The Washington times., 1916-09-10
CRATER0 vESUv|US
GRADUALLY FILLING
Base Of Volcano Now Is Sixty.
nine Metres Higher Than a
Year Ago.

NAPLES. Italy. Aug. a-(by maiD.-
The crater OF Vesuvious Is filling up
little by little every year. The base Of
II today lies at depth OF eighty-siN
meters. sixty-nine meters higher than II
was year ago.
Frank Atwood Perret. the American
engineer and volcano expert, just made
this discovery. With Prof. Alexander
Malladra, OF the vesuvian observatory.
he camped for twenty-four hours In the
heart OF the lava splitting mountain.
Both men riskcd their lives for the
sake OF science.
Perret tells an interesting story OF
his adventures. He and Malladra de-
scended into the crater on the morning
Of August 4. They wished to observe
changes taking place within the abyss.
Three guides accompanied the pair:
They were Varvazzo. Sannino. and
Pizzo. This trio iugged big loads OF all
In early January the volcano had
been active. The floor of the crater
had raised considerably at that time.
This had resulted In the practical de-
struction OF the eruptive cone; parts
of which remain swimming In the sur
rounding lava. An inactive period OF
four months followed. during which
nothing but smoke fitfully belched forth.
CLOVIS With Fire.
At the end Of April the volcanoes
mouth glowed with fire and the con-
struction Of new cone within the in
closure of the old one began. Thorough
out its formation explosions occurred
and fiery dross was flung high In the
air.
The new cone. already thirty meters
high. opened toward the northeast on
July 30. 1t spilled copious lava and its
explosive phenomena became exceed
Ferret and Malladra carried this
knowledge with them as they worked
their way into the depths Of Vesuvius.
The lava of July 30 was still red hot
in many places. The cone shot thou
sands of incandescent lights to a
formed a magnificent fountain of fire,
perpetually flowing.
The scientists gathered gas from the
great yellow Fumarola: Photographic
and moving pictures of the principal
phenomena also were made.
Late afternoon arrived. Ferret and
Mallandra had not yet completed their
prescribed program. So they decided
to continue their sSeH through
pass the night on the base OF the
crater. viewing the edge the next
morning.
VaryaZZo was dispatched Tor certain
necessities. He left the crater, return
ing at s o'clock with fresh provisions.
These included water. which was i'm
water. the throat was not only dried.
but burned and cracked by the smoky.
gaseous such aa ro
bles and possibly saved the men from
choking to death.
Nioht Added IN difficulties.
Meanwhile darkness came on. The
difficulty OF lodging fiery dross and
shooting rocks increased. Perret and
Malladra. however. were too inter-
ested and busy to be very much fright
ened. They were enoamped Tor the
of fantastic beauty. The only thing
that seemed lacking was Old Nick
himself
high, was continually hurled from the
1t, only glimpses OF the fire showing
through the thick cover Great waves
of smoke were often released by the
eruptions. Incandescent fountains could
Now vertical, now oblique, these sue
ceeded one another at momentary in
Before leaving Vesuvius. Perret and
Malladra attempted to climb the explo-
sive cone, Their strenuous efforts were
rewarded with frequent burns Owing
to the white-hot temperature Of the rocks
they failed to reach Its top.
The two Adventures came forth from
their visit to the blazing pit as delight
ed and happy as couple OF kids with
nieRes worth r OF Gandy They were
they had pottered around In the innards
OF Vesuvius to their hearts content.