Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-05-26
without enddrins agony which cOmpels

II Al - - ~ . -So-y "HASA NOAAPOtf
~ a. SCENES IN NAPLES, -
The Mayor of Resins acted with energy
and forethought from the moment that he
heard OF the accident. Having seen to the
medical arrangements that were necessary.
be photographed to the Prefect for troops to
| aid the police In maintaining order. Ma
pies could spare him enough, for it was not
ina mood to require military watching.
/ Of all the contrasts / have ever witnessed
| in actual life, that which the NeapoIitans
| exhibited between Thursday night and
Friday morning was the most asteundipe.
| l had left them half an hour before the ca
tastrophe occurred, when they were draw
ing TO close their third nights ecstasy
over the grandeur of the Moloch, whom to
the last they win admire more than
dread. The flames of the lava, which
were being vomited from the single
crater, had sunk till they appeared like
an aureole on the summit Of the cone.
Every street commanding a view of the
mountain was thronged with spectators. /
did not pass one which was not as silent as
the night itself. If nothing else in the
world can, Vesuvius solennizes the signori
and lazzaroni alike of Naples. It bushes
them into reverence and fills them with in
definite, unutterable terrors. When, after
few hours repose, / HE'D back to the still
crowded streets, in one respect they were
signally changed. The lazzaroni were dis
putting, screaming, jabbering and gesticu-
lating, according to their everyday custom.
1t was only about the new crater at the
Observatory, and the number of the Curtii
who had fallen into the gulf. One authority
insisted that it could not be more than two
hundred; another declared that it was at
least twice that; and third had good
information which made the total
close on one thousand. My own
inquiries among the witnesses, tested
by what has been ascertained by the au-
thorities, induced me to telegraph to you an
estimate of sixty or seventy, and that is the
fguremost commonly believed at present.
l am happy to be able to say with conf
dence that none of our foreign visitors are
among the missing. My first business, on
learning the supposed extent of the mortal
ity, was to visit each of the fourteen Eng
lish and American hotels in Naples. Out
of nearly six hundred strangers at present
occupying them not one failed on Friday
morning. Many had been up at the Oh |
servatory during the previous night, and |
even upon the very site of the new crater, |
but an early return home delivered them |
from an unsuspected danger. Throughout |
Friday CONSERVATION reigned in Naples. The |
first touch of peril had prepared all minds |
to expect the worst. Vesuyius |
gave in various ways sufficient oc- |
casiOn for increased alarm. The booming |
and the rumbling of the underground ar |
tillery sounded as close as if it were be- |
meath our feet. The flow of lava had in |
and two enormous streams were |
rolling toward the sea as if they would |
sweep away half dozen villages in their
course. Windows ratified and the strongest
houses trembled to their foundations. The |
smoke rising from the crater was now min
gled with volumes of sulphurous vapor and !
BACKED by the ashes it carried in its fu-
rious ascent. There was far more danger
in the scori@ than in the lava; for they were
confined to no channel. Scattering them
selves wherever the prevailing winds carried !
them-which was, happily, not in the d.
rection of Naples-they became firebrands /
for the destruction of houses, vineyards,
forests, and every form of combustible
property. On Friday night Naples
was a degree lower in its descent to-
ward AFFECT terror. The Bourse had
been closed all day. No one attempted to
think of anything but the awful noise un-
der foot, and the confagration which was
spreading among the villages lying at the
mercy of the volcano. Poor San Sebastiana
was nearly reduced to ashes, and its twelve
hundred inhabitants had to seek refuge
nearer the coast, whittier the lava and the
ashes were fast following them. After
lightfall, when the volcanic and the artif-
;ial fires got mingled together in a Pluto
man landscape, it was thought in Naples
hat all the towns bordering on the Bay,
oortici, Resina, Tore del Greco, and Tore
lei PAununeiata, were in flames together.
Fhe apprehension was fortunately over
itawn. What deceived us was the glare
If no less than nine craters, all smoking
simultaneously.
A BRIEF ALARM.
This morning we had our last and worst
.larm, but it was of short duration. A
hange of wind brought the clouds of smoke
md ashes drifting across the city. After a
ew hours anxious experience, in which
We had presentiments of the fate of Pom
'eii, the wind mercifuily chopped around
o its former direction; and the salaman-
lrine fog passed on to seaWard. While /
ave been writing, a further improvement
las occurred. The sky is now compare
lively clear, for Vesu7ius has begun to con-
ume his own smOke-at least, he has roll
d himself up in it, and his mighty head
las also checked itself, and there is a partial
ubsidence Of the devils tattoo which has
'een going on below.