To Drain a Volcano

In the Alban Mountains, 300 feet beneath the placid waves of the Lago di Nemi,* there are known to rest two gorgeous pleasure barges built for the mad Emperor Caligula, loaded with many of his treasures and sunk inexplicably in this volcanic lake. Last week Premier Mussolini ordered the Ministry of Public Instruction to take steps for the recovery of these galleys. Experts opined that the only feasible method will be to tunnel into the side of the extinct volcano of which the Lago di Nemi is the crater, and thus drain off the deep water which thwarted two previous attempts by divers and grapples (1895 and 1904).

*Lake of the Sacred Grove of Diana.