APPALLING CATASTROPHE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 312, 31 December 1908, Page 2

APPALLING CATASTROPHE

[By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright.)

MESSINA PRACTICALLY BE- • STKOYED. nSHJXG ELEETS AND .STEAMEKN SUNK. Home, December 20. It is officially reported that Messina Ims been practically destroyed. The town hull, churches, and other buildings collapsed at Trbacria. A hotel at Messina, will) the staff and ninety visitors, was destroyed, and fell like a pack of cards. The thousands of dead include the General in command of the garrison and the Archbishop. British warships have gone to Messina to oiler relief. Hurrying troops were compelled to shoot pillagers. Eire destroyed the prisons, and the prisoners escaped. Several barracks collapsed. Four thousand troops have start ..1 from Home for Messina. The Pope is greatly distressed. Ho wished to go to the scene, but the doctors forbade him owing to his health. The majority of the villages bordering on the Messina Strait have been destroyed. There arc huinlre.is of victims in Calabria and 000 at Palini. ~* Eive hundred fishing boats and three steamers nave been sunk at Catanias. It is feared thai fceggio, a town in Calabria, has been destroyed. M. Caruso, the great singer, who is in New York, has sent xoW for the sufferers.

PANIC INDESCRIBABLE. CROWDS OF SURVIVORS DRIVEN INSANE. DEAD COUNTED IN THOUSANDS. Received 3(1, 0.30 p.m. Rome, December 30. Details are hourly arriving by wireless telegraphy and show that Ue catastrophe was unprecedented. Lighthouses along the devastated

coasts are unworkable, and navigation <s impossible at night, and dangerous by day.

Relugees declare that Kcggio, An-io-vanne, Scilla, Ca.iailello, and all communes and villages along the straits are a heap of rniib, burying innumerable wctiuis.

-Ur. Ogston, British Consul at Messina .was rescued with his dangnter, but ins « He penslicd.

»a.K. J.1 ß .y , VUJU l t .|. amon Uu , ru]il , ille I' aui « Hfuughout Calabria vvas almost, iuclescribabj?. vaulum »»» i'itlmi and Uagaara are urautimlh «ajj.l"ls liave been aeut to Messimi •

PITIABLE SCENES. ' INVOKING OS GOD. i Received 30, 10.50 p.m. ' M lmow, Catron, Saute Scvcrina unl necked churches and took statue, of the samts and carried the procession il 'e open country, where L X mercy of Cod in a downpour i

an7K a K,I ' g km ™ UlKl t0 tcKff?' r iDg I)rove ' nted *''<"» soi",

AI'PALLIXC, ACCOUNTS.

UAS 'mv Si^ U Nol ™ 10 fUE SCENES ENACTED.

TUULVVAV M?E^'«

Received at), i 0.05 j,.,,,, Ilnt,:«nn ■ ltome > Member 30. -Kifiigees give appallin.r account. ~f tl'c disaster. IW sav Dr, e™ w " ves i rai,, ,„i -, ' "a-iies Inferno Messina nVV" ul ° a of «'« ««■■«» at Utssiiu early m the morning, when "'c town was almost uprooted k '»' "'stantly killed fo,„,d i-muSv ,ff °» ""dulating floors amid t H - houses, with L ■ th own down in all directions. iinTO . Slrea '"" of in >'«" Z s 'i c " sh'vormg in the torrential rain SiJ-'uor Fulei, member of the late Zen- : lrt f llC e bur d »> the ruins of their house.

■I'M- COA,STLL\ K CUAXGiJD.

THE KlXfi'S RESPOXSi;

Received Jill, 0.2.) ~.,„_ T ,„ .. , Bo ''"'. December 30. (he rail's T'u° i '"" n '' l l) "' "1""* » f coastUnc! ilMi " m I,ml visions and medical supplies."" J> '°'

TKRIUJSLE DICATH-RoU, TURKIC PROVINCES DEVASTATICD. linx EVERYWHERE. UA.\IA<.E (IIA.N KARTllqi;,\ke. lieceived ;)0, <).->:, |,., n , 1',.,,i • , , . Umlu "' I'i'ceniber :l(l. > Hers latest report shows that the Us nun,her im,oo\l, while the numbei ot people injured is even -renter hree provinces of Calabria are all UU\u.sUUi. l U 1

Messina is ],ractieally d,,trovcd, and rain is even-when. ;,, ti, ' .' provim-es, ' ' ' ' sl "™» Illl "8

