The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-04-12
ItStglUS N eruption
A Column OF Ffc 1000 Feet High
Leaps From Volcano.
ITALIAN VILLAGERS IN FLIGHT
Stream of Lava, 600 Feet Wide, De-
atroys Everything in Its Terrible
Path-Air thick With A~shes-Masses
of Molten Stone Elected From .
Twenty-Foot Crater. =
~Twenty-Foot Crater.

E
Naples. ItaIv-The inhabitants OF
the villages in the vicinity of Mount
vesuvius are in a condition of panic.
Many homes have been abandoned,
and the atmosphere is dense with vo.-
canic ashes and the fumes of subterra-
mean fires.
The churches are crowded day and,
night with people praying for deliver
ance from the impending peril, mani
festations of which are heard and felt
in explosions which resemble Il heavy
cannonading and in the tremblings of
the earth which are constantly recur-
ring.
The main stream of lava from Vesu-
III is 200 feet wide. and it advances
at times at the rate Of twentX-one feet
a minute, the intense heat destroying
vegetation before the stream reaches it.
The peasants of POrtici. at the west
foot of Vesuvius, cleared their grounds
OF vineyards and trees in the effort to
lessen the danger from fire, and resist
ed the progress of the lava TO their ut
most. The population of BOscOtrecase,
on the southern declivity of the noun
tain. have sought safety III flight, and
BOSco Reale,. to the eastward. is also
threatened. Women of this village,
weeping with fright, carried a statue
of St. Anne as near as they could go to
the flowing lava, iInploring Il miracle
to stay the advance of the consuming
stream. a' $50.
The cemetery at Boscotrecase has
been invaded by lava.
The scene at night is one OF mingled
grandeur and horror, as from the sum-
init of Vesuvius there leaps a, column
of fire fully 1000feetin height, the glare
lighting sky and sea for many miles.
Occasionally great masses of molten
stone. some weighing as much as a ton,
are elected from the crater.
The village of Tore del Greco. which
has been eight times destroyed'and as
often rebuilt, is again threatened, and
the inhabitants are in extreme terror.
Signor Matteucci, director of the Ob-
Servatory, is working indefati@ably.
He has had military engineers eStah-
liSh telephone connection between the
observatory and points within h vol
canic activity. The director said that
although the eruption presented a
grave menace, he did not believe it
would reach. tine illageS. Indeed, he
said. the present volcanic activity was
not altogether unmiXed- with good, for
if it had not come to pass Il violent and
sudden eruption having 4 far wider ra-
dius might have occurred.
On the POmpeii side the main stream
OF lava has divided into two. one
threatening Ottajano. a commune OF
10000 inhabitants, and the other men,
! acing Tore del Greco, with a pOpula-
ton of sc,
The danger is so serious that calls
have been issued for the immediate
evacuation of Boscotrecase. the nearest
village to the crater, which has a popu-
lation OF 900C-
Streams of lava which are diffusing
great heat are progressing rapidly in
the direction Of Pompeii. From the
new crater, which is twenty feet in cir
conference, the lava has gone two
miles and a half. Hot mud. ashes and
black sand are also elected.