MT. ETNA ERUPTION

Hokitika Guardian, 21 June 1923, Page 3

MT. ETNA ERUPTION

LATEST CABLE NEWS

AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION. lava river if miles wide. PITIFUL SCENES. ROME, June 19. The fury of Mt. Etna’s eruption has not been abated all day. The How of lava is being aided by new craters forming on the wc-tem slope of the mountain, and particularly by the caving in of the side crust of one crater which was at live forty-live yeats ago. This one is three miles trom the central crater. The seriousness of the crisis is shawl’ by the fact that .Mussolini (Premier ot Italy) who was at Eloreme, hurriedly returned to Rome, to organise ieI'ef, while King Victor is taking a special train, en route for Sicily, t lead in the rescue work on the sp t. The eruption is a splendid sight, but it is a tenihle s| eetaelo. Throughout southern Indy. ; 11.■ glow of the burning mountain can l.e seen. Even from the city of Nnplc- " Inch is two hundred mile- n a ay. (he glare is visible. • The actual ffames shoeing: Iren: the veFaiio into the air can he seen tram a distance of 80 mile-. There are deafening report.-., iv-em-Ijling the roar of great guns, and these can be beard all over the province. There is one hnrritffe aspoet ei t tie disaster for the Sicilians. Tins is the continuous rain of cinders, v, Inch ignite anything they tom b. I tins the forest of Castiglinne has been destroyed. It burnt up in a few hours. The molten lava, first burned the roots of the trees in the tores! : then the flames caught the branches until the desolation was complete. Despite all the horrors of the visitation. the peasants in the threatened districts are still reluctant to lento tlheir homes. Thousand, < I Die inhabitant:! of Linguagh ss:i and I'a-tir-liuno have had to be diiien IniviMt from their homes, as tiey retu.-ed to believe Dint death and dcslrnetion ei uhl he so near, even though the lava stream was at their very gates, and the first houses were actually erumliling ill the path of the e'ce)ing lava. 1 The people, frenzied with fear, slaved praying in their churches, or let.light out statues of Die saints, and ] heed them in the path of the oncoming lava. Many were kneeling in Do roadways, while the priesis called upon Heaven to stem Die awful Hood. Every form of invocation, and leer was to he heard, and the priests often had great difficulty in shepherding their ehaigi-s luck to salety. fu cue ease, the people's prayers have seemed likely to ho miraculously answered. When the liist houses in l.m-guaglo.-sa. wore tumbling in a lava lined, there seemed the chance that tin- town would Ik- saved. By a strange 1-oak the lava stream became divided into arms. The )en:-;int* have insisted that this was due to Saint F.gigio, where statue had Fen carried to the stream. The town ot' Giarro has had a torrible experience. the i righti-ned towns folk had collected a few la-longings and were on the point ol fleeing tor their lit es. when a run of hot. stone* "a* flung up from the orator. 1 hen there was a i u-h for safety nub ors, even though suae of the stone:; which v eiglied over 21 b. ve-e crashing through the roofs. When Dus rain of si one sre -sod tile people lied to Riposto. I’tnelir-nlly all Die inhabitant* <4 Duthreatened ii'lo: are now a" are oi the danger if continuing in *tav oerr D'e eruption and th'-y are I r. kk-.ng t > the

coast and to Mi-s-ina. 'I in- read, to Messina are ,-linked will. a. m-dV.v of lieimdo-s men. "o'.m-:. am! chddien. all carrying bundles, and poshing hand en rts. Apart from the ih st nut icn of the towns. Die countryside has been laid i-s some- i f tin* bin •! and must lerl inland in Sicily. I’civoen Monte Ros-a and Monte Roe-lie there is a plateau from which the lava has dropped sheer in a dFUm e ol two hundred feel, like a waterfall of lire, into a wooded countryside below. 4be fees there were set quickly ablaze, and. as the lava collected among the blazing timber, the place looked like a lake of lire, fed by n enseade of burning lava. Till- me of the lava is nearly the

same a- that taken in the eruption of September. DID, which "reeked the rail way nea r ( nst igllone. The lava has already spread almost to the sea between Messina City and to Taoninina. The villages between the mountain and the coast in this region arc obliterated. All the wells for miles around Alt. Etna have dried up, and the heat is intense. During the eruptions in recent years the sellers < f ires and cooling drinks made big profits in supplying a thriving trade within a lew hundred yards of the lava stream, the sellers moving their pilches as the lava advanced; ln;t there is nothing of mis kind now. Everyone is putting as much space between himseii ami Ail. Lina. possible. BE FIX! TED IN ALIA. ■LONDON, dune 20. European geologi-ts, discussing the cause of the disaster, point out that along with the liras from Alt. Etna comes me irp'it of mi earthquake' in Rangoon, in P.iTiuah (Asia'. Ilota nlliee. be along the line of weakness which tile geologists call l.ibbey s Circle. AIRMEN RECONNOITRE. ROME. •Lime ID. The I ta fir-ill Guvcnirarrf has despatched. at full speed, a squadron ut ae* uplanes to approach Alt. T.tna iron) ills' air, and icport on what steps van I c ialien to help the p..nidation. THE ROPE'S HEIX. RO.MK. dune ID. T'ae Rope has sent a million lire to the rebel' missions for the sufferers by the eruption. CONFIDENCE IN SAINT’S HELD. ROME. June RL A stiange episode lias occurred at r.inguaglossa. The people of the town were carrying the stall ot Saint Egioio in a procession, in the hope U staying’ the Hood of lava. While they were doing so. the people from C'astiglione marched to Linguaglossa m a. body, and seized the stall, with the intention of carrying it lor use for the miraculous preservation of their own town. A conflict- for possession followed. ! So serious did it become that the militurv were called on to separate the combatant s. Meanwhile a Bishop arrived, and betook possession of the holy staff. TWO VILLAGES DESTROYED. 'Received this dav at 5.30 a.m.) ROME, dune 20. Alt. Xtna-'.s outflow of lava has subsided slightly, but the volume of smoke and vapour lias increased. The whole sky is darkened. The villages of I’alobbarn and Santo Spirito have been completely destroyed. Large cinders have fallen thirty miles north-east-of the volcano. One of the main branches of the lava has reached the

outskirts of Lingu.aglcssn and Cnstigliono, but the stream is moving slower and hope is entertained that the towns will be spared. The King of Italy has arrived at Catania.