New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 6, 1923, Page 14

ETNA, THE WORLD'S GREATEST VOLCANO +Homer, Pindar, and Plato Wrote {hbont Ancient Volcanic Mountain’ Washington, D. C,, July 6—'"The newspapermen Who are writing hastily about Etna these days were scooped some years ago by at least three rather well known fellow crafts- men: Homer, Pindar and Plato,” says a bulletin from the Washington, D. C., headquarters of the National Geo- graphic society. “For this volcano, greatest in Europe and ranking with the greatest in the world, has been pouring out lava and ashes, destroy-| ing farms and villages and interest- ing philisophers and scientists aln(:fi‘ the world was young. Pindar was| the first writer to mention Etnus’ fires, in 474 B. C, and since that time more than 100 eruptions are said to have taken place. “A much more remote history of Etna has been pleced together by modern geologists who look upon the whole island of Sicily as a contribu-| tion from the great reservoir of mol-| ten material under the mountain. They picture a time when the sm} rolled over the site of Sicily. Then, presumably in the Pliocene, Etna's| tip emerged; and through the dKP" it has steadily built itself and Sicily| up. “Etna might be described in the terms of an Eastern retligion as both the Creator and the Destroyer. It has created Sicily; its disintegrated mm! has given a soll of matchiess fertility which supports rich vineyards and or- chards; and it has drawn to its slop in apite of obvious dangers, hundreds of thousands of tlllérs of the soll unrll their towns and villages. As one writ-| €r puts it ‘towns succeed towns along | its base like pearls in a necklace, and when a stream of lava effects a| breach in the chain of human hab-| {tations, it is clgsed up again as soon | as the lava has’ had time to cool.’ Many of the villages on the moun- tain's slope: are built almost exclu-| slvly from blocks of black lava, and have a somiber, depressing aspect in consequences “It is on ‘the lower slopes of Etna swhere tlme and weather have most | gompletely broken up and washed @own the amcient lava, that the cre- ative side of the voleano is best seen. Virtually the whole circuit is a gar- | csmble to watch its progress. | sparks | increased. and port of Catania, about 20 miles from the crater, has, on the other hand, been Etna’s chief victim, and is reputed to have suffered more from eruptions and earthquakes than any other place of importance in the world. Because of partlal destruction n 122, Rome remitted part of its es for a decade. There in 1169 the cathedral was overwhelmed by lava and its worshippers and bishop de- stroyed, In 1669 a river of lava rose above the 60-foot walls, ppured into the streets, destroyed a large part of the city, and, flowing into the sea, ruined the harbor. ' “The streams that have poured down Etna's sides during the past few days can hardly be different from the numerous preceding flows that have been so frequently described. The typical river of fire from Etna flows in a relatively narrow stream. It moves sufficiently slowly so that men and animals may keep out of its path, and large crowds of people as- Tt is a crowd of mixed emotions. Besides the small farmer, trembling lest the egtream destroy his valuable orchards, may kneel peasants from a threaten- ed village, weeping and praying that the flow be deflected, and tourists | from a far land viewing what can be to them a magnificent activity of Na- ture. Priests head processipns of the pious country folks; candles are light- ed, relics exhibited and altars set up. “‘Beneath the rays of the sun the stream seems black except when, like the crest of a breaker, the edge of the oncoming wave breaks disclosing the | angry, red interior and sending aloft as the falling material shat- ters on the ground. When night falls the same activity seems tremendously The stream is now a river of fire, a thlnx of fascinating but | eruel beauty." I'\RAZ"JA S PROSPEROUS Balance of Trade For Year of 1022 Shows Large Surplus, By The Associated Press. Rio de Janeiro, July 6.—Brazil's balance of trade for the year 1922, according to official figures published here, showed @& surplus of about 679,000 contos of reis or slightly less than a hundred million dollars. The balances were against the coun- try, which indicates a notable change {in the currents of foreign trade dur- ing the last year. ENGLAND WILLING TO AID By The Associated Press. London, July 6.—Officials here are at pains to make clear their eager- ness to cooperate with and assist the United States authorities in their pre- vention of the illegal importation of liquor. Experts from the treasury, SILVER [}T UF1918 NOT COMPLIED WITH }SO Declares Senator Pittman Author of the Law ‘Washington, July 6.