New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-31
THE ACTIVITY OF MT. ETNA.
RIVERS OF HOT LAVA WATCHED CALMLY
BY TIE CArANIA PEASANTS.

RIVERS OF HOT LAVA WATCHED CALMLY
BY TIE CArANTA PEASANTS
Naples, July 49,
Etna, which has often spread terror and devas-
tation over the Plain of Catnna. is once more in
eruption. threatening the villages and habitations
on its slope with destruction. The eruption began
Saturday. and after the first day or two seemed
likely 10 subside But the latest accounts state
it IL on the increase. with five craters in O state
Of activity. Each Of them Is throwing ont
tinuous stream Of liquid lava several yards deep
and very wide. which. seen from below, present
the appearance OF rivers Of fire. These newly
opened crater, are daily charging Loud cXplO-
slons occur continually. and at intervals Catania
and the other towns hard By are severely shaken.
In spite Of many obstacles in its path. the prin-
cIpa lava stream IL slowly making it's way down
the mountain slope. Alarmed at it's progress the
authorities have despatched. and 81 impress npon
the inhabitants the wisdom of making their
cape from the approaching food To stay its
progress is beyond the power Of science There In.
however no fear that any such catastrophe as that
which overwhelmed IIcrculuneum and Pompcii
will bciall any Of the many hamlcts which cluster
around Tie mountains base. for Etna is lava
discharging volcano. not one that u rule, vomis
forth stones and ashes. which, mixed with q sim
ultancous eruption of steam. buried the fated
cities around YcSuyus. The lava river. though
death 10 the land over which it crawls, is not
swift destruction. IL may be approached. and
even stabbed day BY day. Ike the vast river OF
molten rock which, In ls5n. flowed for sixty miles
from kilauea. In the Sandwich Islands. until II
leapel in fiery cascades into the sea at Wananali
The mischief Is that nJtbng can survive ito visit
The volcanic ashes form in q year or two the most
ri Ilnf GLANCE
before the bleak. black lava crumbles under the
wind aud weather sufficiently TO form soil on which
the -canti,st crop can root itself Even then the
rock nav not have cooled Eleven months after
an eruption Of vesu1ius the lava was 80 hot thar
q stick thrust iuto Il caught fire. and though seven
years after an eruption OF The same volcano, In
l7sj. lichens were growing on The surface of the
streams the interior was still hot and steaming.
II l. even afilrmcl that the lava which flowed out
Of Etnn in 1885, was visibly smoking IN 1880,
and that cightysev"n years after the great eruption
Of JurillD. In Mexico. vapor could be seen rising
ont If cracks in thc lava streams
The comparative, though 10y no means invarl
able immunity from sudden death which l. one
II the general characteristics Of an Eina eruption.
may account for the apathy with which many
Of thos' who seem "a bc threatened are regarding
the present outburst. Dwcllers on the mountain
subsequently, those on the southern sOpc-ar"
naturally deserving their homes for the open conn-
Try and the towns But, though n broad current
Of rcd-hot lava il now within three miles of
Nicolui, and other streams are courSins toward
the east and west there does not seem 10 be halt
the panic which woud he aroused by the rumor
Of cholera being within days journey. Directly
"Mongibcllo' Is quiesccnt, the runaways VIII re-
turn home. shrug their shoulders nj the sight OF
their blackenel vineyards and burnt mp pastures.
and begin afrcsh 10 build new houses ON the very
site where history and their own experience tell
them is dangerous. Even after the nights become
lnril with the light from the fiery stream. the
peasants display the utmost reluctance 70 depart.
They compromise matters by sleeping in the
fields and invoking all the saints whose names
they recall, only seeking safety in flight when
the lava il almost upon them. Indeed, were it
not for the fatalsm inherent in the dash OF
Saraccnic blood which flows through the Sicili0n's
veins, the country within miles Of the awful
peak. Etnas great mouth would h. "A desolute
A. the Koman Campagna. All round and abont
them the peasants have witness Of The former
ravagcs Of the volcano In CHtana the houses
and churches are bnit with the very material
which has been so frequently its ruin. Ncolosi
seems as If it had been enwrapped in lava
floods, and for miles and miles around. almost
every acre bears evidence Of some Of the hundred
more eruptions that have been recorled
The first recorded eruption took place Is. .. $50,
but long before then the mountain was an object
Of wonder and awe. II deep down in It's in
most receses that the Cyclops were tabled 10 have
erected their FORCES and workshops. Since 1t was
described by Strabo the general aspect of the noun
tain does not appear TO have changed much, but
the many ernptions that have occurred since then
must have greatly altered the entire SURROUNDINGS
From time b. time new craters have been formed
and during the great eruption OF 900 a chasIn
twelve miles long opened in the flank Of the noun
tain. The river OF lava which issued from this
new crater was over two miles broad and not
only encrcsd Monpilieri, but also DESTROYED Bel
passo. a town Of 5000 inhabitants Still moving
onward it flowed through the streets of Mnscalu-
cIa burning everything in its course San Pietro.
Camporofondo. Msterbianco and fourteen other
villages persisted before it reached Catania. At
Albenea, two males from that city. IL undermined
a hill covered with cornhelds and carried IL for
ward, floating until. stayed by the walls Of Ca
tania, the lava accumulated to a height Of sixty
feet. and then, falling in fiery cascade. over
whelmcd that part Of the city. In other places il
overthrow the ramparts and poured through the
streets, never hating until, fifteen miles from the
crater, it ran into the sea. after dcsolating more
than forty square miles Of country. Since that
date there have been many eruptions, but none OF
equal violence. The present outburst was not I'M
vicinity Of Pantelleria and for several months past
there have not been lacking signs that at any
moment q disturbance might be looked for.