The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-04-15

the most important in the history of
Vesuvius. Its effects are less terrible
| than those of the eruptions in the year
A. ID. 79, when Pompei was buried. but
it equals in intensity the great eruptons
OF 1851 ana 49,. what results TINS erup-
| ton will yield to science is not yet GER
tain EruptioEs are not exact in science.
| You cannot count on NesUvius; each of
its eruptions has its characteristics. This
| was marked by an abundance of cleo
! trical phenomena. i have collected guam
| titles of cinders and scoria for COMPARE
son with similar matter from othe erup-
/ tons, and later L Will collect large
stones"
in his Ia boratory. where there were
plates containing CtndeTS varying in size
ana DottIeS 1lied with ashes, ana lne 1lc
! each labeled with the date of its ejec-
ton from the volcano.
What of the Future?
Asked concerning Mount Vesuvius in
the future, Professor Matteucci replied:
! of certainty. l sincerely hope this erup-
ton is over; but who can tell whether
| during the next minute? However, all
my indications point to a period of calm
/ for the next few days, and therefore 1
am hopeful But l was hopeful last
night. although 9 serious explosion oc-
CURED at 10 O'Clock in the evening with
out any warning"
| respondent a stone the size of a 3-inch
shell as souvenir of his visit. say
These are very precious stones. Some
| of them have hit me at one time or an
other They represent my wounds"
He then led the way to his sleeping
| quarters, which showed the confusion
/ that existed throughout the domestic
| branch Of the observatory during the
/ eruption As he turned TO the portico
Eesuvigs gave another deep groan, end
| ing with a fearful explosion which blew
| off portion of its new cone.
! See" exclaimed the professor. the
eruption may be resumed at any moment.
raTfotfr 4
Majestic Spectacle.
Mount Vesuvius presented a majestic
spectacle from this point Of vantage at
the observatory. This was far inside the
outer circle of smoke which hides the
volcano from Naples. The great mon
ster stood out clearly under the bright
sunlight. Il was entirely white; like i
snow-covered mountain, the ashes had
contour also had changed. The gigantic
! jagged cone no longer rose like the set
ting of an enormous jev'eled ring. In
stead the top now forms graceful curve.
harmOniZing the gradual SLOPE of the foot
hills. The white surface of the mountain
IS slit here and there as with giant sa-
bre stroke, leaving gucheS through which
lava courses. The wrecked remnant of the
funicUiar railway lay at the bottom of
one of these guIches some of the twisted
! cable protruding from the ashes.
The American Assistant.
Singularlv. an American scientist is the
only one assisting Professor Matteucci in
! his observation. This is Professor Frank
=. Perret of New York. I've only been
| here three months says Professor Per-
ret. 81 came to Italy originally for my
( health. | had studied VoICaro disturb
a,,7 moi Tror-SS-,-. NTofto,co5 u-o
/ became mutually Interested. and he hon
orCd me by inviting me TO share his OBJ
/ SerVatiOnS as an honorary assistant The
/ post of assistant. 20 which I was
/ Gently appointed bv the City of Naples.
came at Il most fortunate moment, as 1t
! permitted nv observation Of this tremen-
! dOuS disturbance. which is beyond the
/ tainteSt conception Of those outside the
/ immediate terrorS OF NeSuviUs- The most
/ terrible moment came Satrrdav night. l
had gone to ROSCOtrecaSe for the purpose
/ Of photOSranhing the lava stream that
was then deIugine tA7t town returned
TO the observatory about midnight The
dynamic force of the main crater in
T'o"ths "0ened in the mountain side
within ten minutes Of each other. This
rrOvyslS flOckoJ TO Ro~c~t~ oC7 80 to v,-i+-~~~S
! the sight which was Srander there than
( at any other point.
PeriIous Moments.
AT midnight the situation at the OBJ
! serVatory was terrible The ground rocked
underneath. and it was Impossible to
stand firmly On ones feet. The roaring
of the main crater was deafenfng: the vol
cano operated like a fountain, its dis
charge rising an spreading ana then fall
/ ing over great area The electric phe-
I nomena We're terrifying. The cIaDS of
/ tnundef We're inceSSalt with a lurid play
[ Of lightning The cause of this phenonl-
/ 6na was TrlctlCn from the ascending par
/ ticles generating electricity. which dis
played itself in incessant Lightning and
thunder claps.
/ No one thought of sleep but all stood
gazing at the awful scene. At , o'clock
! in the morning the lowest station seemed
/ to be burning and al 800 o'clock the
whole cone broke opcn with a trenen-
dOUs earthquake shock. Red hot pro-
/ iectiles We're precipitated toward Mount
SOmma and the observatory. That seem
ed to be a critical moment and the briga-
+ der of the carbineers ordered retreat.
/ the mountain side but even there the rain
of stones continued One Of the carbi-
neers was struck on the head and badly
| cut After this the intensity of the erup-
ton steadily decreased"
Ruin and DesoIation.
! The mountain climb gave the cores
| pendent an opportunity to see the desola-
ton in the stricken districts. The route
was through Portici and Resina, passing
over Herc1laneum 10 Pompeii- Here
ashes had fallen to the depth of three
feet ana hundreds OF military wagons and
four parallel drifts ten feet high through
which filed motley throng OF fugitives
and lines of military wagons. The fugi-
tives were a miserable lot, covered with
rags. Many of them were young chill
dren, who carried babies in their arms
some of the latter having brought new
toys, the result of the misappied charity
from the fashionable villas
POrtici was q sorry sight. The houses
were Streaked with mud and ashes up
to the window sills. Five hundred refu-
gees were RalneEeu before the city nall
demanding help. PompeH and Hercula-
neum were closed up, huge piles dam
ming the entrance.
The lower slope OF the mountain is dot |
ted with villas and parks in which the |
orange trees We're all blasted under the /
rain of ashes The donkey on which |
the correspondent rode Iabored through !
ashes three feet deep. A weird silence |
prevailed for even the birds have disap-
pea red. The route was over the lava |
beds elected in the eruption of 1872. and |
these Law in distorted masses like an ice !
lam. Naples was family visible below /
through a curtain of smoke.
New Crater Burst.