The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-10
DAY OF TERROR FOR RESIDENTS
 IN THE VICINITY OF VESUVIUS

vesuvius, where they were greeted wit great enthusiasm.
 At a certain point the royal party
 were struck by a small cyclone of ashes and cinders. The king sent his motor car ahead at full speed and crossed
 the path of the cyclone in safety. It l was found necessary to continue the journey on foot.
 l The coalitions of Torre Annunziata and Pompeii improved today, owing to l the change in the direction taken by | the flowing lava.
 l Early in the day apprehension was | felt for the inhabitants of the country | in the vicinity of Casertal, a place of about 35,000 inhabitants in the direc- l tion of which the lava was then flow ing.
 | The situation today could be sum marked as follows:
 l Summary of Situation. | The conditions at Torre Annunziata | and Pompeii have improved owing to | the change in the direction taken by l the flowing lava. On the other hand l the conditions at Ottajano were worse. | Ashes and cinders had fallen there | four feet deep and frequent earth quake shocks were felt. Ten houses and five churches had fallen, five per- | sons had been killed and an unknown l number of persons wounded. l Serious apprehension was felt for l the inhabitants of the country in the vicinity of Cazreta, termed the Versail-
 les of Naples a place of9about 35,oo0 l inhabitants in whose direction the lava l Is flowing.
 The town of Nola, an old place of 15,- | 900 inhabitants twenty-two miles from | Naples was being buried under the showers of ashes coming from the crat- CT which were carried by the wind as | far as the Odriatic sea.
 | AT n r | half buried in ashes and sand and the 1 roofs of many houses had fallen in or | were collapsing.
 | About 150,000 refugees from Vesuvi- | ana had sought shelter here and else- where. Four thousand were lodged in | the granite barracks in this city. l All the trains were delayed owing to and telegraphic communication with all points was badly congested- | The stream of lava which had been | threatening Tore Annunziata town | of 2S,000 inhabitants twelve miles from Naples on the road to Castellamare had remained stationary since Sunday | evening so that the danger that the | place would be overwhelmed. appear | ed to have passed.
 | The action of Mount Vesuvius had | perceptibly diminished and the shower of ashes ceased to fall over Naples for a time this morning, ashes and sand | began falling again later in the day. | When the last train was leaving Bocratez yesterday a fresh Assure l opened near the observatory station.
 Steamer Had to Return.
 An excursion steamer attempting to
 reach Naples from the island of Capri today had to return. as the passengers
 were being suffocated by the ashes.
 The quantity of ashes and cinders
 thrown up in the past twenty-four
 hours is unprecedented. An analysis
 showed this discharge to be chiefly
 composed of iron. sulphur and magne-
 sia. When dry the whole region seem-
 ed to be under a gray sheet. but now
 after a fall of rain it appeared to have
 been transformed into an immense lake of chocolate.
 The evacuation of the threatened will l lages and towns continued during the
 day. but adequate means of transporta- tion of the inhabitants were lacking, although thousands of soldiers with
 artillery carts had been sent to the places where the sufferers were most
 in need of assistance.
 At many places the people were in a
 state of great confusion, which was l added to by superstition. Some of the
 parish priests refused to open their
 churches to people who tried to ob-
 tain admittance fearing that an earth
 quake would destroy the buildings | when full of people and thus increase
 the list of disasters. Crowds of wo- men thereupon attacked the churches, pulled down the doors and took posses sion of the pictures and statues of the saints. which they carried about as a protection against death.
 Many people camped along the roads and in the fields outside of Torre An nunziata and Ottajano. where they l thought they would be safer than in the towns. defying the clements though nearly blinded by ashes, wet to the skin by the rain and terrorised by the gigantic curved flaming mass above. resembling a scimitar ready to fall up- | on them.
 Only about 2.ooO out of 82.ooo inhabi- | tants of Tore Annunziata dared to remain in the town which was patrolled | by soldiers. 1 King and Queen Arrive. King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Helena and their suites arrived here this morning from Rome and entering | automobiles visited the towns and viI- lages in the path of the lava stream
 pouring down the sides of Mount Ve- suvius. When the train which brought | their majesties here arrived at the sta- tion, eruption of the volcano was most
 brilliant. But both the king and queen I | leaving g immediately for Tore Annunzi-
 ata, his majesty remarking If Torre
 Annunzlata is in danger 1t is my duty | to be there"
 The duke and duchess of Aosta and
 the princess of Schleswig- H olstein, who
 is their guest, soon afterward joined the king and queen in their visit to the afflicted districts. The royal party was | received with the most touching mani
 festations of gratitude amidst cheers | and weeping, expressions of thanks | and frantic gesticulations of joy. The
 king forbade the police and carbineers
 to keep the people away from him so
 that all could approach him. The wo- men kissed the kings hand and the queens gown, exclaiming, God sent you to us" One of the women ad- dressing the king cried. If thou art
 our king, order the volcano to stop"
 The soveregns visited Santa Anasta- | sia. Cercola. Somma and Vesuviana.
 arousing the same enthusiasm among
 the people at those places.
 | At a certain point the king and his
 suite, who occupied several automohi- les, were struck by small partly blind ashes and cinders which partly blind ed, choked and stopped them. As the
 kings motor car was the first and some distance ahead of the cars in which the members of his suite were 1 riding, it was lost sight of for some 1 time in the clouds of whirling ashes l and considerable anxiety was felt for his majesty's safety. But it was dis | covered that the king had ordered his | automobile to be driven at full speed ahead and had crossed the path of the | cyclone With great rapidity. short