—Important | revelations In connecton with silver purchases by the.government under the Pittman Silver Act of 1918, have been disclosed by Senator Key Pitt- man, of Nevada, chairman of the sub- committee of the senate commission of gold and silver inquiry, of which Senator Oddie of Nevada, is chairman, Shirts ARROW GORDON Our Price '$2.50 The tailored white Ox- ford Shirt, nationally advertised to sell for $3. Summarizing testimony of treasury | officlals and representatives of mining ahd smelting compantes, and an audit of records of purchases, Senator Pitt- man says the letter and spirit of the act heve not been complied with, Tt has’not been proven that all of the sliver sold to the government was do- mestically produced as required under the terms of the act. The smelting companies, handling the greater part of the silver, allowed the miner 5 cents an ounce under the theory that there was a treatment metal loss of 5 per cent while they deducted an ‘es- timated metal loss of only from one- fifth of one per cent to 2 per cent in determining the amount of silver presented for sale to the government at $1 per ounce. If these metal loss estimates are low, it must result in the sale of foreign origin contained in bullion composed of both foreign and domestically produud silver to the government. X As a result of the commission's in- vestigation, Senator Pittman has rec- ommended to thé treasury a metal loss of 6 per cent in refining as a basis of settlement. “This has been the practice In the mining industry sinee the incéption of the smelting business,” sald Senator Pittman, ‘“the miners being pald for 95 per cent of the stiver content of the ore on the theory that an average of 5 per cent was lost in reduction and refining. So-called treatment losses and gains are based upon estimates made by employes and managers of plants, who sometimes fudge in their desire to show greater gains or smaller losses, “The smelting companies stated that it was necessary to fix an arbi- trary average of 5 per cent, eaumued| loss 60 as to ba on the safe side. ‘Would the government be safe in ac- oepting any lower estimate in buying ore from the smelters, than the smelt- ers are willing to fix in buying ore from the miners? The treasury {s commanded by law to require proof of the American origin of the silver, apd in the absence of absolute proof, it 1s its duty to fix an estimated metal loss that will insure that the govern- ment does not purchase foreign sil- wver.” Senator Pittman referred to the im- practicability, it not impossibility, of the government checking up the es- timated losses and gains at individual plants, and said the 5 per cent deduc- tion should be proportioned between the forelgn and domestic silver pur- chased. “The smelting companies cannot be injured by this method, as if they have any gains over the § per BECKWITH’S _273 MAIN STREET — Announces A July Reduction Sale Not An Unloading of Cheap Goods Especially Purchased For Sale Purposes, But a Genuine Reduction of Natxonally Advertised and Dependable Merchandise. —STRAW HATS— $1.00 The justly famous Beckwith Straws that early in the season sold $2.00 for $2.50 to $1.00. NOW $1.50 'cln'. deduction charged the mi they have the open market on to sell such gains,” sald the senaton “Representatives of - smelting com= panies by thelr past actions, by their customs in purchasing from miners, and by testimony before the com~ mission, showed that no less dediloe tion than 5 per cent of metal loss 18 a safe basis upon which to buy silver in ores. The treasury should hold vendors of silver to settlement on the universal and accepted basis of 5 pey cent metal loss.” Subsequent to the hearing a come pany selling the second largest amount of silver under the Pittman Act has offered to settle with the gov ernment on the same basis it settled with the miner—j per cent metal loss Accountancy is now an open pro« fession to women in England. Neckwear The sort that you will be proud to wear Silk Wools ¢ Foulards 7% Knits 7 + Silks den apo]: of date |¥€Jms‘ rl]mnnna;- Ol |voard of trade and colontal and for- el ;,’::‘;'m_”";'s;m Bt troes.|elgn offices are continuing study of tbtably the bemutifully ordered filbert|tN® American lquor laws as applied Grelards near Castiglione—and a fors| O British ships to prepare a reply to est zone of chestnut, cork, pine and | Scoretary Hushes oak. Above 6300 feet is the region that fire has kept for its own domain ~—a dreary rough, black desert of lava | and ash. Down from this region and into the forest.and orchard and farm | | zones, tongues of moiten lava have| encroached at frequent intervals. These -are loft, significant warnings| of Etna's potentialities for destruc- tion, only se long as they must be,| Bome ent#rprising planters have blast- | ed holes in falrly recent lava flows| and have made the artificially frac- tured material support olive and al- I mond and citrus trees. “Few of the towns and villages near | Etna have escaped destruction or ger- | fous damage from one or more of th"’ numerous eruptions. | One town that seemingly lives a| charmed existence is Randazzo which, though less tham ten miles from the crater, has always escaped. The city UNDERWEAR Varsity ana Ries Now $1.00 LUGGAGE Traveling Bags HOSIERY Fashioned to Fit by FAULTLESS PAJAMAS The Night Wear of a nation. Specially Priced at $1.50 to $3.00 EMERY and ARROW SHIRTS Formerly $2 to $5 Now $1.50 * $4 THE BECKWITH COMPA —273 MAIN STREET— 65c $1.00 m Notaseme Suit Cases Belber Trunks $4.00 to $40.00 Monito 25¢ to 95¢ Soothe baby’s moist, easily-chafed skin with Baby Powder Bostiir Babi-BostfrXoa Ty the Drug Store First EXTRA SPECIALS FOR SATURDAY AT SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! &£ DRIVE FOR “BETTER HOMES” IS NOW ON WIRE YOUR HOUSE—MAKE IT A HOME DO IT NOW \\\\\\\\\\\hlul//// hy /. Z E 424 MAIN STREET OPP. EAST MAIN STREET.E .. 3 Ibs. 25¢ 17¢ 1b. 5¢ 1b. 10c 1b. 14c¢ 1b. 15¢ 1b. 14¢ Ib. 20¢ 1b. 5¢ 1b. Besit Hamburg’ @teak Sirloin Short Steak .... Lean Plate Beef o Lean Pot Roast Beef ..... o Shoulder Roast Beef ... .. Shoulder Steak Whele Shoulder Clod . Best Ribs Roast Beef . ... Sugar Cured Corned Beef Boneless Brisket Corned Beef Best. Frankfurts H..L. Handy’s Cottage Hams H. L. Handy’s Smoked Shoulders . . .. H. L. Handy’s Bacon ......... Large Roasting Chickens . . Small Stewing Fowls . .. 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