Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-04-13
Editor Who Saw the Eruption
of Vesuvius Writes a
Graphic Description
ITALY SET BACK 20 YEARS
Destruction Almost Beyond Belief and
Loss is IncalcuIabIe - IndescribabIe
Sight Was Grand In Spite of the
Misery and Death Which 1t Brought
to the Inhabitants.

scription of the conditions surround
| ing Mount Vesuvius was written for
The Associated Press by Robert I'm
derwood Johnson, associate editor of
the Century Magazine:
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 1 have seen
nothing SO terribly impressive. Twenty
years will not repair the damage, in
Guiding destruction of four whole viii
lagos. With a change of wind or slight
ly greater propulsion of the seismic
! force the same fate might extend
to other segments of the circle of which
VesuVlus is the center. Arriving from
Rome two hours late by train, l join
ed a party of two Italian gentlemen
and two English ladies, including Miss
Underwood, the Rome correspondent OF
the London Standard We caught a
train from Terre Annunziata, three
miles this side of Pompeii and two
miles from the southern end of the
wedge of lava which destroyed Bosco
Trecase. We had a magnificent view
of the eruption eight miles away. Ris
ing at an angle of fifty degrees the
vast mass of tumultuous roundness
was beautifully accumulated by the full
moon, shifting momentarily irr>U new
forms and drifting south in low, black
o1n nf oc ctn6orS raunhincr
to Capri. At Terre del Greco we ran
under this terrifying pail, apparently
a hundred feet above, the solidity of
which was soon revealed by the moon
light. The torches of the railway
guards added to the effect, but greatly
relieved the sulphurous darkness.
| We reached Tore Annunziata at 3
o'clock in the morning. There was lit
| tie suggestion of disaster as we
trudged thru the sleeping town to
the lava, two miles away. The bril-
| liant moon gave us a superb view or
| the Volcano a gray brown mass rising,
expanding and circling with profile
| life a monstrous cyclopean face. But
nothing in mythology gives a sugges-
! ton Of the fascination of this aW1ul
force, presenting sublime beauty above,
but In it's descent filled with the mys-
! terious malignance of Gods under
world.
| Visit River of Lava.
| We reached the lava at a picturesque,
cynress planted cemetery on the north
ern boundary of Tore AnnunZlata. II
was as if the dead had effectually cried
ont to arrest the crushing river OF
fame which pitilessly engulfed the sta
tue of St. Anne, with which the people
of Bosco Reale tried to stay it, as at
Catania. the veil of st. Agathe Is said
to have stayed similar stream 1fom
Mount Aetna.
We climbed on the lava. 1t was cool
above but still alive with fire below.
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 Cooks railways.
A better idea of the surroundings was
obtained at dawn from the railway.
We saw north what was left OF Bosco
! Treca sea great square stone church
and few houses inland in a sea OF
| dill brown lava North and east rose
a thousand patches of blue smoke like
swamp miasma. All was dull and
desolate Stag with nowhere the familiar
serpentine forms of the old lava
| streams. In terrible contrast with the
volcanic epidemics were strong cy-
presses and blooming camellias In a
neighboring cemetery
A Spectacle Of Beauty.
| We ate hasty luncheon before sun
rise when the great beauty of the scene
was revealed. The column now SEEM
ed higher and more massive, rising to
three times the height of Vesuvius Each
portion had a concentric motion and
new aspects. The south edges floating
ed surfaces. due to the upper moving
current 1t was like the decoration of
the side of a Greek sarcophagus. AS
yellow dust hangs over Naples and
hides the volcano I count myself for
tunate to have seen all day from lee
ward this spectacle of changing, undi-
minishing beauty. My companions left
for Naples after driving to Pompeii.
had not thought of further expert
ences except to compare the ancient
destruction with the present. After
three hours sleep / went to the ex-
cavations expecting to return to Ma
ples by the afternoon train, but here
met F.. A. Bowen, of New York, who
gave such an alarming account of his
experience om the train coming thru
on Monday in the darkness at Tore del
Greco. when the passengers in the
crowded cars were besieged by scream
ing. excited! refugees amid rain of
cinders that / concluded to return by
the north, first visiting the eastern
wedge of destruction, which was CEN
trail at San Giuseppe.
With Mr. Bowen / left Pompeif in
car, expecting to strike the edge of the
lava. What was my surprise to find
no new lava at San Giuseppe. Four
towns here were destroyed in different
ways. namely, by rain, cinders and
ashes, which could not be skirted, for
they lay everywhere in mass which
had broken nearly every roof within
the area of thirty miles by ten. From
the lava, which was moving several
feet a minute, we had no difficulty in
escaping.
At Boscotrecose the carbiniery drove
the people before the fiery avalanche,
but the flimsily built houses were no
protection against the blizzard of Gin
ders and ashes tasking the roofs or
strongly built walls all Saturday. The
wedge east of the volcano thus de-
stroyed extends ten miles at least, with
4. /. ;1r-