Little Falls transcript., 1886-07-02


sT55sis
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ans shat, Vas An IS |, aua 81, r,ad
III iti path any 5t,f tha villas I had seem
below. From this point & On to thug
station of the Is F'uniic,Ilar ! Railway sthe
road for tie most time passes between
gray black wa ID of@ lava. the tons 81
which are curled like waves orr or twisted
into capriciio,us spiral forms, and there
forever stilled. Not q floweror blade
ofgrass grows there, excent ia creyices
where dust NAV h,lye fallen and .the
wind has scattered seeds 80 80 S','=s
,rha das,l ) ! 3, ], ~, =
51;,ressiva 10 haho1d nna-saalss @ Is !. ,,;e.t 1
by looking back over ,,l the bluaMpIiter.
ranean and the reddish white .it;es 4
the pl ain. or else he looks ahaad ana
IN to Vesuvi,ls whose terr;hla - ! ;ae
ty now begins to apnear sInnw So
that where the sea 81 laws ends ~, ~
ashes begin. The yanor. which saamad
to curl up peacefully and thinly-from
the standpoint Of Nanles-;s monnt;no
to the sky in q great volume. and
whirling as if in 8 cyclone One imag.
ines roar as that hot steam ,,,shes
from the crater. He sees specks tossed
into the air. These are stones t1nno
aloft two or three hundred feet an1
dropping back into the vawninc nit
to be presently elected again. He has
been told that Vesnvi1,s is a. l;ttla
more active than nsual He can now
readily understand of what fr;chtf,,l
deeds the volcano is canahle wSen in
the maddest humor. Not onlv ali the
little cities near his base. which have
been rebuilt in their childike faith
that they will never again be DESTROY
ed, but proud Naples, which has so
far been spared, are at his mercy.
After I had assembled nv railway to
a nearer view Of the monster and com, NJ
pleted NV acquaintance with him a.
far as it was safe. familiarity d;a Mt
lessen my respect for his power. It
seemed impudently inquisitive. for g.
party of tiny mortals to be throwing
stones into his enormous mouth, pok-
ing canes into his ribs and stirring up
the red fire there, and laughing as the
dense sulphurous fumes rose in our
faces. The guides roasted eggs for US.
and We ate them with a pinch of salt
chucking the shells into the crater.
which answered back with a shower
OF red hot stones. These luckily miss
ed their mark. 1 incline to think
that some Of the fun made by our
company OF visitors was like whistlng
to keep up courage. For l noticed
that the noisest OF them hung hard to
the guides and gave a wide berth to
the craters edge, and looked much
pleased when the signal was given to
return. Just as we started on the
downward path 3Nesuvius made q
noise between q sob and a shrek. and
belched forth a farewell yolley Of
stones, which might have spoiled some
hats and even heads if thev had been
shot accurately.
For the information of those who
have never ascended VesnS;ns but bnne -
to do so some dav ada that tho t,.;'
bv CARRIAGE from Nanlas is thraa anii 4
one-half hours long to the foot of the
Funicu]ar Railway. Thence to the
upper station twelve minutes by a
line much resembling that of Mount
Washington or the Switzerland Riei in
ease and safety. From there to the
top OF the crater is a steep climb OF
fifteen or twenty-five minutes, accord.
ing to the age and wind of the climber.
Persons with weak lungs or shakv leos
or in any respect infirm should rot at.
tempt the latter feat. For them is
provided the chaise.a-Dorteur. Two
strong young fellows carry this like a
bier-their customer sitting composed
" 1unless he OF she is badly scared) in
the chair which IS swung in the mid ddle
of two long poles. The bearers are
like goats in sure-footedness, stre,sssss.::
and agility. 1t is wonderful to see
them pick their way among the huge,
jagged pieces OF smoking lava and up
the steep slope of hot ashes ankle
deep-without slipping. In an hour
one may do reasonable Justice to the
cone and crater, and IN two hours and
a half more be back in Naples.
On mv vav down the mountain 1nof+.
ed bya little spare time to do what most
omit. visited tn. observa-
tory. THIS building is securely plac-
ed on spur OF Vesuvius where the
lava waves parts in it's destructive
course. Here dwell day and night, all
the year around, An p]ished
scientist and an able staff, whose
duty it is to note all the phenomena
of eruptions and earthquakes. In
reality most of the work is done for
them by instruments of almost incon-
del1cacy and precision and
they have only to keep these in per-
feet order. This exquisite automatic
reports everything that
the world wants to know about earth
quakes except their-cause. They
give the direction of the movement,
its speed and intensity and duration.
Though the man who climbs to the
CRATER does not observe the fa;ntnst