REMORSELESS STREAM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 507, 9 November 1928, Page 1

REMORSELESS STREAM

Bells Toll Mascali’s Doom

Towns Deserted Before Lava’s Advance

FIVE SWALLOWED UP IN FIERY TORRENT

(United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Received 1.45 p.m. ROME, Thursday. F[E lava torrent from Mount Etna is rushing on remorselessly. There are no signs of its abatement. It is becoming hotter and more liquid. The town of Mascali is now completely obliterated. The last sound from the doomed town was the mournful tolling of the bells as the church belfry swayed violently before its collapse.

After overwhelming Mascali, the lava split up into three streams. Two of these later reunited, and are now advancing at the rate of approximately 75 yards an hour. The important centres of Giarre, Biofreddo and Carrabba are all partially evacuated. Meanwhile the third stream is on the point of wiping out the smal\ \illage of Carrabba, which is already deserted. Trenches have been dug and barriers thrown up in the hope of diverting the red-hot mass from Giarre, the most fertile and richest of the districts, which is definitely threatened. Professor Ponte, director of the Etna Observatory, has telegraphed to Signor Mussolini, saying that the eruptions of 1910-11 lasted a fortnight, but the present outburst is far more violent and must extend much longer. AIRPLANES ON WATCH Two airplanes are circling the summit and signalling any new phenomena. It is announced that a rain of stones and cinders has begun, accompanied by explosions which can be heard all over the district, like the roar of artillery. It is now revealed that three men were incinerated in a farmhouse at Mascali. They had cleared out the women and children and. .were preparing to leave when the boiling lava encircled the building, which collapsed like a house of qkrefs. A vast crowd ■ assembled, but none eouitf rdaCh thC Tireii before they were swallowed ~ 'up., Animals, are. reacting to the catastrophe- etraugely. Cats jump boldly into the'advancing incandescent mass, and are instantly incinerated. Birds fly low over it, uttering mournful death songs before fluttering downward to destruction. Only dogs remain normal, barking violently as at the approach of an enemy. The evacuation of the villages is being carried out with wonderful discipline and calm, each family following the cart containing their few effects. .. One -young widow tramped alongside

the coffin of her recently dead husband. Large wood and orange groves have been blotted out over a wide area. The Minister of Works is superintending the evacuation. Detachments of troops are also helping, using explosives to form great holes in the mountainside to attempt to check the progress of the lava. WHITE-HOT BOULDERS In addition to the lava incandescent boulders are now being vomited from the crater. Some measure 10 cubic feet, and constitute a grave menace to the water pipes, none of which can withstand such a terrific impact should they be struck. Among the victims are an old couple who were living in a lonely cottage amid the orange groves. They lingered, hoping to be spared, but suddenly the lava speeded toward the cottage, and the occupants disappeared in a stream of fire. The number of Mascali’s homeless exceds 10,000. They are in a pitiable condition despite the efforts to alleviate distress. The authorities at Catania have decided to attempt to divert the main torrent of lava from Mount Etna by opening up an artificial outlet to the sea and thus save Fiumefreddo and Caltabiano. Five hundred army engineers, assisted by many gangs of workers, will e ndeavour to divert the lava stream along a course to be made by blasting the roads with-tons of. dynamite* - About 80 eruptions of Mount Etna are recorded in history, the earliest being in 476 or 477 B.C. An eYuption in 1792 continued for a whole year. The streams of lava which flowed down the mountain side on that occasion were often 30 feet deep while in their fluid state. In the eruption of 1832 nuremous small craters Opened in the sides of Mount Etna, from which, to the accompaniment of violent explosions and tremendous discharges of ashes and cinders, issued a stream of lava 18 miles long, a mile wide and 30 feet deep. The eruption of 1669 hurled lava into Catania, a part of which was destroyed. Another eruption in 1693, which was accompanied by terrifying earthquakes, is said to have cost nearly 60,000 lives.