THE ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2413, 30 January 1909, Page 5

THE ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE

CROWDS DEMAND SHELTER. CHARGK.IT BY TIIOOPS. ROME, Jan. 28.--Crowds patrolled the streets of Do liamiova, Calabria., shouting, “TVe want shelter.” Troops charged them, 'killing and injuring several. THE MANSION HORSE FUND. (Received Jan. 29, 9.40 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 29. The Mansion House fund is now £l2-5,000. " - NEWS BY THE MAIL. DETAILS OF THE CATASTROPHE United Press Association, Copyright FREMANTLE, Jan. 29. People of the various Italian towns visited by the earthquake were asleep at the time of tlie shock. It came, without warning, a little after 5 in the morning. It lasted over 30 seconds, and literally swung the buildings out of perpendicular, and let them crash in a heap of ruins. Then came the tires and explosions of gasometers, and finally a huge tidal wave of liquid mud, which swept over the quays and engulfed the low-lying portions of the towns, drowning the miserable beings pinned beneath the ruined buildings. This is why no satisfactory estimate of the probable deaths has yet been made. A HELLISH SCENE. Here is a typical story told by a woman who reached Palermo from Messina:— “It was a hellish scene. We were still sleeping when we were suddenly awakened by a strange noise. The windows were all rattling and doors burst open with ,a bang. “Some of use were thrown out of bed by the violence of the shock. A deluge of rain was falling, and it was very dark. ‘Terremoto! terremoto!’ we shrieked, all shivering with terror, and scarcely half-clothed. “1 lied with my brother anti sister, but lost them in the street. Other people were running to and fro, crying desperately, shouting for help,. ■and invoking Madonna and the saints. “All round us were crumbling walls, crashing windows, and splintered woodwork. The water came up to our knees, and near the sea front all the streets were flooded with muddy water, which roared terribly and battered everything with incredible violence.”

A DOCTOR’S STATEMENT. A young doctor .at Messina, named Aliotto Rossi, tolls the following story:— “I rose early on Monday morning, intending to leave Messina by the early train. It was still dark, and 1 was waiting, ready to start, when the profound silence which precedes the dawn v, r as broken by an extraordinary noise. I can describe it as like the bursting of a thousand bombs. This was followed by rushing, torren--lia 1 rains. Then there was a sinister whistling, as if thousands of red-hot rods were hissing in icy water. “I did not realise what was happening until suddenly the violent rythmic movements of the surrounding Avails made me realise the awful fact that an earthquake Avas in progress. Around me splintered glass fell thickly. The roof burst, giving off thick clouds of choking dust, Avhich added to the horror of the situation, Avhile the ground Avas shaking by an extraordinary double movement as of rising and falling, Avhicli ITacl a peculiar effect, making me imagine that I Avas being seized suddenly Avith illness.

"For a moment I was in a dazed condition, till the thunder and falling stones from the crumbling Avails made mo realise that if I Avas to escape Avitli my life there Avas not a moment to be lost. I rushed into the room where my mother and sister slept, and succeeded, Avith the help of a strong cord, in rescuing, not only them, Imt 3G other people in the chvelling, Avho had giA'cn themselves .up for lost. Then, with the help of passing soldiers, I dragged out several avoid on and children from under the tottering Avails of half-destroyed palaces, Avliich soon after came doAvn with a

crash. “There Avere scenes' of indescribable horror. J.t Avas difficult to sec in the dust-laden half-darkness,, but at every turn one could not help noticing the ghastly spectacle of human limbs sticking out from a mass of ruins.

“Frenzied relatives, Avith bleeding hands, .sought to dig out dear ones from under fallen masonry, though often Avails Avlrich had not altogether collapsed fell down suddenly, and buried, them Avith their dead relatives in a common grave.

“All the Avhile shrieks and •imprecations Avere heard from miserable, raving fugitives, Avho rushed, half naked and bleeding, through the streets, appearing like spectres in the lurid atmosphere which began to. be lighted up by the fires Avhicli broke out among the ruins. “The Avaterpipes having been broken, the sufferings were intensified by lack of drinking water. Wo were

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driven to assuage the burning throat by rinsing our. mouth with sea-water, wherewith we washed even our wounds.

“All. this time there, was a most furious rain storm, which caine down like a waterspout, deluging the ruins, and eveii threatening unfortunate fugitives with drowning in the mire left by the receding sea. Finally we succeeded in reaching the English steamer Ebro.” FUGITIVES HALF DEMENTED. . Mogt of the fugitives who have given accounts of the catastrophe were too much under the impression of terror, and too full of their agonised search lor relatives who were lost to give any detailed narratives. SCENES OF -SAVAGERY—FIGHTING FOR j. 00.1). (Received Jan. 29, 5.40 p.m.) FREMANTLE,. Jan. 29. Frightful scenes of savagery- were witnessed. A crowd of persons of all descriptions and of every age, some naked, others half clothed, and nearly all injured, rushed to the Custom House. The officers were quite incapable of offering resistance to the' frenzied . mob/ Suddenly reports of revolvers rang out, and the people were fighting among themselves for a handful of'vegetables or a small piece of broad. From the deck of the steamer the sight of the fighting was terrifying. A SURVIVOR’S TERRIBLE STATEMENT.

Another aspect of the disaster is described by a chemist named Pulco, who was In a ferry boat. He was crossing in the early morning from Messina to Reggio. Suddenly a gale arose, bringing with it a huge sea. The boat seemed to be made of paper as it was dashed into the shore and swept back again by the receding wave. Most of the people on board were drowned, but the boat, by a curious chance floated and escaped with serious injury. - uleo and a few other survivors, after the first panic, made their way on shore to Messina, and found it like a city of the dead. There was nobody about, and the silence was only broken by the moans groans, and shrieks of the injured. Pulco and his companions tried to rescue some of them, but the task was beyond their powers, owing to the condition of the wrecked houses. RESCUE WORK BY RUSSIAN SAILORS.

The captain of the Russian cruiser Admiral Slakaroff tokl of a experience. After the- shock there were no fewer than four great waves in succession, the sea rising from 12 to 24 or even 30 feet. Ho saw a few survivors wandering about on shore half naked, starved, and mad with terror.

Under a bed miraculously lodged on a piece ol' wreckage two babies were found gravely playing with buttons. Many children were found clinging despairingly to the dead bodies of their mothers. The Russian sailors saved numbers of children, many of whom were babies, and carried them on board the vessel. Several were stricken with madness, land tottered DJi the deck shielding their heads with their arms as though still in the midst of falling masonry. In all the Russian sailors saved more than a thousand people in Messina. REGGIO’S FATE. Wrecked by the earthquake, and half obliterated by the sea, Reggio was forsaken for three whole days. It was only after the arrival of King Victor Emanuel that systematic rescue work was attempted. Every town within 2o miles had been wrecked. The Bank of Naples and the Bank of Italy were about the only buildings left standing in Reggio. The water supply had' completely disappeared, and no bread was available.