Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-08-14
MOUNT VESUVIUS.
f1eaving Out Great Showers of
Molten Lava.
AVOIDING A FALL OF FIERY GRIT.
II Is so feet Higher Now Than It Was
SIX Months Ago-The Funicular
Railway.

Ahe uisPatopeS tellinR VI INC
streams of lava at Vesuvius will cause
no surprise to any one who has visited
the volcano within the last three
months. 1t has been steadily putting
and spouting during that time, heav-
ing out showers of molten lava and
glowing by night until the clouds of
vapor above it took ON the appearance
of rolling flames. Two days before
the recent outpour from break in the
cone the she'll of the old crater trem-
bled from the working of the lava un-
derneath, and the peculiar sounds of
kissing and growing which accom-
panied each small eruption could be
heard two miles away.
Vesuyius is 100 feet higher an it
was six months ago. The constant
showers of porous lava have filled in
one side Of the old hollow crater and
have built up the new cone which,
from its bold outlines. has greatly
changed the appearance of the summit
and is still changing it slightly every
day. Formerly the volcano. as seen
from Naples, had rounded top, but
now 1T comes to wedge point. A
year ago visitors looked into the hollow
of the old and somewhat cooled. off
crater. OF late they have gone inside
the boundaries of the old crater to get
good look at the new cone from the
summit of which, at intervals Of few
minutes, there is gust of steam laden
with red.hot ashes which are sent into
the air 900 feet or more Before the
steam has drifted away there is an
other rumble, a sound of watery ex-
plosion and another shower of ashes.
Thus from distance, in the dag time.
there seems to be constant curl of
white vapor from the summit, but at
night each separate eruption throws
up vivid light. which then fades
away to dull glow.
The natives who live on the slope of
the mountain said that after the new
cone had been built somewhat higher
it would fall in Of it's own weight and
close the present breathing hole. Then
the mountain would be like corked-
up bottle. A new vent would have to
be made, and in the making of this
vent there would be fierce eruption,
an overflow of lava and the formation
of new crater. Apparently the
natives should be Informed, as some
of them had ancestors at Pompeii, and
many remember distinctly the Incl
dents of the fierce eruption Of 1879 by
which the present crater was formed.
There was, indeed. general belief
that the renewed and growing activity
of the volcano would lead to some sort
of eruption. but it was hoped that it
would be nothing more serious than a
flow of lava down over the old and
hardened beds. The outbreak of the
last few days and the flow toward Re-
sina lin the direction of the buried city
of Herculaneum) was, therefore, not
expected.
Going to the top of Vesuvius is no
pleasure trip, especially on warm
summer day. The distance from
Naples to the funicular railway station
is fifteen miles by the winding road
way, which, for large part of the
distance. goes through the dismal beds
of lava. 1t is hard pulling for the
horses, and the carriage wheels grind
slowly on the uphill turns The beg
gars and those officious vagabonds who
style themselves guides or who have
greasy boxes filled with tawdry souve-
pirs flock about the carriage and fol-
low it for miles. They are impudent
and leechlike. Their studied policy is
to annoy and vex and poster the un-
happy travellers until they are paid
something to go away.
Above the beggar line is the region
of lava beds. The road zigZags and
folds upon itself and after an hour of
aimless clim bing the smudge of steam
around the cone seems no nearer than
before. The lava is spread about in
misshapen billows, thrown up in
shaggy Jumps or rolled and twisted into
fantastic draperies, showing all manner
of serpentine lines. 1t has been twenty
three years since the sticky, molten
mass bubbled out from the crater and
spread down the slopes. A few pale
| uOWOio uoW SlOW lioLu uuO uCOpCi
crevices and there may be seen occa-
sionally discouraged tuft Of weeds,
but these cannot relieve the dullness
and deafness of it all. The flow OF
1879 dripped at the edges and sent
out streams far in advance of the
main body. At one place great
stream parted and left a little house
a cluster of trees and patch of garden
untouched in the midst of the desola
ton. This green spot seems like al
island or an oasis.
The large cone is simply heap ot
cinders dignified by size. The ride tt
the foot of the cone consumes fiv'
hours. but it requires only ten minute
to reach the top by the frnicular rail
way. Then there is walk of tel
minutes up the jagged edges of tn