The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-13
CONDITIONS
 MUCH BETTER Mount Vesuvius Now
 More Quiet. FALL OF ASHES CONTINUES King of Italy Goes to the Ruined
 Villages.
FALL OF ASHES CONTINUES
Bitterly Rebukes Priest Who Made His Escape While His Parishioners Were Dying-Description of
 the Devasted Country.

from Mount Vesuvius today Is reassur- ing, the conditions here are such as make it difficult to realize that condi, tions are actually better. The wind Is blowing from the volcano in the di- rection of Naples carrying the ashes In this direction. Towards evening the fall of ashes and cinders was worse than at any time since eruption be- gan.
 From the observatory of Mout Vesu- vius, where Dr. Matteucci is continuing his work, the scene is one of great i'm pressiveness. To reach the observa- tory one must walk for miles over hardened but hot lava covered with sand until he comes to point whence nothing can be seen but vast gray reaches. Above the heavens are gray like the earth beneath and seem just as hard and immovable. In all this lonely waste there is no sign of life or vegetation and no sound is heard except the low rumbling of the vol cano.
 Every day gives new evidence of the magnitude of the catastrophe. Todays visit of King Emmanuei to ottajano revealed new tragedies. At certain points his majesty was obliged to abondon his motor car and went for- ward on horseback amid constant dang CT. In the presence of the king 12s moro bodies were extricated from the ruins. The dead at Ottoajano are said to number $50. The king was deathly pale. To priest who came to him he said. How did you escape?"
 T placed myself in safety" replied the priest.
 What do you meang' asked the king.
 "Realising the danger" was the priests reply, T had left for Nola."
 Rebuked By King. :
 Tha lxinxr fIpah with anger he cried. you minister of God was not here to share the danger of your people and administer the last sacra- ments? You did very wrong"
 The following description of the con ditions surrounding Mount vesuvius by Robert Underwood Johnson, assis- 5 4snsE sditoF of The Century MHgasine:
 1T had the unexpected opportunity to realize the magnitude of the disaster by personal observation in a trip en- tirely around Vesuvius.
 Since the Chicago fire I have seen nothing so terribly impressive. Twenty years will not repair the damage, in- cluding the destruction of four whole villages. With a change of wind or slightly greater propulsion of the seis- mic force the same fate might extend to other segments of the circle of which Vesuvius is the center.
 
 by train I joined party of two Ital- ian gentlemen and two English ladies, including Miss Underwood. the Rome correspondent of The London Standard. We caught a train from Tore, Annun- ziata. three miles this side of Pom peii and two miles from the southern end of the wedge of lava which de- stroyed Boscatercase. We had a mag nificent view of the eruption eight miles away. Rising at an angle of fifty degrees the vast mass was beau tifully accentuated by the full moon. the matter shifting momentarily into new forms and drifting south in black clouds of ashes and cinders reaching to Capri. At Torre del Greco we ran under this terrifying pail. apparently a hundred feet above. the solidity of which was soon revealed by the moon- light.
 Superb View of Volcano.
 we reached Torre Annunziata at o'clock in the morning. There was lit- tie suggestion of a disaster as we trudged the sleeping town to the lava two miles away. The brilliant moon gave us a superb view of the volcano, a gray brown mass rising, expanding and curling in with a profile like monstrous Cyclopean face. But noth- ing in mythology gives 8 fascination of this awful force presenting the sublime beauty above, but in it's de- scent filled with the mysterious mag lignance of Gods under world
 We reached the lava at a pictur- esque cypress planted cemetery on the northern boundary of Tore Annunzia- ta. It was if the dead had effectually cried out to arrest the crushing river of flame which piteously engulfed tho kstatus of Saint Anne with which the people of Boscoreale tried to stay 1t,
 TNoH l. oil AR sN.A Is said to have stayed similar stream from Mount Etna
 We climbed on the lava. It was cool above but still alive with fire be- low. We could see dimly the extent of the destruction beyond the barrier of brown which had closed the streets. torn down the houses, invaded the vineyards and broken the railways.
 "A better idea of the surroundings was obtained at dawn from the rail- way. We saw what was left of Bos- cotrecase. great square stone church and few houses inland in sea of dull brown lava. North and east rose a thousand patches of blue smoke, like swamp miasma. All was dull and des- olate slag with nowhere the familiar aerpentine forms of the old lava streams.
 Beauty oS Scene Revealed.
 "We ate d nasty luncheon before sunrise, when the great beauty of the scene was revealed. The column now seemed higher and more massive rising to three times the height of Vsuvius Each portion had a concen- tric motion and new aspects The south edges floating towards the sea showed exquisite curved surfaces due to the upper current
 'I had not thought of further ex- periences except to compare the ancient destruction with the present. After three hours sleep. I went to the exca- vations, expecting to return to Naples by the afternoon train, but here l met E. A. Bowen of New York, who gave such an alarming account of his ex- perience on the train coming through Monday in the darkness at Torre del Greco when the passengers in the crowded cars were besieged by scream Ing, excited refugees amid a rain or cnders, that I concluded to return by the north. first visiting the eastern edge of destruction.