Complete Story of the San Francisco HorrorWhite, Trumbull
History
Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror
White, Trumbull
Disasters; Earthquakes; San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906; Vesuvius (Italy) -- Eruption, 1906; Volcanoes
The visit of the King and Queen of Italy and the Duke of Aosta to the
town caused a rumor to be started by the excited people, and
particularly among the panic-stricken women, that their presence had
resulted in a miracle, and, singularly enough, shortly after the
arrival of the sovereigns, and while the King and Queen were trying to
console the people, repeating frequently, "Courage! Be strong!" the
wind suddenly changed and the atmosphere, which up to that moment had
been impregnated with sulphurous gas and suffocating fumes, cleared
away and the sun burst forth. The stream of lava stopped its march,
after having destroyed a section of the northeast part of the suburb.
The air rang with benedictions for the King from his devoted subjects.
Hope at once returned and the King and Queen were preparing to move
on, but the people insisted that they remain, begging that they be not
abandoned. The King and Queen wished to visit Torre Del Greco, which
is only seven miles distant from Naples, and was also in danger of
being wiped out, and the people fled from it in dismay, amid a
continued fall of sand and ashes, to points of reputed safety. This
village had been eight times destroyed and as often rebuilt. A violent
storm of sulphurous rain occurred at San Giuseppe, Vesuviana and
Saviano.
The town of Nola, an old place of 15,000 inhabitants, twenty-two miles
from Naples, was almost buried under the shower of ashes coming from
the crater, which were carried by the wind as far as the Adriatic sea.
The inhabitants of the country in the vicinity of Caserta, a place of
about 35,000 people, and termed the Versailles of Naples, were also
endangered by cinder ashes and flowing lava.
The village of San Gennaro was partially buried in sand and ashes and
several houses were crushed. At that place three persons were killed
and more than twenty injured.
Sarno, Portici, Ciricello, Poggio and Morino became practically
uninhabitable because of the ashes and fumes, and the people fled from
the town. At Sarno three churches and the municipal buildings
collapsed. The sand and cinders were six feet deep there and all the
inhabitants sought safety in flight.
Sarno is a town of some 10,000 people and is situated about ten miles
east of Mount Vesuvius. It contains an old castle, some sulphur baths
and manufactories of paper, copper wares, cotton goods and silk
fabrics.
Almost equal to the devastation wrought by the lava was the damage
done by cinders and ashes, which in incredible quantities had been
carried great distances. This has caused the practical destruction of
San Guiseppe, a place of 6,000 inhabitants. All but 200 of the people
had fled from there and of these 200 who had assembled in a church to
attend mass about 100 were killed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account