VESUVIUS THREATENS NAPLES.
=Beautiful Italian City on the Mediterranean Almost
Engulfed in Ashes and Lava from the Terrible
Volcano--Worst Eruption Since the Days of Pompeii
and Herculaneum--Buildings Crushed and Thousands
Rendered Homeless.=
The worst eruption of Mt. Vesuvius since the days when it buried under
molten lava and ashes Pompeii and Herculaneum occurred on April 6,
1906. Almost without warning the huge crater opened its fiery mouth
and poured from its throat and fiery interior and poured down the
mountain sides oceans of burning lava, and warned 60,000 or 70,000
inhabitants of villages in the paths of the fiery floods that their
only safety was in immediate flight. From the very start the scene was
terrible and awe-inspiring. From the summit of the mountain a column
of fire fully 1,000 feet leaped upward and lighted by its awful glare
the sky and sea for miles around. Occasionally great masses of molten
stone, some weighing as much as a ton were, accompanied by a
thunderous noise, ejected from the crater and sent crashing down the
mountain side, causing the natives, even as far as Naples, to quake
with fear, abandon their homes and fall, praying, on their knees. One
of the immense streams of lava which flowed from the crater's mouth
was more than 200 feet wide and, ever broadening, kept advancing at
the rate of 21 feet a minute.
The first great modern eruption was that of 1631, eleven years after
the pilgrim fathers landed on Plymouth rock. A sudden tidal wave of
lava, utterly unexpected, engulfed 18,000 people, many of the coast
towns being wholly and the remainder partially wiped out.
In 1707 the volcano sent forth a cloud of ashes so dense that at
midday in the streets of Naples the blackness of the darkest night
reigned supreme. The shrieks of terror stricken women pierced the air
and the churches were crowded by the populace. The relics of San
Januarius--his skull among them--were carried in procession through
the streets.
Thirty years later a stream of lava one mile wide and containing
300,000,000 cubic feet burst from the mountain side. The next notable
eruption was that of 1760, when new cones formed at the side and gave
forth lava, smoke and ashes. Seven years later the king of Naples
hastily retreated into the capital from the palace at Portici,
threatened by a fresh outburst, and found the Neapolitans again in
confusion.
An eruption lasting a year and a half commenced in 1793. Lava was
emitted for fifteen hours and the sea boiled 100 yards from the coast.
That the Vesuvius eruptions are gaining in frequency is attested by
the record of the nineteenth century, surpassing as it does that of
the eighteenth. The first of note occurred in 1822, when the top of
the great cone fell in and a lava stream a mile in width poured out.
Twelve years later a river of lava nine miles long wiped out a town of
500 houses.
Lava flowed almost to the gates of Naples in 1855 and caused a
deplorable loss of property to the cultivated region above.
Blocks of stone forty-five feet in circumference were hurled down the
mountain by the spectacular outburst of 1872. Two lava floods rushed
down the valley on two sides, ashes were shot thousands of feet in the
air and the sea rose for miles. More than 20,000,000 cubic feet of
lava was ejected in a single day.
Since 1879 Vesuvius has been variously active there being two
eruptions of note in 1900 and two others in 1903. But that of 1905 was
more violent than any since 1872. Red hot stones hurled 1,600 feet
above the cone dropped down the flanks of the mountain with deafening
sound. One stone thrown out weighed two tons, while 1,844 violent
explosions were recorded in a single day by the instruments of the
seismic observatory.
The cog railroad running nearly to the top has been badly damaged a
number of times in recent years and the occupants of the
meteorological observatory on or near the summit have had several
narrow escapes.
This institution is situated about a mile and a half from the cone,
near the foot of the rope railway ascending that troubled apex. It is
a handsome edifice of white stone and can be seen at a great distance
against the black background of lava. It stands on the side toward
Naples, on the top of a conspicuous ridge 2,080 feet above the level
of the sea. On each side of this ridge flows a river of lava during
eruptions, but the building has withstood all, unscathed, as yet.
