Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-03-26
FLEE
BEFORE FURY Of
EINk'S FLOOD
Bereayed Thousands Sadly View
Ruins of Buried Homes
from Hilltops.
MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE
ATTRACTS SIGHTSEERS.
Widening Lava Stream Covers
rs Miles-Rumblings Hold
Populace in Terror.

CATANIA, Sicily, March 2s.--The
eruptions from the side eraters OF Mt.
Etna continued today, and the fiery
river formed at the foot of Mt. Castel-
lazzo moved slowly toward Borrello
and Belpasso. consuming everything In
its path
Ihe layatic stream winding in and
out over the uneven surface at the
mountain base has covered probably
twenty-five miles, though its head Is
not more than ten miles from the
sources in an air line Throughout the
night the summit of Mt. Etna appeared
TO be ablaze, but today a cloud of black
smoke enveloped the peak. Prolonged
rumblings from the central crater and
frequent explosions from the side fis-
sures served as effectually as the flood
itself to hold in terror the populace for
miles around.
An early morning visit into the
threatened region afforded spectacle
magnificent beyond description, which
could be thoroughly enjoyed by the
hundreds of sightseers Hooking there
but for the other side OF the picture
The terror and real distress of the
peasants in the vicinity is depressing.
A panic has seized them, and, though
they chung to their little homes until
the flood was almost upon them, they
have now abandoned all but their port
able property. and, driving before them
their donkeys and pigs, the former
loaded with household goods, they are
wandering about with the single aim of
preserving what little has been left to
them.
On the hilltops little groups of men,
women and children could be seen look
ing back sadly to the sites of their
former homes, now covered with lava
to height of perhaps fifteen feet,
Others whose homes had not been over
taken clasped their crucifixes, images
of the Madonna and the saints with
characteristic cries and prayers.
Meantime the molten mass craWled
irresistibly forward as though deter
mined that nothing should escape it.
At times a storm of cinders obscured
the volcano, and then suddenly a shift
of the wind forced back the cloud, and
the sun, bursting through, smiled down
upon the most fertile country in the
world.
The summit of Mt. Etna appears to
be still covered with snow. The people
of the district have been wrought up
to high pitch of excitement and are
ready for miracles, though at the same
time declaring that the evil eye is upon
them. At a little -oadside altar erected
to st. Joseph, at a point above Mic
olosi, the women, priests and children
had gathered to implore mercy. AS
they knelt they saw in the distance the
destructive flood advancing. As it drew
nearer the agitation among the group
increased until one exclaimed: "a
miracle has occurred! The lava will
not touch the sanctuary" The cry
was taken up by the others, and then
the chanting of the melancholy Siclian
hymns was renewed. Nearer came the
lava. but when its heat had nearly
suffocated the praying ones the stream
was diverted.
With cries of joy al what appeared
to be a miraculous manifestation, the
supplicants sprang to their feet. a mo-
ment later the course of the flood again
changed and. sweeping down upon the
worshipers, permitted them barely
time to flee for their lives while it en-
gulfed and burned the sanctuary.