds that ski the
horizon and dancing In thousand prsmalc hues .Son
volcano the thick, black rolls In heavy vouI ~,
though destined 10 darken the day. No flames sreNo
seen 1 the he suns s have as si sso
and leaves only tho cone OF fire visible W
is strange. weird beauty. u ne reports whies
the West Indies be true, and " the meieorc showers
announced by astronomers for last evening were OBJ
fact 20 hand in hand with speculative fancy aud
these Simultaneous natural phenomena In some oompre-
hensvc theory, showing how the operations OF nature
10 one hemisphere are accompanied, supplemented aud
completed by occurrences In another Semisphcre. just
remote portions OF great and intricate machirs arc
aoved bs and depend upon each o.hsr that tnS Eame
convulslon which causes The storm also occasions tno
eruptlong