The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-09
KEEPS VIGIL ON VESUVlUS.
Gives Warning When Volcano Is
 About to Burst Forth.

I From the London Globe.
 I It is by no means generally known that | the far-famed volcano so familiar to |. every visitor at the Bay of Naples. has guardian specially appointed by the | Italian government in the person of Prof. Luigi Mateucci. That this well known scientists services are of vital importance will be realized on refecting how uncom- | fortable it is, to say the least, to have a 4O0O-foot burning mountain in the very center of teeming population and a rich | and fertile province. Very few of the or dinary tourists who ascend to the crater of vesuvius by the funicular railway meet the professor. He lives in the ob- servatory. all among the deep ashes and | cinders, about 1000 feet below the place ! where the reeking sulphur clouds sweep | up from the dread depths. | Prof. Mateucci is just now very much in evidence owing to the new international movement for the excavation of Hercu- 1 laneum, which expert archaelogists say | will yield much richer finds than Pompeii | in the way of bronzes statuary, mosaics. | implements, etc.
 l 'Herculaneum' Prof Mateucci pointed
 out to the writer, was buried very much | deeper than Pompei by the efflux of | ashes and scoriae from the volcano. and | I am certain that the city will be found l in amazingly perfect preservation. You l must remember, too, that Herculaneum | was much more popular resort with the Roman aristocracy than her sister city" | The professor produced from a corner | the albums in which he keeps the very | striking photographs he takes recording
 the various eruptions. Suddenly I picked | out one that impressed me, bright and sharp silver print, showing Mateucci | leaning against a mountainous mass of rock.
 That" said this wonderful man, "was | thrown nearly one thousand feet from a | temporary crater one morning, and fell within seven feet of me-"
 How much does it weigh?" l asked, l aghast.
 l About thirty-seven tons," was the quiet reply
 | No. it cannot be cheerful to Tive on a volcano" You remember this is a meta | phorical expression, but in the case of Prof. Meteucci 1t Is literally accurate. | One of his principal duties is to give | warning of dangerous eruptions to the many towns and villages round about; i not to mention the proprietors of vine yards and farms. He also reports by wire direct to Rome, and also has a
 special service for the Societa degli AL l bergatori, or Association of Italian Hotel | keepers.
 This body is charged with looking after | the interests of tourists throughout Italy, | from Tuscany to Sicily, and is always in- | terested in a big eruption of Vesuvius, particularly if 1t is likely to be long con- l tinued. In such an event-which Prof. Mateuccis long and varied experience of | the mountain easily enables him to de- | termine-travelers flock into Italy from all parts, especially well-to-do Americans. who will even come from as far as the | Italian lakes, Switzerland, the Riviera, | and even London.
 | It Is not too much to say that Mateucci | is the physician of this dangerous | giant He can diagnose every rumble and
 symptom of his patient, and knows ex- actly what warning to send out If the | volcano bids fair to become violent. His | seismographic instruments are almost in- credibly sensitive, and he spends whole hours on the very brink of the various
 craters listening and watching for signs. He foresees which way the lava streams | will flow and whether there is likely to be any considerable emissions of rock
 masses, some of which are hurled mile | high.