Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1868-01-18


= is fathera curious ooipcid idencs, thatthe first
distinotsevide. ses Of volcanic action wore ocr-
ceptible on the night of tho meteoric display
which fact might lead to tho suppostion that
between that celestial and this terrestrial pho
nomenon there was some subtle, Incompetent
siple affinity. hother this hypothesis is cor.
rector not, isa matter for abstruso speculation;
tho fact remains that tho presen. eruption has
boon o crcscendo movement, which com.
menced with low, indistinot rumbliug about
the On middle Ole of November, and gradually the
suoterranean thunders increased in sonorous
volume to its present pitchof power, and now
the grain valleys of Atrio del Cavalc GLOW
with fierce subtorranean frcs, and tho coue of
the mountain bears its sparkling heaps of red
not shingle and luminous sheets of sulphu.
rous fires
Recent correspondents have described tho
inciplent stages Of this phenomenon as ndi-
eating an eruption Of lesser magnitude than
that of 1853, for there was no suoh stream of
lava as was then poured out Of the mountain
side In this. the fire is high in air, glowing
rcdly against tho sky, with very little rcaco-
ted back from above, but with cloud Of
smoke that trcmblcs with intense heat hang.
ing over the crater. More than this, there
are showers of stones which have more re-
semblance to what was hurled forth in the
earlier cruptions than to tho phenomenon of
few years ago. Such showers make il
dangerous to .pproach the edge Of tho crater,
even GU the South side, toward pompcii,
where 20 lava is descending but they add to
the grandeur of the scene, and, after all, a
reasonable visitor may be content to gaze u,
ward from the Atrio del Cavallo, or to scram
bic short distance only upon the hot and
shifting scoria of the cone.
In past eruptions, the earthquakes have
come before the stones and lava were dis
charged whilst Vcsuvlus was struggling with
reprossed volumes of gas, and now that out
ward action has begun, tho greatest danger of
volcanic regions is temporarily over; yet, not.
withstanding, the present eruption may be
one of terrific power and appalling splcndor.
This mountain is often spoken of by ancient
Roman writer's without aluson 70 its volcan.
ic character; and that such had always been
its nature, was only Inferred from the igneous
character of its rocks, as observed by Strab-
DO. Dcodorus Sicolus remarks that it had
"many signs of having been burning in an.
cicnt times" Its first recorded eruption oc.
Cured in the month of August, A. d. 70,
and it was during this that the cities of Pom
peii and Hcrculaneum, were buried beneath
the scori~ and ashes, the quantities Of which
it elected far exceeded the bulk Of the noun
tain. In the eruption of l066, the FIRST flow
of lava occurred. The total number of its
great eruptions dowp to the present time has
been about sixty, some of who'll have been
chiefly remarkable for the vast movement ia.
king place in short time. Between 1906
aud 1o31, no eruption occurred except slight
one in 1900.
The eruption of 1851 was accompanied
with great currents of lava, which flowed over
most of tho villages at it's base, aud at the
same time torrents of boiling water were sent
forth. That Of 1779 was grand and terrible;
white sulphurous smoke, like heaps of cotton,
rose up in piles four times as high as the
mountain, and spread about it to q proportion.
al extent and m,ssos of rock wore projected
to height of at least 1000 feet, In the
terrible eruption of juno, 1904, in which the
town of Tarre del Greco was destroyed q
single stream of lava was estimated as con.
tanning more than 4G,00O,000 square feot.-
In 1922, tho whole top of the mountain WAS
broken up, forming an elliptical chasm three
miles in circumference and 1000 feet deep.
In May, 1858, tho flood of lava destroyed the
village of Cercolo. An eruption occurred in
June, 1853, another in August, 1850, and
one of great violence in December, 1851
The oonvulsion in the last continued for sew
cral days, and ovon up to January i, 1862,
the trembling Of the earth had not ccAsed, and
cxhalations of gas in the streets of Tarre del
Greco, which had been rendered inhabitablc,
were so strong as to be almost insuaerablc.
The effect of this eruption has beon to n,atcri.
ally alter the shape Of Vcsuvius, and before
tho present convulsions the old era tor has
been dcopened, and ten now comes produced.
Wealth and Poverty.
STORY FOR THANKsdlvINu