Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-05-12
YESUYIUS.

in diameter and five hundred feet
deep. The composition Of NesuviUs Is
almost entirely Of lava and seOrisa. The
famous wine L~GehTymg0 Christ is raised
on its sides.
The earliast eTuptions Of this celebra-
ted volcano are lost in remote antiquity,
and no symptoms Of its activity had
been evinced within the memory Of man
till A. ID. Is, when an earthquake dam
aged many Of the surrounding cities.
In 70 il again began to show symptoms
Of activity, and Immediately thereafter
it sent forth the terrible shower of SEQ
rie and ashes which destroyed almost
instautaneOusly the cities Of Herculane-
Um, POmpeii and Stabie, situated from
it within an area of five or six miles.
In this eruption the elder Piiny persisted.
A graphical description Of it Is extaDt in
a letter written BY the younger Pliny TO
Tacitus.
A succession of eruptiOns followed.
more especially in the years 203, Az,
512, and 993, but We're not attended by
any flow of lava, the elected matter con-
sisting apparently only Of stones, ashes,
OF volcanic sand and fragments Of older
lava. The first recorded discharge Of
liquid lava took place in 1895. Since
then some sixty eTuptions, some oftlem
extremely violent, have MOccurred.
Among others may be specified those Of
1881, 1873, 1874, IS22, 1855, 1875, 1855,
and one Of great violence in December,
1851, which prevailed with mol OF less
activity until the beginning Of 1852.
THE ERUPTION OF 1881
was accompanied with great currents Of
lava, which flowed over most Of the
villages at its base, and at the same
time torrents of boiling water were sent
forth The eruption of I779 is described
by Sir William Hamilton as amOng the
grandest and most terrible Of those phe-
nOmena. White sulphUTOUs smoke.
like heaps of cotton, rose up in piles
four times as high a the mountain, and
spread about to a proportional extent.
Into these clouds stones, scOrie and
ashes We're projected to the height of
two thousand feet. On subsequent days
columns of fire shot forth to full three
times the hight of the mountain. Vast
masses of rock were projected out Of the
crater, Of which measured one hun
dred and eight feet incircumferenCe and
seventeen feet in height.
In June, I794, the town of Tore del
Greco (mentiOnedi in the days dispatches
IL LL&hAAZ NEEn aLLLNNElNEu nA It's lUANal-
itantsl was destroyed by another terri
bic eruption. A single stream Of lava
which issued from the volcano on this
occasion was estimated to contain more
than fOFty-six million cubic feet. \
vent opened near the bottom of the
mountain, two thousand three hundred
and seventy-fve feet in length and two
hundred and thirty-seven feet in
breadth, which became filed with lava.
In May, 1855, the floods Of lava de
strOyed the village of CercOiO, and elev-
en- N were produced, from all of
which floods Of lava issued.
THE ERUPTION OF DECEMBER, 1861,
attended with 4 great agitation Of
the volcano The disturbance COM
menced with trembliHgs Of the ground
in the morning, and in the afternoon a
opening was made in the ground
a little above Tore del Greco, about one
the way up the mountain, which
was soon followed by others, from all of
which proceeded terrific explosions and
jets of flame. Streams of lava DOured
forth, and in a few hours time lava was
flowing in a current half a mile broad.
The town of Tore del Greco. which
contained about TWENTY-FIVE thousand
inhabitants, was threatened with rapid
destruction both from the flow of lava
md the tremblings of the earth. Grew
were opened in the street sufficient
70 interrupt the passage Of carriages,
the walls Of the houses were rent
their roofs opened in wide clefts.
The people hastily deserted the town.
quarter Of a mile only up the noun
ain the broad stream of lava wa slowly
down in a semi-nuid stream
bout twenty-five feet in depth, reach
ng to the roofs of the houses, which It
'ngulfed- Fine black dust was carried
with the matter elected, and driven
y the North wind over the bay. over
lung the whole surface in a dark cloud.
t covered the roads several inchesdeep.
nd Oh the houses in Tore del Greco it
accumulated to the depth of tour and a
lalf inches, and its appearance was
cry sensible Over the ground At Capri
nd SaleTnO.
THE EXPLOSIONS,
Ike the sound Of heavy artillery. con-
inUed till toward evening. and at night
we're succeeded By the most brilliant
of electric lights, fOrked light
and columns of fire and smoke
OntinUally rising from the crater The
oncussiOn lasted from December S
o January 1, 1852, and even at the lat
pr date the tremblings of the earth had
Ot ceased, and exhalatiOns of gasin the
treets of Tore del Greece and near the
were 50 strong rs to be almost insult
The effect of this eruption was
, materially alter the shape of Vesu-
ius, and il is stated that the old crater
'as deDened, and that ten new ones
produced
The incredible force with which the
elects ashes and stones NAV be
nderstOOd from the fact that the ashes
arried into the upper atmosphere have
transported to COnstantinODle,
nd ever to Egypt and Syria.
Like the other towns and villages
lentiOned in the current dispatches as
danger from the present eruption of
'esuvius, Tore del Greco is situated at
ne foot of the mountain, seven miles
ON Naples. The railroad from Naples
, NOeera passes by it. The population
l 1870 was thirteen thousand. It Is we4I
uilt of the lava which buried the larger
art Of the previous town in the eruption
June, 1894. 1t has many handsome
illas with gardens, a collegiate church,
Onvents, and an extensive hospital.
IS vicinity is famous for wine and
uit.
Resina, also threatened, is a market
Of Naples, and is situated at the
rest foot Of Mount Vesuvius. Its
ltiOn is about ten thousand. and If is
1ilt over the ruins of Hereulaueum
CISCO Trecase is situated on the southern
Of the mountain. Its DOpuIa-
on is eight thousand five hundred. and
has s. royal mandatory of arms and
lnpowder- The villages reported des-
Dyed are Of minor Importance.
Rev. F.. ID. Maurice, who for thirty
ars or more has haaD rrop,ina,F =