Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1910-03-25

Catania, Sicily, March 25:-The
eruption of Mt. Etna increased in vi
olence today. A stream of lava fifty
feet deep and half a mile wide is
sweeping down the mountain at the
rate of 1900 feet an hour. The VII
lagos of Borello, Beltasso, San Leo
Rinazzi, Copello, Albanello are par
TALLY OF wholly destroyed.
Thousands are homeless and are
fleeing to this city. THE government
engineers are unable to turn the
flow of the lava. Several detach-
ments of troops hurried to the
scene to assist in evacuating the
town. Cardinal Francisca-Nava, the
aged archbishop of Catania, was
thrice overcome while administering
to the sufferers.
Prefect, Minervini, of Catania.
while experimenting the work 0
rescue. was cnt or by a stream of
lava today. He was rescued by
three soldiers who were badly
burned. No deaths are reported, but
many people are missing. The gov
ernment has been appealed to for
aid and will probably have to make
an appropriation.
SHOWERS OF OInCSTS inCtSSant.
Huge clouds of smoke and steam en-
velop the volcano, and showers of Gin
ders are incessant. Subterranean rum
blings and earth shocks are felt inter-
mittentiy.
The lava has devastated large tracts
of cultivated lands and has wrought
havoc in the woods. The village OF
Nidolo has been completely obllterat-
ed, and many huts and farmhouses
have been destroyed.
The inhabitants of the villages on
the southern slopes of the mountain
are in a. state of panic, but they cling
to their homes and will not leave them
until the last moment.
Great confusion prevails. The Sici-
lians are forming professions, praying
and displaying religious frenzy. Ey-
cry church In Nicolosi is crowded with
panic stricken devotees, and prayers
continue uninterruptedly day and
night.
Cardinal Prays In Public Square.
Cardinal Francica-Nava, archbishop
of Catania, went to Nicolosi to com
| fort the people. The whole population
followed him to the verge Of the lava
stream, singing penitential psalms and
praying aloud. The cardinal then Wis
tied Belpasso, where the panic is even
greater than In Nicolosi. The inhabit-
ants there knelt in the square and i'm
plored the cardinal to beseech God to
@1.n nil hn apr rdi
with them and prayed.
Eight soldiers have been killed and
many inha bitants injured IN the neigh
borhood of San Leo and Rinazzi, where
several cottages have been buried un
der the lava flow.
Meteorological Station Destroyed.
The meteorological station on the
mountain side has been destroyed.
The earth shocks have reached about
fifty In number, and there is continu-
Gus vibration and trembling for many
miles around. Everywhere the vii
layers are carrying images in process
sion and imploring mercy.
Help for the people of the devas-
tated region is being organized here.
A detachment of soldiers and large
number of engineers and doctors have
gone forward. The prefect of Catania,
returning from the scene, said:
81 have witnessed spectacle of des-
olation and ruin which only those who
saw the eruption of Vesuvius in 1905
can imagine. The present eruption can
be compared to no other"
Professor Ricco Predicts Disaster.
Professor Ricco, director of Mount
Etna observatory, said: "The eruption
is very grave, and 1 think 1t will be-
come much more serious. The lava
has covered five miles in sixteen hours,
and if my calculations are right the
Ionged and disastrous"