The Gavelyte, December 1910

1, 1 1 h 1 d h ,d ind Corl h lw t Wt"ll the wnllH of t ht> arl'na; j111-1t th ·n th!' N azninP 11 •ti·lwd his h:m I upwirnl. pointing to V •suvim1 Hhout d, "Behold, c;od protects ht 1l\\ n. · · . . 'I hi· ,•ni,HI hiok •cl townrdH \ t•suv1us, out of 1t1-1 mouth cam cloud!:! of smok1•, fll"(' nnd :,;.;hl's, .\not hl•r p •nl of thunder was heard. No long r were the Jwiipk ,-ili•nl a11(l sltll, :mfl'ty for them8elv s was t~C'ir onl thot. 1.._, 11 tramp! d rC'<'klcssly ov r th fall n amidst groans, and oaths, and pra, •r.· nnd 1 ,,udd •n shl'i ks, the va t cr.)wd ru 0 hed from the arena. · y , Gods. how th, thick clouds of ashes and smoke swept down upon us and tnrm•d th noon into ha ·tly night. \ hen one, out of the ar na my only thot was of where I might go to escape this shower of ashe and fir . It was black as night! I could not see! Only on 't' in awhile the .nake-like lightning darted through the clouds of smoke and light d up the whole city from arch to arch, thus suddenly dying into blackn s again. Th a he. in plac s were already knee deep. The boiling showers of lava and st am from the volcano forced their way into the houses. Immense frag– ment of rock were hurled upon the houses and crushed theM in, the streets were being filled with ashes, rock and the boiling lava. In the pauses of the showers you could hear the rumbling of the earth be– neath and the groaning of the waves of the sea and the grinding and hissing murmur of the escaping gases. fany people were seeking shelter in caves and within their homes but I was making my way to the sea as quickly as possible, for I thot perhaps I might find some boat and be carried away from this terrible torment. The houses were beginning to take fire from the showers of sparks and burning cinders. My feet were burned by the scorching cinders, my body was tom and bruised by the pieces of rock flying through the air. Oh liercules ! the horror of it all! I can hear the hopeless shrieks of the men and women yet, and the falling of stones, the rumbling of the earthquake and the buildings crashing into pieces. My breath would not come, the gases almost suffocated me, every inch of my body seemed to be on fire, the hot cinders and sparks were flying all ab t me. Fighting my way to the sea I stumbled over bodies of men, pieces of rock, waded through hot ashes and cinuers. Several ships were in the harbor. I was helped into the boat where faint_ from my wounds and exhaustion I lay unconscious all night. When I regained my senses I saw all about me men, women and children terribly wounded. We were out at sea, everything was bright and clear but in the distance could be seen smoke pouring out Vesuvius. My heart sickened within as I thot of the thousands buried amid the ruins of Pompeii. ever have I_ been able to free my brain of the horrible screams of the P~OJ?le and t~e ~nghtened ro~r of the lion at the wild-beast fight and the horrible b1~smg, shne~mg, rumblmg sounds of that horrible day where I last witnessed a wild-beast fight.