Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-10

American tourists at Sorrento, ITALY.
Ike e GrtSsa struck 9TH such asnss-
tation on July %. He has sent the
Star the following account OF his er-
perierceS.
NAPLES, July 24.-When in the early
morning hours of July % terrific
earthquake shook lower Italy in the
vicinity of Naples, killing more than q
Thousand persons, injuring four times
that number, and causing TREMENDOUS
property damage, American tourists
were treated to a thrill and spectacle
which they had little dreamed were in
store for them.
At the hotel in Sorrento. overlooking
the beautiful Gulf of Naples, about go
Americans were spending the night:
They had come from various points OF
interest about the gulf, and the memory
of what they had seen and heard was
still fresh in their minds.
For days past they had watched the
white smoke curl up from the cone OF
Vesuvius. Many had journeyed to the
top of the volcano and had stood on
the craters rim overlooking the lava
paved depths out of which rises the
sulphur stained, fiery cone. They had
seen the fresh lava fields of Is months
ago, the older fields of the disaster OF
1908, and the CRAVING beds which told
of volcanic fury in years past.
Some others had come from Pompeil.
Much of their discussion that evening
had concerned the city'S destruction;
how Vesuvius was wreathed in a warn
ing pail of black smoke; how the air
had become sulphurous and sitting;
how the ground had shaken, and finally,
how a gray veil of ashes had descended
on the city and completely enveloped It.
Mouth Across the Bay.
And at dinner that night all had
watched that treacherous mouth across
the bay slowly blow rings of smoke into
the evening sky, and were mutely at
tracted to It, There was something
mysterious ever ominously suppressed
beneath its SCARED slopes and rudy
crest.
Imagine, then, the terror of those
half-awake Americans when, a little
after / o'clock in the morning, the
ground began to tremble and then rock
violently beneath them. Sleep was i'm
possible. Nor could the keen fear of
disaster so suddenly borne upon them
be dtSpelled as a nightmare with a
yawn and a lazy stretch beneath the
bed clothes.
Here was supplying realty. The air
was heavy and still. Shutters were
banging wierdly against the stills as If
a storm was sweeping the bay. Beds
wer skidding crafty across the polished
floors. Loose articles on the wash
stand crashed from their places, CHM
ing on the basin as they fell. Those
in the upper rooms saw the very walls
around them sway back and forth,
straining at their Orders, while plaster
sprayed from the ceiling.
Flashing into every mind was the
one thought, "It's Vesuvius"l Then,
crowding into the confusion of impress
Sions were the frightening recollections
Of the days expeditions. AS the quake
reached its greatest violence, the wild
dread that history was in the act of
repeating itself became the one clear
thought OF those awful moments; and
with this realization the halls were
suddenly filled with pajama-clad fig-
ures in fight.
Lights Suddenly Out.
Across the bay Vesuvius glowed red
Lightning flashed across a star-filled
sky. Suddenly the lights went out.
Then, almost unnoticed by the throng,
the quake subsidized. Candles fiickered,
revealing white faces peering into the
gloom for reinsurance on the faces of
others. A misplaced comedian was
sllenced with silence. Not until COM
parative safety under the open sky was
reached did any one pause to notice that
the danger was over for the moment.
Out in the garden surrounding the
hotel, the scene was tragi-comedy
Elderly women, no doubt from their
class rooms in America, were whispering
nervously to themselves.
1T was terrible, horrible" they kept
telling each other. I'VE must stay here
in the open. Another shock may come
at any time. There is always a second"
A party of American girls was grouped
together under some orange trees. Evil
IDENTIFY they did not realize the gravity
of the situation and took the quake as
joke. Cigarettes were lit, oranges
pilfered from the low branches, and
sinking down on the ground, wrapped
in kimonas, they began to chatter
among themselves as if the whole af-
fair was only an incident in their trip.
A group of men were discussing the
structure of the hotel and its ability
to Withstand another such shock. They
appeared dubious. Others were walk
speaking in strained voices of the re-
cent scare. One Californian growled
that he was going to bed. A few who
had dragged their suit cases with them
as they fed from their rooms were
sitting on their luggage, waiting for the
dawn to break out there in the east.
The Californian still grumbled, but
stayed where he was. In fact, no one
ventured into the hotel again. They
were waiting for the second quake. which
they felt must come within an hour
Of the first.
Children's Cries Heard.
Out in the village the cries of chill
dren, hastily dragged from their beds,
added pitch to the tumble of sounds
as men and women CROPPED about In
the darkness. Occasional harsh yells
bespoke anger, but the great undertone
was the shrill jargon of apprehensive
Italians
When the lights were switched on
some 10 minutes later, the American
who slipped into the square was
greeted with a sight, memorable In his
annals Of travel In one corner. kneel-
ing before the great bronze statue of
st. Anthony. the protector of Sor-
rento." the black-manteled women and
swarthy fishermen of the vicinity were
appealing to the saint for deliyerance.