Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-08-10
THE MANIAC GUIDE OF {
MOUNT VESUvIUS.
~N~~N~N


1 have in my possession an old cop
per coin, all fused and twisted out of
shape, and every time l look at 1t 1t
causes a SILVER to run through me, as
II suddenly plunging into sea of ice.
Now it is not the manner in which /
came by the coin that occasions this
unpleasant feeling, but the way in
which it became fused and
But here Is the tale, and after perus-
ing 1t you can see If am justified in
the disagreeable feelings caused by the
remembrance of the scene l am about
to describe.
1t was beautiful, calm morning in
August, 1860.
We-that is to say, myself, three
other gentlemen and two guides, six
in all, were slowly clambering up the
rough, uneven sides of Mount Vesu-
vius on our way to explore its era
ter.
No one but those who have been in a
volcanic ravaged region can form the
slightest idea of its desolate, dreary
appearance.
Not a shrub or blade of grass re-
lieves the monotonous extent of black,
broken scoria, which lies in all posi-
lions, resembling somewhat the broken
surface of a storm-lashed sea.
Half way up the view was sublime,
and again and again we would stop
and allow our eyes to wander out over
one of the most beautiful prospects
that l have ever had the pleasure to
behold.
= The bay of Naples gently rippled
and kissed the shore at our feet, the
islands of Capri and Ischilla dotting
its placid bosom, like twin emeralds
in a casket of silver, while further
westward stretched the blue waters Of
the Mediterranean until the mild hori-
zon and it's CLASSY surface were softly
shaded into one by the master hand
of nature; nearer reposes the city,
with its matchless palaces, its tur-
reted towers. While farther inland the
eye could roam for miles and miles
over the fairy-like panorama of vine
yards, villages, fields and villas, I'M
til even it would be dazed by the bril-
liant hues and relieved when again
turned upon the arid waste through
which we were toiling.
AT last we reached the verge of the
crater and looked over.
The sights we saw and the sounds
we heard will never be erased from
my memory.
Looking down into the immense ba-
sin, we could see the smoking, fiery
cone situated in the center, sending up
momentarily discharges of seething
red hot matter.
Our guides Informed us that there
was no danger, but 1t seemed almost
like counting death to venture into
the yawning abyss, which appeared
like the entrance to Dante's Inferno
itself.
But at last, after some hesitation,
we determined to do the mountain"
properly or die in the attempt.
So we commenced the descent And
1t was q descent with a vengeance;
hands and feet were at premium,
and I'm not positive to this day
whether / did not use my teeth.
Crawling here, hanging there, where
a misstep would send you thousand
feet down n shapeless mass, holding
by projecting rocks so hot as to cause
pain, sulphurous smoke and jets of
flame burst out here and there into
your very face, making breathing al
most an impossibility.
Well, at last we reached the bot
tom.
The scene was terrifying.
The ground we stood on trembled
above the awe-like motion of the boil
ing, kissing mass beneath.
Upon getting more accustomed to
the fearful surroundings, we could
distinguish that everything in this
great laboratory Of nature worked
with clock-like precision.
The deep, heavy, piston-like thud of
the immense internal engine could be
heard at regular intervals, and then
from the valve, or more properly
speaking, from the mouth of the cone,
would dart chunks of fiery scoria,
and rise fifty or sixty feet and then
descend, requiring In some cases the
greatest agility i'm avoiding being
crushed to death beneath them.
1t seemed as IL this was the breath
ing spot of all the dragons and mon
sters chronicled In fabulous history.
1 noticed that from the moment we
started one Of the guides took more
than ordinary trouble in poining out
and explaining different things to me,
and 1 mentally determined to double
his fee for his attention. but IL l had
known his object would In all prob
ability have shot him on the spot.
Well, at last we had seen all we
wished and prepared to ascend.
The rest of the party were alrsady
some distance up, and was preparing
70 follow, when my guide said: