THE ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10060, 30 January 1909, Page 4

THE ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.

[Bv Klkcthh: Tklegraph.—CoiTmcarr.] (Pee Pbess Association.) Received January 29. at 5.45 p.m. Fremantle, January 29. Scenes of savagery were witnessed during the panic which followed the earthquake. A crowd of persons of ail descriptions and every age, some naked and other halfclothed; nearly all injured, rushed to the Customs oliicers. who were quite unable to otfer "resistance to the frenzied mob. Suddenly reports of revolvers rang out, and the people were seen fighting among themselves for a handful of vegetables or a small piece of bread. From the deck of a steamer the sight of the fightiug was terrifying. Another aspect of the disaster is descriljod by a chemist named Pulco. who was iu a ferry boat. lie wai> crossing in the early morning from Messina to j I'eggio. when 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 .sea. Most- of the people on lx>ard were" drowned, but the lx>nt. by a curious chance, floated and escaped serious injury. Pulco and a few of the other survivors, after the first panic, made their way on shore to Messina, and found it like a city of dead. There was nobody about, and the profound silence was only broken by moans, groans, and shrieks of the injured. Puico and his companions tried to rescue some of them, but the ta.sk was beyond their powers owing to the condition of the wrecked houses. The captain of the Uussian steamer Admiral Makarotf tolrl of similar experiences. After the shock there were no fewer than four great waves in succession, the sea rising from 12 to 25 feet, even to 60 feet. He saw u few survivor* wandering about thesiiort half-naked, starved and mad with terror. l"n<kr a bed miraculously lodged <m a pic:_-e of wreckage were two babies, 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. Several of the survivors were stricken with madness, and tottered on deck, shielding their heads with their arms, as though still iu the midst of falling masonry. Iu all. the Kussian sailors saved more than a thousand people in Messina, which was wrecked by the earthquake and half obliterated by the sea. Keggio was forsaken for three whole days, and it was only after the arrival of King Victor that systematic rescue work was attempted. Kvery town within 25 miles was wrecked. The Hank of Naples and the Bank of Italy were among the only buildings left standing in Keggio. The water supply disappeared completely, and no bread was available.