Daily camera., 1897-08-03
ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS.
It Fulflns an Ancient Prophecy of
St .Januarius.
The City of Naples in the Throes of
Fear in Consequence of the Full
hIlment-HistOry of the
Prophecy.

Ancient Naples, the most picturesque
of cities, of which a poet once wrote:
"See Naples, and die" is in the throes
Of fear, for an ancient prophecy has
come to pass, and Vesuvius is belching
forth fire and birthstone and endanger-
ing the town.
The prophecy in question relates to
the clotted blood of ST. j. -uarius, or
San Gennario, preserved in a. phial in
the chapel bearing the saints name "a
part of the great cathedral built in
1879. Legend has it that whenever
the blood of the saint shall fail to
liquefy on May 1 or on September 10
then viii disaster oNertake Naples.
Since the fourth century after Christ
the miracle has happened twice a year,
but on May l of this year the blood re-
mained thick and coagulated, and ter
ror was aroused in the hearts of the be-
levers.
Scarcely had the news been spread
when Vesuvius began to grumble and
roar in anger, and the worst eruption
since the memorable and disastrous
one of 1872 began. CONSERVATION
reigned in Naples, not so much because
of the eruption, but because of the por-
tend Of the failure of the miracle.
Prayers were said in all the churches,
and Naples is prepared for the worst
that may befall it.
There are a dozen or more saints
named Januarius, but the patron saint
of Naples is the only one who played
a great role in the history of early
Christianity in the kingdom of Naples.
Januarius was the first bishop of Ben
evento in the third century after Christ.
On the outbreak of the anti-Christian
prosecutions under Diocletian and Max
imian he was taken to Nola and ar
raigned before Timotheus, governor Of
Campania. This gentle official ordered
that the bishop be cast into furnace.
Januarius went through the fiery or
deal unscathed. Then Timotheus had
him fed to wild beasts, but the animals
refused to touch him.
Then Timotheus pronounced SEN
tence of death by the sword upon Jan
ltLl luS cilDl w tl OllCc SUI lChCll DlIlhl
The future saint thereupon restored
his sight, and, it is said, converted 5000
who saw the miracle. In gratitude for
this Timotheus had Januarius put to
death with spear. The body Of the
saint was inferred in a crypt in Naples,
and his blood preserved in phial. It
is said that whenever the blood was
brought near the body it would bubble
and that on the two dates mentioned
it would liquefy.
1t is a strange coincidence that Vesu-
vius should depart from it's good be-
havior of the last 25 years, just at a
moment when Naples expected some
terrible happening. And yet, it is only
the expected and the predicted which
has happened-expected because Vesu-
vius is live crater-predicted by the
master of Vesuvius, Luigi Palmieri,
some two years ago.
Palmieri was one of the most re-
markable characters of the century,
and no history of the crater would be
complete without a lengthy reference
to Palmieri, it's master and watcher.
He lived at the very edge of the crater
from 1855 to the time of his death last
September, Al years of constant dan
ger and watchfulness. He was born
in Facchio in 1907, and in 1855 erected
an observatory on Vesuvius, to observe
the action of the crater for the Uni
versity of Naples and to warn the peo-
pie Of impending danger.
So expert did he become and so ac-
customed to the vagaries of the vol
cano that he could predict coming
eruptions or earthquakes for weeks in
advance. With his. electromagnetic
seismograph and his biflar electrome-
ter, both invented by himself he was
able to detect vibrations in the vol
cano's crust that were imperceptible
to even the most sensitive nerves. With
these scientific aids he managed time
and again to save human lives and
property from threatening danger.
During the great eruption of 1872 he
remained at his post although the tenn
pera ture in his observatory rose to 100
degrees and though lava flowed all
around, though red hot cinders and
ashes filled the air. Sixty lives were
lost on that occasion, but Palmieri
stuck to his duty, although half a mil
lion other human beings were panic
stricken and fed before the awful vio
lence of Vesuvius.
A few months after this eruption he
descended into the smoking crater,
where he made measurements showing
that the capacity of the volcano was
20,00O,00o cubic yards and that during
the eruption just passed an equal
amount of molten rock and lava had
been thrown up.-N. Y. Journal.