Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-04-13

of the great catastrophe in existence and
is Of singular interest just now. That the
prevailing eruption Of Mount Vesuvius pos
sibly may rival IL not surpass the destruc-
ton wrought in the year A. ID. "a, when the
cities OF Herculaneum and Pompei were
overwhelmed and have remained up to the
present century under their tomb of ashes
over 1900 years.
Many OF the peculiar incidents and phe-
nomena reported as occurring in the pre-
vailing eruption are recounted in the Pllny
narrative particularly relative to the pre-
cipitation Of ashes. The narrative OF Pliny
is as follows:
THE writer was residing at the time
with his uncle Uhe elder Pliny) and his
mother near Misenum. The bay then, as
now, one Of the most beautiful spots I'm the
world, was crowded with villas Of the Ro-
man nobility. Baiae, with its splendid
baths and terraces built out into the sea
Preteoli, with its busy harbor; Nespolis,
one of the largest and wealthest of the
Roman cities, with Herculaneum, Pompeii
and Stabiae, occupied the sea coast in an
almost continuous line. Behind them, with
its slopes reaching almost to the sea, rose
Mount Vesuvius, clad to its summit, which
reached to the height of about 1900 feet,
with olive and vine. A luxurant vegeta-
ton concealed all traces Of the volcanic
nature of the mountain, and neither history
nor tradition preserved any record which
, might warn the populous cities at its base
of the danger which threatened them.
Earthquakes, indeed, were not unfrequent
in the country, and one of more severity
than usual had, sixteen years before, seri-
ously injured both Herculaneum and Pom
Of he Of
suspicion seems to have been entertained.
ut was 1 o'clock in the afternoon of
August "A, 79 Ca d. that a cloud of un-
usual size and shape rose from the summit
of Nesuvius, like a stout pine with a
lofty trunk and a cluster of branches at
the top, continually varying in weight, and
of changing line, sometimes fiery-bright,
sometimes streaked with black. 1t was
the beginning of that great shower of
ashes and dust which is said to have
reached as far as Africa and Egypt.
Showers of cinders and fragments of
heated stone fell around and on the ships
in the bay and elsewhere. At the same
time it was found that the soundings of
the bay We're altered the effect attributed
to the falling masses, but probably in a
great measure owing to an elevation OF
the seabed The alarm became very great.
The ships were kept busy in enlbarSing
| the terrified inhabitants of the coast.
Flames, which the approaching darkness
had now made more visible, were seen to
! break forth from the summit and sides
| of Vesuvus. The houses were trembling
with frequent shocks of earthquake and
threatened destruction to their inmates.
Out of doors there was the peril of falling
stones, which though calcined by fire, and
! therefore light in proportion to their size,
seemed to be sufficiently heavy to be dan
gerous To leave the houses appeared, on
the whole, the preferable alternative
With pillows and cushions fastened upon
their heads, the people sailed forth, first
making their way to the sea, by which
| they hoped to secure their escape. 1t was
! found that escape by the sea was i'm
possible as IT was wild and stormy,
with the wind blowing strongly on shore.
Many people suffered death here from
| flame and inhaling sulphurous vapors."
OF his personal experience Pliny says in
his second letter to Tacitus: There had
been noticed for many days before trem-
| bling of the earth, which had caused, how
ever, but little fear because it is not un-
usual in Campania. But that night it was
so violent that one thought that everything
| was DelnB not merely uloNtut bub dbSp-
| lutely overturned My mother rushed into
my chamber to awaken me: We sat down
| in the open court of the house, which occu-
pied small space between the buildings
and the sea. Just then a friend Of my I'M
Gle arrived and when he saw that we were
sitting down he rebuked my mother for her
patience and me for my blindness to the
danger 1t was now o'clock in the morn
| ing but the daylight was faint and doubt
| full. The surrounding buildings were now
| so shattered that the place where We were,
which, though open, was small the danger
| that they might fall on US was imminent
/ and unmistakable. So we at last deter
mined to quit the town. panic-stricken
crowd followed US. They preferred the
ideas of others to their own. and they
! pressed on us and drove us on as we de-
parted by their dense array. When we had
got away from the building we stopped
There we had to endure the sight of many
marvellous, many dreadful things. The
| carriages which we had directed TO be
brought out moved in opposite directions,
though the ground was perfectly level;
! even when scotched with stones they did
not remain steady in the same place. Be
sides this, we saw the sea retire into itself,
/ seeming. as il were to be driven back by
| the trembling movement of the earth. The
| shores had distinctly advanced and many
marine animals had been left high and dry
| on the sands Behind us was dark and
dreadful cloud which, as it was broken
| with rapid zigzig flashes. revealed be-
| hind II marvelously shaped masses OF
| flame; these last were like sheet lightning
| though on a larger scale. II was not long
before the cloud we saw began to descend
upon the earth and cover the sea. Ashes
| now began to fall. still, however, in small
| quantities. looked behind me; a dense,
dark mist seemed TO be following us, spread
ing itself over the country like a cloud.
! Let us turn out OF the way l said
whilst we can still see for fear that should
we fan in the road We should he trodden
under foot In the darkness by the throng
that accompany us We had scarcely sat
down when the night was upon US. not
| such as we have when there is no moon, or
when the sky Is cloudy, but such as there
is I'm some closed room when the lights are
| extinguished.
you might hear the shrieks Of women,
the monotonous waiIing Of children. the
shouting Of men. Many were raising their
voices. and seeking TO recognize by the
! voices that replied. parents. children, hus-