The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-04-15


Il tory. Probably no other
mountain in the world has, .unaided,
/ made so much. For centuries upon
centuries before the eruption which
DESTROYED Pompeii and Herculaneum
the mountain stood silent and trun-
Gated cone, its shape and great crater
testifying to past violence, but giving
lence had occurred. Neither ala any
record of man up to that time have
aught to say of the mountain g past
Any former outbreak must have been
at a time when men kept no records, or
else all who might have set down the
story must have persisted in the cata-
clysm. At any rate such an outburst
must have been before the days OF
Roman history.
So accustomed did the people Of the
Roman empire become to the silent old
mountain as fertile supporter of life,
that many dwelt upon its sunny slopes
in peace, cultivating their vineyards,
: and thanking their gods for the fruits
| they bore.
Spartacus Fought There.
spartacus, the gladiator and leader
Of the great Instruction Of Roman
| slaves in southern Italy in 70 B. G.
made the crater his fortress, from
which he descended Unexpectedly and
| won a battle against 5000 tried
Roman troops. A portion Of the crater
was then lake of hmpid water.
Then one day in So AID, a start
ling thing happened: A great earth
quake shook Pompeii and Herculaneum
and the old mountain began to growl.
among the people of the vicinity.
But Subsequent growls resulted IN
/ nothing, for time, and the people
went Back to their homes at least
half satisfied that Vesuvius would dc
nothing more than growl. And FOL
sixteen years that was all the mountain
did. Then Aug. "a, 70 A.D., cloud
stones, ashes and pumice were poured
l down on the surrounding region, and
1 Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried
4 Twenty thousand people persisted. The
elder Pliny, who went to the aid Of the
people was one of the suffocated
/ Vesuvius had begun his real work al
a maker of history.
Sixty Important Eruptons.
Since Pompeii and Herculaneun
were destroyed Vesuvius has beer
breaking out with great frequency
Sixty important eruptions have DC
CURED, and many more of mlno
character. The most importantt ee rapp
when $4,000 persisted under the belch
ings of the fiery mountain.
From time to time Vesuvius' shap
II has been greatly changed by the out
bursting of the great forces within
# According to pictures Of the volcan
before the destruction Of Pompeii, i
was q fairly, regular trunncatted cone
it has besides its principal grin df Pea
Monte Nuovo, in 1888, in two days wa
forced up to height of Alb feet, 1
4 1922. in violent eruption, the volcan
literally blew it's head off, reducing it
81 height in that single eruption by 80
feet, nearly a quarter of it's height.
Great Crater Made.
Before the eruption Of 1922 the sun
NIT Of Vesuvius was a rough and rock
plain covered with lava and scoria
4 and rent by great assures from whic
Hclouds Of smoke and steam issued. BIZ
with the blowing off of the top, vas
eiptical chasm three miles in circur
ference and three-fourths of a mile ,
d its greatest diameter was made. Th
i was 1000 feet deep, showing that tt
mountain g head was not only blow
In 1879 another tremendous cru
ton occurred. A description of tn
aoutbreak by Sir William Hamilto
Fsthen British minister. at Naples, shov
that eruption to have been somewh;
Il similar to the present one. In tt
I spfing Vesuvius began to pour fort
& lava. This was succeeded by rum
Tings and puffs of smoke. Then je
red-hot stones and ashes were throw
4put, these jets increasing in number an
Intensity until the eruption reached
= Climax. Then enormous volumes
Mwhite clouds rose from the mountain,
Ma height four times that Of II
#mountain, and lava poured down Il
5mountain g sides in torrents. Column
Of fire followed, rising to a height 8
- Bfollowed these titanic fireworks. Ol
= mass of rock elected is said to ha,
4 been 108 feet in circumference. "
Town Destroyed 16 Times.
Fifteen years after the eruption
& g779, an even more terrible erupti,
occurred. In this the town of Tor
I ael Greco was destroyed. Tore d
: hreco has been threatened by the pre-
Int explosion. 1t would not be- ST.
& irising if it should be wiped OF
Ilready the town has been destroy
Et axteen times by Italy's destroyer
Sc tiles. But the people who have
gaped have returned again with stran
Inconsistency thinking that what b
Happened will not happen again, tn
solcanoes, like lightning, do not stri
. Twice in the same place.
Even far off Constantinople has be
brown into panic by the belchings
Nesuvius. In a violent eruption
a72 cinders were thrown out Of the VI
1Iano s mouth with such force that tn
Is ware carried to the Bosporus, causil
much alaral there.
It is worthy Of note that it was n
a..l,rtil 2. l6i; that Nasnui11a took 10 en-