New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-05-24

Kew m Eruption of vesuvius Looks.
correspondent of the Pail Mall Gazede,
hhng from Mount vesuvius, April 4, gives
be following unusually clear and interest
e account of one of the explosive exhibi,
Ons Of that famous mountain;
We had heard several explosions as we
sne up the mountain, and had seen an &C.
hglonal shower of sparks thrown up above
Il little crater; and these gradually in
#rssed until we had taken our stand as
sscribed. Then for more than two hours
III hill above US continued to shoot forth
almost constant succession Of explosions
brilliant burning stones. ! hardly like
use the comparison, but don't think
IN give better idea of it than by saying
Bat each explosion was like vast girandole
rockets, only that there was more speed
bout it and more variety, owing to the
Fprent sizes of the stones shot out, and
1has there was more intense light at the
b. outburst than in the case of rockets.
lame there certainly was none-this we
bserved carefully, though the trails OF the
hoOting stones, and the illuminated vapor,
iEht almost excuse the word. The noise
n The discharges was not a bang, it was a
EVading sound, almost exactly resembling
{ waves on a beach and wind blowing
fOugh shrouds. II varied in intensity,
lt was nearly continuous and of the char
ter mentioned. The mountain trembled
reptibly enough during the whole of our
y.
his impossible for me to calculate exactly,
Nj Judged there were from 1000 to 1900
aAes in each great discharge, and there
IN often az many as eight or ten dis
iarges in a minute. The majority of the
ones were small-the largest say as large
two bricks end to end. The large ones
cstly fell back into the crater, but the
ball ones being thrown higher and more
bed on by the wind, fell in Immense num-
en- on the leeWald slope of the small crater,
ID on the same side Of the great cone be-
nd. To my mind this was a spectacle
fdly less striking than the discharges
emselves; at any rate 1t was quite new to
e. have heard it said that the cone be-
Ames "red hot D under such discharges.
Etthis is not an accurate description of
bat ! saw. - Red is not the word, but
goldcn;n and the cone was not covered
sen by these copious showers The sight
rs far more beautiful than If It had been
The crowd of golden spots on the
I'D black surfaee-the small ones gen
nlly resting where they fell, while the
be ones rolled through them down the
be, and the constant change as shower
ler shower descended made variegated
4 beautiful spectacle such as was Of itself
one worth the ascent. 1t formed won
dul pedestal to the explosions which sur
ounted it, and which were naturally the
eat attraction. could not calculate the
lgbt 10 which some of the small stones
HeNSrown, but it was very great. There
= generally one which went far higher
an all the rest, and pierced upward
ward the moon, who looked calmly down
tking such vain attempts to reach her.
larger pieces were, with rare exceptions,
thrown so high; indeed many of them
" Just appeared over the rim of the cone,
Oge which they came floating leisurely up
show their brilliant forms and intense
INC Light for 3 second, and then subside
aa Into the abyss,