An observer is on duty, night and day, even during the most violent
outbursts. During the late one, when a sheet of red-hot lava glowed on
either side of the ridge and when fiery projectiles fell all about,
the post was not deserted. Inside, mounted upon piers penetrating the
ground, are delicate instruments whose indicating hands, resting
against record sheets of paper, trace every movement made by the
shuddering mountain. One sign by which these great outbursts may
almost always be forecast is the falling of water in the wells of the
neighboring villages.
The Vesuvian volcanic region, like that of AEtna, is partly land and
partly sea, including all of the Bay of Naples, sometimes called "the
crater," lying at the very foot of Vesuvius, with a circuit of
fifty-two miles and the metropolis at the extreme northern corner.
The whole base of the mountain is skirted by a series of villages
where abide 100,000 souls--birds nesting in the cannon's mouth.
Between these settlements and even above, within the jaws of the fiery
demon, the tourist sees scattered huts, tent shaped of straw
interwoven.
A road twenty miles long, commencing at Naples, extends
southeastwardly along the shore of the bay and then, winding inland,
completely encircles the mountain. This is dotted with villages, all
within hearing of the volcanic rumblings and bellowings.
Four miles down the bay road from Naples lies Portici, its 12,000
population dwelling upon lava thrown down to the sea by the eruption
of 1631. On this black bed stands the royal palace, built by Charles
III. in 1738. Resina, one mile further, is the favorite suburban seat
of wealthy Neapolitans. Its 14,000 residents dwell partly upon the
ruins of Herculaneum and of Retina, to which latter city Pliny the
elder set out during the great eruption which destroyed these cities
and Pompeii.
The colossal brazier of Mount Vesuvius dealt most awfully and
destructively with the towns on its declivities and near its base. The
inhabitants of those villages naturally became panic-stricken and
abandoned their homes for the open, although the atmosphere was dense
with volcanic ashes and the sulphur fumes of subterranean fires. The
people, so long as they dared remain near their homes, crowded the
churches day and night, praying for deliverance from the impending
peril, manifestations of which were hourly heard and felt in
explosions which resembled a heavy cannonade, and in the tremblings of
the earth, which were constantly recurring.
The intense heat of the lava destroyed vegetation before the stream
reached it. The peasants of Portici, at the west foot of Vesuvius,
cleared their grounds of vineyards and trees in the effort to lessen
the danger from the fire and resist the progress of the lava to the
utmost.
The streams of lava became resistless. They snapped like pipe stems
the trunks of chestnut trees hundreds of years old and blighted with
their torrid breath the blooms on the peach trees before the trees
themselves had been reached. The molten streams did not spare the
homes of the peasants, and when these have been razed they dash into
the wells, as though seeking to slake their thirst, and, having
filled them, continue their course down the mountain side.
Everywhere in the vicinity of the volcano pitiful scenes were
witnessed--women tearing their hair in their grief and old men crying
aloud at the loss of their beloved homesteads, while in the distance,
in striking contrast, were the sapphire-colored Mediterranean, the
violet-hued mountains of the Sorrento peninsula and the island of
Capri in the tranquil sea.
The town of Bosco Trecase, on the mountain's southern declivity, had
been transformed into a gray island of ruin by the ashes from the
crater of the volcano. Torrents of liquid fire, resembling in the
distance serpents with glittering yellow and black scales, coursed in
all directions, amid rumblings, detonations and earth tremblings while
a pall of sulphurous smoke that hovered over all made breathing
difficult.
While the inhabitants, driven before soldiers, were urged to seek
safety in flight, fiery lava was invading their homes and the cemetery
where their dead was buried. In about 48 hours after the eruptions
began not a trace remained of Bosco Trecase, a city of 10,000
population. Several lads who were unharmed when the danger following
the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius seemed most imminent subsequently
ventured to walk on the cooling lava. They went too far and the crust
broke under their weight. They were swallowed up before the helpless
onlookers.
