Smyrna times., 1944-04-27


Dribbles Editor
Smyrna, Delaware
Dear Sir:
1t seems as though it has been
a long time since have written
to you, so 1 thought this might be
q good time to drop you line.
No doubt you have read in the
papers at home about Mt. Vesuvius
erupting in a certain part of Italy.
We'll, had an opportunity to wit
ness some of that strange sight. /
must say, it is something that hap
pens once in a lifetime. You often
read about volcanic eruptions oc-
curing in different parts of the
world, but rarely does anyone in
the States actually see one in the
process.
The present eruption of Mt. We
suvius has been going on for sew
eral days now, and it so happens
that / was fortunate to have it oc-
cur while 1 was on leave. 1t really
is a sight to see large masses of
molten lava creeping down the
mountain side. Slowly it decends
on a group of buildings, then sud-
denly there are no buildings, they
have been engulfed in the seeming
ly never ceasing flow. Nothing
can withstand the advance of this
molten lava, although I happen to
know of one building that did
the case was sort of phenominal.
1t so happened that the building
that escaped the lava flow was a
church that stood in small town
on the mountain side. AS the lava
approached this small town, it en-
gulfed one building after another,
but just before it reached the
church the flow changed its course
and missed the church completely.
AS far as l could leran, no lives
were lost at this place for the
Army had evacuated all the civil
dans from the doomed area. only
wish that I had had camera with
me so that 1 might have taken pic
lures of some of the spectacular
sights l saw. This present erup-
ton of Mt Vesuvius is supposedly
the most extensive since the de-
struction of Pompeii. The old
Roman cities of Herculaneum and
Pompeii were buried under lava
and ashes from Vesuvius in the
year 79 A. D. During the present
eruption, the sky surrounding Mt.
Vesuvius was blackened by the
ashes being blown fro mthe yawn-
ing crater itself.
guess 1 had better bring this
letter to a close-the censor has
probably become tired already.
wish to take this opportunity
to extend to all the fellows my
very best regards, wherever they
may be. and also to send my best
wishes to "Pud" Clough. 1 read
his letter in The Smyrna Times
and saw from his address that he
was confined in the hospital. "Pud'
I hope you are up and around
again son, old fellow.
Your friend,
"Bill"
Sgt. William R. Carrow
"A. S. N. 12014O90
"A. p. O. $50, Postmaster
New York City, New York
You sure guessed it right on the
nose Sergeant when you decided il
was about time to write in an6
give account of yourself. Since
you are one of the old "stand-bys,
it is only natural that your letters
are most likely to be missed wher
they do not arrive every so often
You can rest assured that all of us
are looking for them. This one
was very interesting, due to the
fact that you had the opportunity
to view the recent eruption of Mt
Vesuvius. 1 know that all the
Ueaders of this column will reaC
the contents of your letter will
pleasure.
And, by the way, this is tn,
editors opportunity to thank yol
for the V-Mail Easter Greeting!
you sent through. 1t was the one
and only of it's kind that was re
ceived. Perhaps, this made it al
the more pronounced. Anyway
thanks a lot, soldier. 1t is quite