FIVE ACTIVE CRATERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 349, 29 March 1910, Page 5

FIVE ACTIVE CRATERS.

MOUNT ETNA IN VIOLENT ERUPTION. THE PEOPLE PANIC-STRICKEN. By Cable. —Pioss Association. —Copyright Received 'March 27, 5 p.m. Rome, March 26. Mount Etna's violence is increasing, new craters are active. Crowds of tourists are watching the advancing lava. Many religious 'processions are parading the streets, whilst the churches are crowded with panic-stricken people who are praying. The upper craters are 'hurling stones like volcanic bombs. ■ A later report states that lava is advancing at the rate of a metre (3!) .inches) a minute upon Bolpasso, where Cardinal Nava has taken the miraculous ▼eil of Saint Agatha to stop the flow. Lava from four craters joined and made ai stream 1500 feet wide and twelve feet deep. Descending at the rate of half a mile hourly, it destroyed the villages of Capriolo and Barello, threatening Belpasso, where the inhabitants placed sacred relict) in front of their houses. Twenty-three shocks of earthquake ■were registered at Etna Observatory in eight hours. AN IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLE. INTENSE HEAT. Rome, March 27. The eruption of Mount Etna is the sequel to the abortivfe outbreak in iApril, 1908. The central crater is inactive. The spectacle at night is most impressive. A stream of lava several kilometres in length is first seen descending •like a burning rampart, whence cascades jpi fire are falling. The heat is so fierce that it is impossible to approach 'within forty yards. Detonations take place at intervals like gunfire; then rain and hail fall. Last night's reassuring reports of diminished activity continue, though the volume of lava near San Leo -has increased and caused great damage to property. THE DANGER PAST. Received Mareh 28, 9 p.m. Rome, March 28. The lava is diminishing. Its speed is now four metres an hour. The danger is past. SIXTY THOUSAND SIGHTSEERS. t Received March 29, 0.55 a.m. Rome, March 28. There are sijftv thousand sightseers at the foot of Mount Etna.