Show U J 0 aa V again active subi BUDI 1 rumblings gs and T earthquakes have occurred fresh devastating outbursts of lava may be expected any moment so ran the tha telegraphic rumors in the roman and the foreign press shortly after my iny arrival in naples says bays a writer in the london chronicle from the window of nay my room with its ita superb view of vesuvius at the hotel de genove geneve the same room that 1 I was wont to find each night thick with volcanic ash during the terrific eruption ot of april 1906 1006 nothing out of the normal was to be seen vesuvius was simply indulging lit in those light leisurely whiffs of light smoke that have become a habit of hers in her calmest laziest moments momen tB however on a a volcano fifteen miles in girth a good deal may be taking place invisible from the naples side I 1 would therefore ther eforo go to see for myself and hear bear too what account the men of science to in yonder observatory on the heights had got to give of the behavior of the fiery aery mount whereon where wb ereon they keep perpetual vigil fine view of the crater I 1 since the 1900 1906 eruption the crater bottom which matteucci then estimated t at from 2033 feet to 2276 2275 feet deep has been rising faso fast never was it visible to such great advantage as on tho the day of my latest visit just after I 1 last left on march 12 1911 a mass of the cone feet high crashed into the tha crater over an area of 1700 yards forming a declivity that rose roee to within two thirds the height of its ha inner walls then on january 21 1912 came a strong earthquake with loud rum beings for a space of twenty minutes the crater throat was sucking down thousands of tons of rock and cinders till the big central fissure was wan d destroyed and the bottom had sunk feet since the tha plunging of the cone into the crater its mouth has baa gone on oil widening in diameter till it actually actual ni measures from 6 as R to yards across descending to the observatory I 1 round found absorbed in his bla mathematical calculations the venerable prof alu the world tamed famed ml can and expert in seismic science ile ho la ili a priest pt the roman noman plon in his present position he be has become famous for his daring descent last may alay deep down nearly one thousand feet into the crater of vesuvius what a risky time you must have had I 1 re remarked marko encouraging the processor to talk on oil hla his experiences well it was nerve trying work fas his modest reply tor for constant landall landslips land slips ps aro are occurring ou on the inner walls walla and slopes ot of the crater and there are steep preci peps to scale then I 1 had a good dealto deal to carry what with my and temperature temperature taking instruments and my photographic i gr apparatus once on the crater floor I 1 found myself in spots where I 1 could with comfort have pitched a tent and remained indefinitely while there were our oth r tracts even close at hand band across enich I 1 had to haste in imminent danger ot of asphyxiation A notable discovery 1 I proved the highest point pointon of the crater to be feet above sea level dfora the the 1909 eruption it stood feet I 1 found the center of the crater floor feet deep the lowest parts reach down to lo feet in other words I 1 found that on the crater floor which to tho the casual gazer from above appears almost perfectly level I 1 had to neg negotiate hillocks feet high besides what seem from the verge of the crater to bo be scattered lumps of stone I 1 found to be monoliths measuring from 18 19 to ID 10 cubic chic meters As regards temperature a notable discovery I 1 made was that since doctor chappello descend I 1 by degrees centigrade centie the anost intense heat h e at is concentrated c on cent rated at the great yellow sulphur fissure sure where it t j tees to centigrade i do you think professor that vesuvius has entered upon her death agony I 1 queried oh far sm true there are visible symptoms symcma ot of creeping paralysis since monto monte somma over yonder wag wa once the tha true center of energy and Is IB now however practical the vapors arising there it at tho pho present time are duo due to the tha tact fact that owing to the ordinary outlets of the volcano being temporarily smothered with accumulated debris the immensely high pressure beneath Is finding vent by its more ancient apertures iper tures but though vesuvius Is 2 r av i z k R t AS SEW aron catholic church whom the vatican has let alone in his new government post boef and ho he says nays mass in a tiny oratory on an the volcano an aa director ot of the tha royal observatory he has succeeded to tha late into professor Natt eucel whose heroic devotion to duty throughout the last fearful earful outbreak sent lila his iiams through svery civilized land well the fact la is began professor Mercal ll as he showed me a well filled scrapbook crap book of recent foreign press cut tings about vesuvius most of 0 these reports aro are inventive or exaggerated the ille tourist season hero has for one reason or another considerably black abed oft off in late lata years but since these rumors have gone abroad the tha mountain has become unusually alive with visitors the smoke tunnels funnels in the tha main crater have been active all along still their activity Is evidently in tr creasing easing and there are not wanting signs agns that vesuvius la Is stirring from per her long slumber yes yea her repose la 13 about e ended ded but nothing momentous tous has happened yet prof alessandra magladra Mal ladra to whom his illustrious roaster master introduced mt me was vas fa aar more explicit ilo is ia a touch much farman man full of 0 rest let and aam in his work before Mer merrrill brought him here as aa vice director mat ladra had bad acquired fame at the geophysical observatory of bithe is the greatest living authority on the icola ay and of the min I 1 suffering severely from this restriction I 1 give her still from 1000 to 1600 1500 years yeara 0 fairly vigorous activity the old age ot of a volcano la Is a very indefinite period ons one more question professor do you apprehend some momentous development in the near future alas I 1 do never before so no tar far back as data ala us has vesuvius slept so 80 long and sound a slumber as that from which she ehe la Is now stirring something critical ii ia going to happen will ivill the giant forces underneath the main crater fling out la in all powerful might the enormous masses manses of old solidified material that now choke the big chimney of the crater or will the potent accumulated gases find out the weakest points on the lower slopes elopes andt and aera bere in dolorous pregnancy give birth to new flery outlets impersonal 1 personally incline to tho the latter hypo hypothesis thesis it is a not improbable that a fresh crater may form in tho the near vicinity of this observatory i when I 1 was exploring the crater on an may 14 1912 1 I discovered that an enormous enor moua 0 rent had been torn torii by earthquake in t the h e flank of vesuvius that ominous cleft Is ten feet wide aldo starting from the very top of 0 the thai crater near cooks upper station it mins tho the entire length of tha th mountain side from ai Caval cavalli 3 right down to chevery the very sea a total distance of more than five fire that ugly rent splits tho the town of torre torra del greco in twain theres th danger |