Arizona republican., 1905-10-24
RED MOLTEN LAVA
 BLANKETS POMPEII
VesuVius Again, Last Night, Over
 whelmed the Historic City.

Pompeii, Italy, Oct. 23.-(Special)- The city of Pompeii was destroyed to- night by an eruption of Mount Vesuv- jus. There was a. grand but awful spectacle, and those who did not perish in the fire and burning lava, fled for their lives. From the appearance of the city at a late hour it cannot be conceived that it can ever be rebuilt.
 Early in the evening occasional ex- plosions were heard in the direction of Vesuvius, and the old timers shook their heads in fear of what might fol- low, having learned to note impending danger when the belching mountain gives her warning signals. But the city was en fete, and the populace gave little heed to the rumblings from afar. A special correspondent of The Repub- lican, who chanced to be in the city, heard the first explosions about six o'clock in the evening. From that hour they were heard at occasional in tervals, which constantly grew shorter and shorter, until nearly 10 o'clock when, with an awful cannonading, the big mountain in the distance began to belch fire and smoke and the rumblings became a. roar. For a few moments
 
 tude, and then terror seized the in habitants of the city, for the massive columns of the forum began to totter and fall, the huge buildings, whose porticOes had all evening served as q stage for the participants in the festi- val, fell crumbIing to the ground. Nor was this aIl for though the huge structures were of stone, there was much that composed their furnishings and incidental to life within them, that was of an infiammable nature. This was fired by the molten lava, and the city was not only shaken to pieces. but became a sea of fire ere the belch- ings of the infuriated mountain sub merged it with it's molten flow
 But the awfulnes of this catastrophe could not detract from the wondrous beauty of the scene, for among the gala arrangements, there had been provided hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks. furnished by the Pain company for the festival celebration. While the city was in the height of the glory of it's destruction, these fireworks became ignited and added incomparable beauty to the brillianc of the illumination, for 1t is writ, even by the great Caesar himself that nobody ever got up such fireworks as Pain. In the splendor of VI LAAC 4iAe llAllNGlll S SlJeCldCi6, the walls of the dying were forgotten, and those who had but a. few brief hours before paid their money at the Pompeii box office to participate in the evenings sports, found themselves obliviNIs to everything save the harmonious blend ing of all the colors of the rainbow as they blazed before their eyes and lighted up the heavens in a gorgeous pyrotechnical display.
 In the early evening there was an hour and a half of the rarest sports in which the Pompeiian youths in scores participated in the OIympian games, clever gymnasts, tumblers and contortionists did stunts that would win them applause in any latter day circus aggregation, while countless iprocessions, both civic and religious. wound in and out among the big build ings that form the ancient city. There were exhibitions of beautiful dancing girls. gladiators who fought with shield and sword, and perchance Cbe- hind the scenes) killed lions and "tag- gars." There were horizontal bar per- formers, obstacle racing, children's