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.

While the priest was performing his sacred office the roof fell in and
all who were not killed were badly injured. These unfortunates were
for hours without surgical or medical assistance. The only thing left
standing in the church was a statue of St. Anne, the preservation of
which the poor, homeless people accepted as a miracle and promise of
deliverance from their peril.

A runaway train from San Guiseppe for Naples was derailed, owing to
showers of stones from the crater. At some points near the mountain it
was estimated that the sands and ashes reached a height of nearly 150
feet.

San Georgio, Cremona, Somma Vesuviana, Resina and other inland and
coast towns not mentioned above, also suffered terrible devastation.

The most of the buildings in the villages were of flimsy construction
with flat roofs and so were but poorly calculated to bear the weight
of ashes and cinders that fell upon them. Inevitably it was found that
a considerable number of persons perished by the falling of their
homes.

National and local authorities from the first evidences of danger
attempted the evacuation of the threatened villages and towns, but
adequate means to transport the inhabitants were lacking, although
thousands of soldiers with artillery carts had been sent to the places
where the sufferers were most in need of assistance.

At many places the people were suffering from panic and a state of
great confusion