ERUPTION OF ETNA.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15270, 21 June 1923, Page 5

ERUPTION OF ETNA.

LAVA STILL ADVANCING. GREAT CASCADE 01* FIRE. FORESTS IN FLAMES. Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn. ROME, June 19. The fury of the eruption of Etna showed no sign of abatement to-day. The flow of lava is aided by new craters on the western slopes* particularly by the caving-in of the side crust of the crater which was active 45 years ago, three miles from the central crater. The seriousness of the situation is shown by the fact that the Prime Minister, Signor Mussolini, who was in Florence, has hurriedly returned to Rome to organise relief, and King Victor is proceeding by special train to Sicily to lead in the rescue work on the spot. The eruption is a splendid but terrible spectacle throughout Southern Italy. The glow of the burning mountain can be seen from Naples, which Is 200 miles away, and the actual flames shooting into the air can be seen at a distance of 80 miles. Like Roar of Great Guns.

Deafening reports, resembling the roar of great guns, can be heard all over the province. The horrible aspect of the disaster for Sicilians is the continuous rain of cinders, which ignite anything they touch. Thus the forest of Gastiglione was destroyed in. a few hours. The molten lava burnt the roots of trees, and then flames caught the branches until the desolation was complete.

Despite the horrors that threatened their district, the peasants were strangely reluctant to leave their homes. Thousands of inhabitants at Linguaglossa and Gastiglione had to be forcibly driven from their homes, as they refused to believe that death and destruction could be so near, though the lava stream was at their very gatos, and the first houses were crumbling in the path of the creeping lava.

When the people became frenzied with fear they stayed praying in their churches, or brought out statues Of saints and placed them in the path of tlie oncoming lava, kneeling in the roadways while priests called upon heaven to stem the awful flood. Every form' of invocation and prayer was to be heard, and the priests often had the greatest difficulty in shepherding their charges back to safety. Peasants Acclaim a Miracle.

In one case the prayers seemed likely to be miraculously answered. When the first of Linguaglossa were tumbling into the lava flood there seemed to be a chance that the town would be saved. Ry a strange freak the lava stream divided into two arms. Peasants insisted that this was due to Saint Egidio, whose statue had been carried to the stream. The town of Giarre had a terrific experience. The frightened townsfolk had collected a few belongings, and were on the point of fleeing for their lives when a rain of hot stones flung up from the crater fell. There was a rush for safely indoors, though some of the stones, which weighed over 21b, came crashing through roofs. When the rain of stones, ceased the people fled to Riposto.

Practically all the inhabitants in the threatened area are now aware of the danger of continuing near the eruption, and are trekking to the coast and Messina. The roads are choked with a medley of homeless men, women and children carrying bundles and pushing handcarts. Lava Almost Reaches Coast.

Apart from the destruction of towns, the countryside laid waste includes some of the most fertile land in Sicily. Between Mount Hosso and Mount Uoselle there is a miniature plateau from which lava dropped a sheer 200 ft like a waterfall of Are into the wooded countryside- below. The trees were quickly ablaze, and as the lava collected among the blazing timber the place looked like a lake of fire fed by a cascade of burning lava. The course of the lava is nearly the same as that in September, 1911, which wrecked the railway near Castiglione. - The lava has already spread almost to the sea,, and' Villages between the mountain and the coast arc obliterated. Wells for miles around the mountain have been dried up, aud the heat i 3 intense. During eruptions in recent years sellers of ices and cooling drinks made big profits, and plied a thriving trade Within a few hundred yards of the lava slream, moving their pitches as the lava advanced, but there is nothing of this kind now. Everyone is putting as much space between hyiisclf and Etna as possible. European geologists, discussing the cause of the disaster, point out that along with the news from Etna comes a report of ah earlhcpjako at Rangoon.' Both places lie along the line of weakness which geologists call Llbbey's Circle. A strange episode of the Etna eruption is reported from Linguaglossa. While the people were carrying the staff of Saint Egidio in procession in the hope that it would stay the Hood of lava, the . people of Castiglione marched to Linguaglossa in a body and seized the staff, with the intention of carrying it for use in their own town. The'conllict that followed was so serious that military were called in to separate the combatants. Meanwhile the bishop arrived and took possession of 'the holy staff. The Government has despatched a squadron of aeroplanes to approach Etna from the air and report what steps can be taken to help the population.

Thc Pope has sent 1,000,000 lire for relief missions.