Show TERRIBLE catastrophe v the destruction of saint is to take first place with the gibat disasters of the world no volcanic disturbance equals it in complete ob literati ort of the people of a city there have been earthquakes attended by larger losses of population but there is no record of such a rain of fire upon a community attended by annihilation as occurred at saint pierre on thursday corning the of a fity oscr v helmed by a flood of volcanic fire have been best described by the writers on the destruction of pompeii but now it is for some one to write of the last days of saint as did bulwer lytton on the ancient city and the cat astroppe astro pue that brought its sinfulness and brutality to a pliny the younger was a boy 18 when vesuvius belched forth its stream of fire and deatle and gives us in an account of the deach of his uncle the cider pliny a graphic story of the scenes the uncle was attracted to his death first through a mere desire to study alio phenomena which occurred on the afternoon ol 01 august 24 A D 79 in the appearance of a cloud of unusual size and shape which ascended over mt vesuvius expanding itself out at the top like tree of spreading branches tr anches it appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and spotted according as it was either more or less impregnated with earth and cinders th e elder pliny ordered a light vessel to be got ready and he sailed into the rain df a shea and pumice stone lie was BO cloe to the mountain that the cinders which grew thicker and hotter the nearer ho approached fell into the together with blacka pieces of burning rock they were in danger not of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea but also from vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain and obstructed all the shore they landed at tab iaci meanwhile broad flames shown out in several places from alt which the darkness of the night contributed to render still brighter and clearer the liou rocked from bide to side with frequent and violent concussions and the people consulted together whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses or fly to the open fields where the stones and cinders though light indeed yet fell in large fc howers and threatened destruction they took to the fields having pillows alicd ajon their heads with napkins it was now day everywhere else but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the night which however was in deome degrees alleviated by torches and other lights of various kinds then alic cider pliny thought to escape from the danger but tho waves lashed the and the vessel lie arrived in could not be reached alio flames burst forth preceded by a strong sulphur and the grosa and noxious vapors suffocated pliny to death the darkness was not dispelled until the day lytton leads up to the account af pf the burial of pompeii by div ing a pen picture of the brutality of those who attended the battles of alic gladiators in the arena then he relates the eyes of the crowd beheld with dismaya vast vapor shooting from the vesuvius in the form of a gig antic pine tree the trunk blackness the branches alre a fire that shifted and wavered in its hues with every moment now fiercely luminous now of a dull and dying red that again blazed terrifically with intolerable glare then there arose on high alio universal shrieks of women the men stared at each oth crand were dumb at that moment ali afelt the earth shake under their feet Khe walla of the theater trembled and beyond in alie distance they beard alie crash of falling roofs an instant more and the mountain cloudy seemed to roll toward them dark and rapid like a torrent at the same time lit cast forth from its bosom a tf ashes mixed with vast fragments of burning stone over the crushing itne aver tho desolate tt reeta over the amphitheater itself far and wide mighty splash in the agitated aea fell that awful shower the crowd turned to fly each dashing pressing crushing against tha other trampling recklessly over the fallen amid groan and and prayers and gudden shrieks the ou crowd vomited itself forth through the numerous page whither should lyt the of gaea that now fell fast torrent upon torr wit over the streets rushed under ol 01 the nearest houawa or o wiy kind for protection from tho terrors 0 the open air lint darker mid larger and mightier spread alic cloud avic them if was a sudden gh aaby night rushing upon alitt i palin of tho people of saint according to the reports so far received did not have cirii tb debate as to where to seek safety some wildly toward the ocean tho clouds of volcanic nishca obscured tho morning tuii and veiled the city there was a rain of hot matter and the people thought to immerse themselves in the waters of the bay as a protection but as the dispatches describe it a whirlwind of flames burst through the clouds sand every living creature was dead even the masts on tho vessels in the harbor were burned by the sweep of the tongues 0 fire and death was everywhere had the city been thrown into alie mouth of a mighty furnace the destruction could not have been nore complete or horrifying rif ying then came alie impenetrable dark as pliny describes as settling over iho neighborhood of pompeii so that when tho commander of alie french cruiser anchet approached the harbor lie was unable to view alio full work of destruction the city of the dead had on its pall |