Vesuvius 1944

Mt. Vesuvius, one of the land marks of the world, breaks into active eruption. Restive since its last marked violence in 1906, the volcano proceeds to make up for lost time. Clouds of gray sulphur smoke darken the sky. Rivers of molten lava roll off the crater, and down the slopes, at a temperature of 2,500 degrees. Walls of lave, 25 feet in height, move 12 feet a minute. Orchards and vineyards are frizzled. The lava reaches the town of San Sebastiano (which nestles on the mountainäó»s side), and stone structures are pushed over like house-of-cards, then crushed. Frantic citizens race about, moving their belongings, helpless to resist the oncoming walls of fire. The patron Saints are appealed to, steam issues from fissures in the street, statues are pushed over, and the people are panic stricken. Then the good offices of AMG steps in and feeds and cares for them. Within a radius of 30 miles, lava ash covers the countryside, as though a sand storm had gone berserk. G Iäó»s and Italians shovel and bulldoze the ashes out of the streets to make them passable. We look back at Vesuvius and it is still belchingäóîits smoke plume towering in the sky, mute, mysterious symbol of the destructive forces in nature. Mt. Vesuvius, one of the land marks of the world, breaks into active eruption. Restive since its last marked violence in 1906, the volcano proceeds to make up for lost time. Clouds of gray sulphur smoke darken the sky. Rivers of molten lava roll off the crater, and down the slopes, at a temperature of 2,500 degrees. Walls of lave, 25 feet in height, move 12 feet a minute. Orchards and vineyards are frizzled. The lava reaches the town of San Sebastiano (which nestles on the mountainäó»s side), and stone structures are pushed over like house-of-cards, then crushed. Frantic citizens race about, moving their belongings, helpless to resist the oncoming walls of fire. The patron Saints are appealed to, steam issues from fissures in the street, statues are pushed over, and the people are panic stricken. Then the good offices of AMG steps in and feeds and cares for them. Within a radius of 30 miles, lava ash covers the countryside, as though a sand storm had gone berserk. G Iäó»s and Italians shovel and bulldoze the ashes out of the streets to make them passable. We look back at Vesuvius and it is still belchingäóîits smoke plume towering in the sky, mute, mysterious symbol of the destructive forces in nature.