The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-06-10

cracked open, so that the subterranean
fires were seen belching forth. On
either side of this wall Of flames the
waters Of the strait were pouring with
a tremendous kissing sound
IKE twin cataractss and it was into this
abyss that the fishing boats were dis
appearing, even as I looked.
The sight was such an extraordi-
nary one that il took away the power
OF reason Then in a moment
while my eyes were turned came an
Immense deafening explosion, greater
than any we had yet heard. 1t stunned
me and it was a minute or two before
realized that when once more turned
my eyes toward the bay I could see
nothing. Darkness had instantly
shrouded the world Through this
darkness, made horrible by distant
cries of agony, the falling of heavy
bodies, the creaking disruption of
masses Of brick and timber, and, most
omlnous of all. the crashing breakers
of the ocean could be heard The city
OF AMER with all its co. 600 people. had
been biOtted out. and if any living be-
ing save myself remained, I did not
find it out then The awful
surge terrified me. Mechan-
ically I ran back up the mountain side.
l waded on inland in a dazed
condition. The high road TO Seraug
was white, and smooth, and easy TO
follow as I felt my way along in the
darkness. A residence loomed
UP on the roadside, apparently offering
a welcome refuge. I rushed in TO find
relief from the intense heat under
shelter Of its roof, but through the tiles
OF the floor little blue flames were flick
ering. The house seemed like a FUR
mace. The subterranean fires were at
work even then on the mountain side.
Under a mass of tumbled masonry /
saw the body of a woman in native
garments. / rushed out Mortified from
this burning tomb. staggered
blindly on my way, reached Serang
and was taken into the garrison hos
pital. l started up in my sleep a dozen
times night, uttering cries Of terror.
was supposed to be a lunatic."
Says the Boston Transcript; A vol
canic eruption, even on a comparative
~ small scale, is a fearful and wonder
tul sight; once witnessed, one realizes
how Impossible it would be to escape
were one anywhere in the immediate
neighbOrhOod.
be looking across the Bay of Naples at
Vesuyius, when the new crater, zoo
yards in diameter, was opened in less
Xme than it takes to write line of
this account
The mountain had been strangely
quiescent for some time before. The
long plume of smoke no more trailed
its solemn pennon away off toward the
horizon line or lowered itg ma inSffo
palm above the blackened summit. The
morning was pellucid and balmy, one
Of those perfect summer days which
one sees only in the blue Neapolitan
bay, those days which combine all the
charms Of all seasons and all climates;
the lustrous wavelets Tapped along the
shining single, and seemed to WOO US
to float at viii above the suuken SPLEEN
doris of imperial Rome, buried for CEN
turtles beneath the translucent waters
Suddenly. without a moments warn
ing. this immense mass of solid rock
split into millions of fragments, and
mixed with fire, smoke, molten lava
and scalding steam, leapt thousands OF
feet upward from the quiet flank of the
smiling, vine-clad mountain, and fell
with a crash which shook the solid
stone houses around us twenty miles
away.
The mountain top was shrOuded in a
dense cloud; the smoke cleared away
in the fresh morning breeze, always
playing round that most lovely gulf
and as it cleared we saw that the main
crater had again become active, and
was vomiting forth masses Of smoke
and flame.