About the same time the village of Bosco Reale, to the eastward,
became threatened, and the women of the village, weeping with fright,
carried a statue of St. Anne as near as they could go to the flowing
lava, imploring a miracle to stay the advance of the consuming stream.
As the fiery tide persisted in advancing the statue had to be
frequently moved backward.
Ottajano, at the northeast foot of the mountain, and 12 miles from
Naples, was in the path of destruction and the scenes there when the
first victims were unearthed were most terrible. The positions of the
bodies showed that the victims had died while in a state of great
terror, the faces being convulsed with fear. Three bodies were found
in a confessional of one of the fallen churches.
One body was that of an old woman who was sitting with her right arm
raised as though to ward off the advancing danger. The second was that
of a child about 8 years old. It was found dead in a position which
would indicate that the child had fallen with a little dog close to it
and had died with one arm raised across its face to protect itself and
its pet from the crumbling ruins. The third body, that of a woman, was
reduced to an unrecognizable mass.
Other bodies which were found later caused such an impression among
the already frantic population that the authorities did not deem it
advisable to permit any more bodies to be identified for the time
being.
Five churches and ten houses fell under the weight of ashes and
cinders, which lay over four feet deep on the ground. Many were killed
and injured.
One mile southward from the site of Bosco Trecase, on the shore of the
Gulf of Naples, is Torre Annunziata, a city of 30,000 inhabitants, and
the streams of lava having almost surrounded it the inhabitants
deserted their homes in terror and fled to Naples and other points.
This place was destroyed by an eruption in 1631. At the northern
boundary of the town is a picturesque cypress-planted cemetery, and
there the lava stream was halted and turned aside. It was as if the
dead had effectually cried out to arrest the crushing river of flame,
as at Catania the veil of St. Agatha is said to have stayed a similar
stream from Mount AEtna.
The visit of the King and Queen of Italy and the Duke of Aosta to the
town caused a rumor to be started by the excited people, and
particularly among the panic-stricken women, that their presence had
resulted in a miracle, and, singularly enough, shortly after the
arrival of the sovereigns, and while the King and Queen were trying to
console the people, repeating frequently, "Courage! Be strong!" the
wind suddenly changed and the atmosphere, which up to that moment had
been impregnated with sulphurous gas and suffocating fumes, cleared
away and the sun burst forth. The stream of lava stopped its march,
after having destroyed a section of the northeast part of the suburb.
The air rang with benedictions for the King from his devoted subjects.
Hope at once returned and the King and Queen were preparing to move
on, but the people insisted that they remain, begging that they be not
abandoned. The King and Queen wished to visit Torre Del Greco, which
is only seven miles distant from Naples, and was also in danger of
being wiped out, and the people fled from it in dismay, amid a
continued fall of sand and ashes, to points of reputed safety. This
village had been eight times destroyed and as often rebuilt. A violent
storm of sulphurous rain occurred at San Giuseppe, Vesuviana and
Saviano.
The town of Nola, an old place of 15,000 inhabitants, twenty-two miles
from Naples, was almost buried under the shower of ashes coming from
the crater, which were carried by the wind as far as the Adriatic sea.
The inhabitants of the country in the vicinity of Caserta, a place of
about 35,000 people, and termed the Versailles of Naples, were also
endangered by cinder ashes and flowing lava.
The village of San Gennaro was partially buried in sand and ashes and
several houses were crushed. At that place three persons were killed
and more than twenty injured.
Sarno, Portici, Ciricello, Poggio and Morino became practically
uninhabitable because of the ashes and fumes, and the people fled from
the town. At Sarno three churches and the municipal buildings
collapsed. The sand and cinders were six feet deep there and all the
inhabitants sought safety in flight.
Sarno is a town of some 10,000 people and is situated about ten miles
east of Mount Vesuvius. It contains an old castle, some sulphur baths
and manufactories of paper, copper wares, cotton goods and silk
fabrics.
