The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-04-19
TORRENTS OF FIRE.
vESUvlUS CONTINUES TO BE A
SETTLING FURNACE.
Are Dead and Thousands
of Homeless Persons Forced to
Flee for Their Lives-TOwns and
Country Buried Under Ashes.

Mount Vesuvius, the most notable or
all the $50 volcanoes in the world, is
once more a seething furnace, spouting
death and destruction on every side.
Not in years has there been such an out
break from this chimney of the neither
world, which continues to pour forth
streams of molten lava and belch forth
great clouds Of hot ashes that are lay
ing waste the surrounding country. So
far the damage to property is enormous
and it is reported that hundreds, per-
haps thousands of lives have been lost
1t is estimated by the government
agents now that 100000 persons have
been driven from their homes, and that
in the event of the volcano subsiding
without further eruptions the great
majority of this total still will be pen
niless. Besides the wiping out of sew
eral villages and two cities, in them
selves numbering 10000 souls, whole
countrysides that have been covered
with vineyards now lie under several
feet of ashes. In Naples, fourteen miles
from the crest of the mountain, several
feet of ashes have fallen, and it is al
most impossible to breathe.
Torrents of liquid fire, resembling
in the distance serpents with glittering
yellow and black scales, are coursing in
all directions, amid rumblings, detona-
tons and earth tremblings. In all the
towns and cities lying close around the
base of Vesuvius the utmost terror pre-
walls. Scores Of persons have been
buried in the ruins of their homes,
borne down by the weight of ashes.
Even more devastation has been
wrought by the ashes than by the lava.
Yet the streams of lava are resistless.
They snap like pipestems the trunks of
chestnut trees hundreds of years old,
and blight with their torrid breath the
bloom ON the peach trees before the
trees themselves have been reached
The molten streams do not spare the
homes of the peasants, and when these
have been RACED they continue their
coursejdown the mountainsiGe, sweep
ing all before them.
Both cinders and ashes in incredible
quantities have been carried great dis
tances. This has caused the destruction
Of San Giuseppe, a village Of 5000 in
habitants. All but 200 of the people had
fed from the village, and these assem-
bled in a church to attend mass. While
the priest was performing his sacred
Office the roof fell in and seventy-nine
persons were fatally injured, lying for
hours without surgical or medical as
sistance. The only thing left standing
in the church was a statue of st.
Anne, the preservation of which the
poor, homeless people accepted as a
miracle and promise of deliverance
from their peril.
Buildings Crushed by Ashes.
About 200 persons were buried Tues
day morning in the ruins of the Mar
ket Monte Oliveto, Naples, when the
roof collapsed under the weight Of elm
ders and ashes which a change Of wind
had carried over the city. The exact
number of persons within the market
at the moment Of the appalling dis
aster is not known. The court yard
covers 600 feet square, and was rooted.
The space within was unusually crowd
ed with buyers and their children, the
accident happening at the hour Of the
day when trade is most brisk.
At Ottajano five churches and ten
houses fell upder the weight of ashes
and cinders, which lie four feet deep
on the ground In the fall Of the build
ings about twelve persons were killed
and many were more or less severely
injured. The village is deserted. After
the evacuation of the place the bar
racks and prisons fell in.
Reports from the coast and inland
towns tell of terrible devastation. San
Giorgio, Csremona, Portici, Resina-on
the site Of ancient Herculaneum-and
Torro dol Groco have hoon almost on