AWESOME SPECTACLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 76, Issue 7, 26 May 1944, Page 5

AWESOME SPECTACLE

VESUVIUS IN ERUPTION s LOCAL MAN'S DESCRIPTION Those who remember Mr H. L. Heatley formerly of the BEA 1 -' CON literary staff and. who is now editing the N.Z.E.F. Times in Italy, will readl with interest the following article which he lilajs forwarded on for publication. The article deals graphically with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius soon after 'the Allied lines had been consolidated 1 before Cassino, and conveys something of the chaos which the new threat created amongst the already panic-stricken local population. NAPLES, March 22. New Zealanders who visited Pompeii before the present action opened on the Fifth Army front probably wondered why Vesuvius, almost insignificant when quiescent, should be so famed in historj r . Now, from the vicinity of Cassino, they can see. Until the night of Saturday, March 18, only faint wisps of smoke, soon merging into scattered clouds which always appear resting on the volcano's summit, marked Vesuvius. That, and the volcanic ash and rock on the lower slopes. But on Saturday night the volcano rumble, vented fire-tinted smoke., and thus marked the beginning of an eruption which continues in intensity after destroying one town, partly destroying two more, threatening others, and i - olling a spreading wall of molten lava below the level of 1872's destructive mark. Old men and women, anxious youngsters, all said, excitedly, "Strada non buono, non buono, Vesuvio," when late this afternoon I left the autostrada and headed along the cobbled road to the observatory. They were right, the strada was certainly not buono, rising in steep, rough steps between stone-walled fields. My advisers were justified also in their opinion of Vesuvio, belching thunderous non buono signs. ("The road is no good. Vesuvius is bad.") High up, the air swirled with hot dust and (the sky cracked an echo to ceaseless subterranean explosions, as the heat drawn clouds and smome from the spreading lava fields lifted fresh rolling clouds of concentrated smoke.and gas pulsed from the crater, lifting, layer on heavy curling layer, to 15,000 feet and higher.

It. is hard to describe these, gigantic furnace blasts. They appeared as mammoth Avoollen fleeces, thrown carelessly on the grading table, to mix, in black and white and grey, spilling and tumbling together with the propulsion of the huge gas jets beneath. I't was a sight almost terrifying in its immensity. Nature's battle roared among the folds of flecked smoke as gases detonated thousands of feet up, reminiscent of heavy surf pounding on a West Coast beach.

On Sunday lava started to spill over the crater rim and that night the cone glowed rich red against the sky, slight clouds, like scarlet wool* reflecting the inferno. On Monday the lava trickle became, a flood and pressed its way, in a great fiery wall,, down the mountain side, mainly on the northern face.

The main stream, more than a quarter of a mile wide, moved in a solid mass at a rate of about 300 yards an hour. Its forward wall was 40 to 50 feet high and rose back to a crest of 90 or 100 feet, depending on the terrain over which it rolled. Near iits base it glowed orange-red, but occasionally, when the crest was pushed up and' forward, the whole, mass would break into flame and billows of smoke. The material itself was light in weight, but the mass was so great that it, crushed everything in its path. Stone walls aiul buildings were crushed like eggs. ;

With an immediate threat to San Sebastiano, Allied- Control Commission authorities were prepared for the evacuation of this town, and Massa di Domma, also in 'the path of the cascade. Both of these towns, as well as Cercola, were evacuated, the. 6000 population of San Sebastiano being removed just ahead of the quickly-moving flood, which crushed a heavy steel bridge as though it were tinfoil.

The road leading from San Sebastiano was crowded with refugees throughout the night. Peasant carts aided the Allied Military Government's fleet of trucks in moving furniture, bedding and other household goods from doomed homes The evacuation proceeded in the midst of crashing buildings and shouts in half a dozen tongues.

Late on Tuesday the lava stream had widened as it cut through San Sebastiano. Buildings along the main street were engulfed in whole blocks, the heavy stone structures attempting resistance for a few minutes, and then collapsing in a cloud of dust and fire. In the open .spaccs trees and vegetation flared as tinder. This afternoon the main stream had many tributaries, fingers of smoke marking escaping gases and ; i '.ill.! Si • . II If Ii" |

burning growth over the whole north-western and Avestern slopes, creeping from beneath the heavier barrage Avhich swept down from billowing gusts. At time of Avriting it Avas reported that there had been no loss" of life. There Avas some concern felt for the town of Torre Del Greco, with a population "of 16,500 and evacuation has been planned if, the secondary streams, which appear to be growing, make the threat more serious.