Almost equal to the devastation wrought by the lava was the damage
done by cinders and ashes, which in incredible quantities had been
carried great distances. This has caused the practical destruction of
San Guiseppe, a place of 6,000 inhabitants. All but 200 of the people
had fled from there and of these 200 who had assembled in a church to
attend mass about 100 were killed.
While the priest was performing his sacred office the roof fell in and
all who were not killed were badly injured. These unfortunates were
for hours without surgical or medical assistance. The only thing left
standing in the church was a statue of St. Anne, the preservation of
which the poor, homeless people accepted as a miracle and promise of
deliverance from their peril.
A runaway train from San Guiseppe for Naples was derailed, owing to
showers of stones from the crater. At some points near the mountain it
was estimated that the sands and ashes reached a height of nearly 150
feet.
San Georgio, Cremona, Somma Vesuviana, Resina and other inland and
coast towns not mentioned above, also suffered terrible devastation.
The most of the buildings in the villages were of flimsy construction
with flat roofs and so were but poorly calculated to bear the weight
of ashes and cinders that fell upon them. Inevitably it was found that
a considerable number of persons perished by the falling of their
homes.
National and local authorities from the first evidences of danger
attempted the evacuation of the threatened villages and towns, but
adequate means to transport the inhabitants were lacking, although
thousands of soldiers with artillery carts had been sent to the places
where the sufferers were most in need of assistance.
At many places the people were suffering from panic and a state of
great confusion existed, which was added to by superstition. Some of
the parish priests refused to open their churches to people who tried
to obtain admittance, fearing that an earthquake would destroy the
buildings when full of people and thus increase the list of disasters.
Crowds of women thereupon attacked the churches, pulled down the doors
and took possession of the pictures and statues of the saints, which
they carried about as a protection against death.
Many people camped along the roads and in the fields, where they
thought they would be safer than in the towns, defying the elements,
though nearly blinded by ashes, wet to the skin by rain and terrorized
by the gigantic curved flaming mass above, resembling a scimitar ready
to fall upon them.
The atmosphere during the eruptions was oppressive and yellow with
ashes from Vesuvius, causing a feeling of apprehension regarding what
the future may hold in store for this city and its vicinity. The
volcano was completely hidden in a dense mass of cinder-laden smoke,
the only other signs of activity being frequent and very severe
detonations and deep rumblings.
All the trains from and to Naples were delayed owing to the tracks
being covered with cinders and telegraphic communication with all
points was badly congested.
An excursion steamer attempting to reach Naples from the island of
Capri had to return, as the passengers were being suffocated by the
ashes.
The quantity of ashes and cinders thrown during the eruptions was
unprecedented. An analysis showed this discharge to be chiefly
composed of iron, sulphur and magnesia. When dry the whole region
seemed to be under a gray sheet, but after a fall of rain it appeared
to have been transformed into an immense lake of chocolate.
During the activity of the mountain several new craters had opened,
especially on its north side and from which streams of lava flooded
the beautiful, prosperous and happy land lying on the southeast shores
of the Gulf of Naples.
The whole of Vesuvius district as far as Naples, Caserta and
Castellammare became one vast desert. The high cone of the volcano was
almost entirely destroyed having been swallowed up, so that the height
of the mountain is now several hundred feet less than formerly. Its
falling in caused a great discharge of red hot stones, flame and
smoke.
Professor Di Lorenzo, the scientist and specialist in the study of
volcanoes, estimated that the smoke from Vesuvius had reached the
height of 25,000 feet. After one of the eruptions ashes from Vesuvius
were noticeable in Sicily which is a large island near the extreme end
of the peninsula on which Naples is situated and some 200 miles from
the crater.
[Illustration: =MISSION DOLORES.=
This is the oldest building in San Francisco. It was founded October
8, 1776.
Noted as a mission church.]
[Illustration: =BUILDING CRUMBLED LIKE EGGSHELLS.=]
[Illustration: =WRECKED BUILDINGS.=]