Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1906-04-13
HUNDREDS ARE DEAD
Mt. VesuVius in the Most Violent
Eruption Of Modern Times
one city Of 10000 Population and Many
Villages Destroyed-Thousands Of Refu-
Gees In Naples.

Villages estroyed-Thousands Of Refu-
gees In Naples.
The eruption of Mt Vesuvius which be-
| gan last week and still continues is the
most terrible since 1881, when 5000 people
| perished For some time the volcano has
been unusually active and at present an
enormous volume of black smoke rises
to height of two miles above the crater
| Dispatches from Naples indicate that 500
people have been killed, while thousands
of acres have been covered with lava and
villages and homesteads on the slopes
| of the mountain have been swept away
The town of Boscotrecase, which had
| 10000 inhabitants, has been entirely OBJ
| liberated. Nearly all OF the people here
had warning and escaped with the help
| of the soldiers who dug entertainments
with the hope of diverting the course of
| the great mass of molten stone which adj
| vanced like a colossal serpent, turning its
| head to the right and left but keeping its
| general direction toward the fated town.
1t is estimated that 10000 people have
sought refuge in Naples, which is the
| largest city of Italy and about 10 miles
distant from Vesuvius. Masses of in
candescent stone are thrown from the
crater 5000 feet into the air. Fissures
! have opened far below the cone, emitting
great volumes Of lava. One stream reach
ed the outskirts of the village of Tore del
| Greco.
The great cone of Vesuvius collapsed
| win awful laundering. emitting great
| volumes of flame and the cable railway.
| the observatory and the large new hotel
were all destroyed Monday night. The
southern wind has carried the ashes over
| Naples. which was completely en-
veoped In darkness three days that COM
munications by sea were cut off. Steam
ships and large sail boats trying to reach
Naples find themselves In total darkness
several miles from the shore. The gov
eminent has done everything possible to
help the homeless people and the king
and queen, who were accompanied by the
Duke and Duchess of Aosta won the
hearts of the people by travelling at the
risk of their own lives from one village
to another in an automobile. At one
point their machine was unable to make
Roadway through the great mass OF ashes
which blockaded the highway. One de-
spatch SAYS that 96 bodies have been
found in the villages of ottajano. San
Giuseppe and Terzigno.
| A frightful disaster took place Tuesday
in Naples when the roof of the market
Monte Ollveto in the Toledo main thor
oughfare fell under the weight of ashes,
burying more than 200 people. Sixteen
bodies were taken from the ruins and 17S
persons who were injured are being cared
for in the hospitals. In some OF the VIII
lagos the decorations on the mountain
have been accompanied by severe earth
| QUAKE SnOChS anu IL II ltdNtu Nndt a NiNal
wave may at any time sweep over the
cities and villages on the seacoast. An
analysis shows the discharge from the
crater 10 be chiefly composed of iron, sui
phur and magnesia When dry the whole
region seems under a gray sheet, but
after n fall of rain this appears to be
transformed into an immense lake OF
J chocolate.
The Destruction Of Boseotreease.
. |
noon published a dispatch from Naples
giving an interview with Lieut. Ciarrocchi,
| commanding a detachment of troops. who
, witnessed the destruction OF Boscotrecase
as result of the eruption Mt. Vesuvius.
The lieutenant is quoted as follows: 'All
was quiet in the town just before Its
destruction the people believing that they
, were safe from the stream of lava, but
after midnight terrific rumblings were
} heard, followed by violent earth shocks
which shattered the windows and cracked
, the walls. The lava then began flowing
) from Mt. Ciramella, near where fresh
assure opened a few days ago. wild
panic ensued, the people rushing about In
the streets, shrieking with terror. The
| Ciramella crater by that time was huri'
=, ing forth masses of incandescent rock and
! | a current of fire was sweeping down the
mountain with terrific speed, flowing IL
two streams. One of them 200 yards broad
. was moving toward the centre OF the
town.
The population fed in terror to Tore
= Annunziata, while the soldiers visited thu
|. houses in order to see that all the In
habitants escaped. In so doing they res
cued several bed-ridden old people wht
had been left behind by their terrified rel
atives Indescribable scenes of panic wer'
= | witnessed. The people seemed to hav'
: lost all control over themselves. TIT
;, town was hardly evacuated when rive
!, OF water invaded the houses and sooI
= afterward Boscotrecase seemed to be en-
: veloped in flames. After passing Boscot
: recase the two streams of lava Joined ant
u flowed toward Tore Annunziata."
One report indicates that the presen
. disaster is a repetition of the catastroph
= of Pompeil and Herculaneum. larg
. part of Ottajano is already buried unde
ashes and the positions of bodies un
earthed there show that the victims die
!; while in a state of great terror, the face
- being conYulsed with fear.
Dispatches last night indicated that tn
= worst of the eruption was probably over
= Naples is covered with four inches o
= more of ashes and the railroad and stree
y car lines are blocked. Several village
,, not previously mentioned have been evac
u uated. Press correspondents now figur
% that 700 people lost their lives and tina
- the property loss will amount to $4,000
:, OOO The estimate OF the number home
Am