Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-10-01
NAPLES IN DANGER FROM vESUvIUs
Fiery Streams OF Molten Lava Creep.
ing Toward the Doomed

ING Toward the DOoiffu
City.
Naples, Sept. 2e~.-Vesuvius, after q
long rest, is once more belchlng smoke
and flames and lava. Where the pres
ent series Of eruptions will end none
can tell, but many residents here pro-
fess to fear the destruction of Naples,
though for the most part they are
cheerful and laughing, as were their
ancestors of Pompeii and Herculan-
cum just before they were eternally
buried.
A panic prevails at Tore del Greco,
which is on the coast, three miles
south of Eeseina. This town has q
population of $4,000 happy go lucky
Italians, whose greatest industry is
selling relies, guiding travellers, tell
ing lies TO Americans and selling
wines. So great was the terror at
Tore del Greco that Cardinal Frisco,
the archbishop Of Naples, proceeded
10 that town with a large body OF
clergy and celebrated a special open
air service and offered up prayers, IN
which he implorcd the Almighty to
cause "A cessation of the eruption OF
Nesuvius. Thirty thousand persons at
tended the services. They came from
the entire Nesu,ian territory. lm-
mediately after the conclusion OF the
beautiful and impressive ceremony
there seemed TO be- Il diminution in the
flow Of lava or the Inhabitants so be-
lievcd, and the.e was great rejoicing.
At all the churches special prayers are
being daily offered up.
Destruction Predicted.
The oldest inhabitants have alarmed
the people by announcing that the
town rs in great danger Of destruction.
And, indeed, one of the lava streams is
certainly flowing i'm that direction.
Nor would il be a new thing for lava
TO flow in the streets Of Tore del
Greco. The town vas almost wiped
out i'm 1861 and twice in the eighteenth
century the lava crossed the town linn
It's. In 1857 il suffered from one OF the
earthquakes that are a part OF the
volcanoes diabolical performance. The
eruption OF 1861 deluged the town
with burning ashes and caused thous-
ands Of dollars in damage. But the
people smiled and said it was part of
llltl ldlt az ' 'ouNi "ii anu wv" ~
rebuilt and bothered very little there
after about the pail Of black smoke
hanging over them. But they are ter
rified now and are preparing to fee.
Ncsuvian mothers i'm Tore del Greco
put their babes TO bed with more fer
vent prayers than usual and with an
anxious glance at the crater, from
which roll dense clouds of black
smoke, the lower edges of which are
stained with the blood-red reflection
of the molten stuff boiling in the
CauldrOn below. There are watchmen
posted ON the hills by which the lava
must flow, ready TO give the alarm.
Science has added to the security of
the Nesuvians by giving them the tel
cgraph and telephone. II this town Is
20 be destroyed there need be 10 loss
of life if the people will only leave in
time, but familiarity with danger has
made the Nesuvians incredulous and
often it is too late before they start.
That was the case at I~lcrcuIaneum
and Pompcii, where no lives need have
been sacrificed.
Moving Molten Mas.
The largest Of the lava streams is
$50 feet wide, or about the width OF
three city block in New York, and
about fifty feet high. 1t advances like
Il huge serpent at the rate of eleven
feet an hour. The bulk Of this lava is
enormous. Its frontage is as much
! both in height and width as three
| blocks in a small American city. II is
headed i'm the direction of the sea. IL
moves steadily onward with n me-
chanical regularity that is appalling.
The extent of its journey must depend
on the mass of lava that Nesuvius
vomits. If the output stops then must
the fiery river cease to roar, but rs
long as the thousands of tons of mol
ten rock pour from the crater must
the stream push its way onward, leav-
ing no one can say how much havoc in
its path.
The red hot RIVER proceeds with an
awful roar. IL is a dull purple by day,
the hot lava cooling rapidly on the
surface. AS il splits up in moving the
red hot mass is revealed here and
there. by night the lava has a differ
emf color. the red showing clear
through the cooled surface. 1t is of
an angry blood color. II lights up the
country for twenty miles around. 1t
is so hot, this burning river, that one
cannot go nearer thar twenty feet TO
it and even at this distance the heat is
almost unbearahlc. II is a favOrite
trick Of the Ncsuvian guides to place
small coins in the lava and give the
tourist the impression that they have
made them. This is not Il very danger
Gus feat if deftly done. An English
man named Pearson, who tried to get
q print of a five-franc piece by placing
II in the molten ,tonc, severely burned
his right arm.
But the point that interests the We
luvian most is the question of where
,he deadly river will halt. There are
three lava streams descending re-
ipcctiycly toward the villages of Vet
crana and CroCclle and the town OF
Resina. The last named is seriously
threatened. 1t is a place OF 10000 in
habitants, directly on the coast and
five miles southeast of Naples. 1t is
almost on the site of ancient Hercu.
lancum and il is built upon lava. 10
has not been seriously hurt by We.
Guvius since 1851, when n violent erup.
ton wrought much havoc there. 1t is
q place where many Americans visit
while exploring the Herculaneum eX-
:ayations.