Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-06-12
VESUvIUS.
.,,fu1W william on a Renowned Mountain
~" in Italy.

,f,l william on a Renowned Mountain
~" in Italy.
The study of the habits and tempera-
.ont of the volcano at a distance of
ln,o,t ten thousand miles is one that
has always afforded me much pleasure.
IN watching and noting the peculiar
ahonomena of the eruptions l have
Utmost lost sight of its attendant dan
gers.
-ostless till after the eruption. then it
feels better. The first symptoms of All
Eruption are cold feet, bad dreams, bad
hreath. and dark circles around the
n,,ter. This will be followed by an
uncomfortable feeling in the bowels of
the earth and a Tutoring pulse. The
yolcano is then about to erupt, and
.hose who live near had better sell ont
at a sacrifice.
one thousand eight hundred and
c;ohty-four years ago the Roman
oo%ographer and weather crank, Strabo.
smoke of Vesuvius as a burnt mountain;
Int it had not at that time turneditself
wrong side out. Quite a forest grew
where its crater now stands. For fifty
wears Vesuvius had bilious spells, but
kept on drawing its salary without loss
nj time, but in 79 A. ID. it turned itself
loose and tore up the ground a good
deal. Real estate was to an astonishing
height, but became depressed at once.
The south half of the mountain was
ierked loose, as Pliny has it, and
knocked galley-west. This was fol-
lowed by a shower Of hot, wet ashes,
which obliterated Pompeii and Hercu-
laneum. Those towns have been ex-
uumed lately; but, owing to criminal
delay of the authorities in doing so. no
lives we're saved.
These cities are not covered with
lava. Scientists say that tho ruins
were found under a deep layer of vol
canic tufa. I do not know what tufa
is, but presume the term is perfectly
proper and safe to use in good society.
have heard of the tufa c cigar, which is
sold at the rate of tufa five cents, but l
am comparatively ignorant of the gen.
eral appearance of volcanic tufa. This
a Joke that l thought of myself. Times
are SO close this winter that l am
obliged to originate a good many of my
own jokes and to write my own auto
graphs. My amanuensis, who has
stood by me SO long and aided me so
well, has been discharged. Autograph
hunters will notice that my autographs
are not SO good as when l had nv
a~manuensis.
For nearly one thousand years We
suvius then remained in a comatose
state, with only an occasional eruption.
Then for five hundred years it did not
erupt. In 1888, on the shores of the
Gulf of Baia, in the Bay of Naples, a
new and attractive crater was opened.
and the lava was hot when it came
out. Hot lava is not good for food.
1t hardens in the stomach and
taints the breath with the odor of sui
phur.
In 1851 Vesuvius itself again became
intensely irritable and showed signs OF
q morbid desire to erupt. During the
fifteen hundred years of quiet the crater
had been covered over with forests in
tested by the wild boar of Italy and the
tame bore of England. The slopes of
The mountain were cultivated up to the
toot OF the cone, and Sunday school
picnics swarmed over the green swards
at its base.
Suddenly, in the latter part of De-
cember, Vesuvius rose on its hind feet
and painted Rome red. All Southern
Europe and a part of York State was
covered with ashes and debris from the
Internal economy of the volcano.
Many people were killed who had V
previously lost their lives. The way.
|csuvius slung hot mud at the Neapoli-
IAN hordes that fallwas a solemn warn
ing to the puny pushers of putrid poll
tics in the land of the free and the home
of the brave. The beautiful cities of
-Resini and Postici were entirely de-
stroyed, and those Of Tore del Greco
and Tore DELI Annunziata would have
persisted if they had not spread the
names of the towns over themselves
and escaped. A good long name in
Italy is rather to be chosen than great
riches.
About every ten years since the
above date, Vesuvius has been liable to
jar the country and shake down a few
towns, covering the people with stuff
that is entirely useless. The eruption
OF Vesuvius is a fine sight at night.
No doubt that there win always be
more or less apprehension on the part
OF spectators until some American
hustler" puts a damper in the crater
OF 'esuvius, so he "a regulate the
eruption. At present those spasms are
800 irregular and too vehement.-BW
Aye, IN Imgleside.