Since the area of the disturbance Is aigor than in 1!)(|,-, and the violence "of the .shocks more intense, survivors dread ••"> upheaval similar ,„ j|,. lt W liu-Ii overwhelmed ■Pompeii and ll.veulaneum. A tidal wave Soft hhjh overwhelmed everything for over (itio yards inland at -lessiua and Kiposlo. causing greaterdestruction than the earthouake Troops and volunteer., succeeded in extinguishing the tires in Messina and ! restoring comparative order. KIKES IXCKEASIC THE HORRORS. LOOTERS SHOT~nv THE TROOPS 1 . I VOLCANO SHOWING GREAT j ACTIVITY. VIOLENCE OE THE SHAKES. Received 30, 11.5 p.m. , Ijnnii", December 3f>. I

- v ■» 1!E ITALIAN EARTHQUAKES C'TlEal UPROOTED OVER mm PEOPLE PERISH TIDAL WAVES SWEEP THE COAST i TERRIBLE SCENES

IPOSITIUN OF Vthe STKAITS ' ALTERED.

! ASSISTING THE SUFFERERS,

AUSTRALIAN CONDOLENCE

THE DEVASTATED CITY OF MESSINA.

PREVIOUS DISASTER. On September Bth, 1005, .. ■ ',: ml earthquake shock was felt over a wide, area in Southern Italy. In Calabria the visitation was severe, and the towns of Pizzo, Monteleone mid Martirano were wrecked, whist others received considerable damage. .Many villages were practically destroyed, and the number' of person's killed was estimated at 2000. The disturbance was distinctly felt a! Messina. The day following Calabria was visited by further shocks, although' not so violent. On succeeding days additional shocks occurred, and thongi I not of a very serious character they were sufficient to keep the inhabitant)) in a state of alarm. Further dnma'pe

was reported from several places. The telegraph station at Coscnza was shaken lo suc-h an extent as to become uninhabitable. I.i Nevada, a new volcano ejecting lava was discovered liy some cattlemen, who had never previously observed such an occurrence in t lie- locality. """"■ The year 1900 was noted for the qic-

eession of disasters that, earthquakes were responsible for. In Tunis, the peninsula of Athos. in various p-.rts of England, in India, and Naples, dimage was done. Early in April that year 'Vesuvius developed remarkable activity. People living near the fool, of the mountain bad to (lee for their lives. The lava spread over an enormous area, and

I did considerable damage. A nmnlw'v n f j lives were Inst. Naples was visited bv earthquake shocks, and on the niplij of I Wil 71 h the side of (he cone of T fauns subsided, and immense stream I nf | lava poured down the mountain, aeiOmpanicd liy the usual electrical ptnWf niena. thunder and lightning. BonljerJ and fiery scoriae were ejected from ftho crater on a scale of grandeur certainly I lA' ''■''''

c<l the. town and pillaged the dead until the soldiers were directed to shoot them. Etmij showed considerable activity, thus increasing the panic, tliongh scientists ,1„ not. anticipate a great eruption alter the violence of the earthquake. I -urge, todies of troops are assisting in the icscue work. The heroism of tlie rescuer* has been attended with some fatalities.

All the finest palaces, churches, then/res, and villas are a heap of ruins, eoviHng decomposing bodies. lie officers of the warship Supio declarj that half the people of Messina pcri|hed. M übout half-past 5 the sea became terilbly rough, rocking the ships yioienjly. Suddenly an enormous wave swot down the strait, devastating the coi'H, damaging vessels, and destroying tin! quays and docks.

THE LATEST NEWS. MORTALITY ESTIMATED AT 120,000.

: Received 31, 0.30 a.m. I Rome, December 30. ■jomc accounts estimate the mortality in Sicily and Calabria at 120,000. jl is reported that 70 English and 43 Hj'rnuin visitors were buried in the hotel ruins at .Messina. ft is reported that a whirlpool at Cllarybdis shifted the position of the sljuits of .Uessina, which are much ohstjucted. I SEISIIOGRAPIUC RECORDS. ' Received 31, 1.10 a.m. i Perth, Last Night. (The first preliminary tremors of the eirthquakc leached the seismograph at rfcrlh observatory at lour minutes past It on the 2Hth. The vibration continued to affect the instruments for 47 minutes, when the second and more intense series arrived. There appears to have bean two periods of maximum intensity. They reached Perth at 12.32 and 1.10 p.m., corresponding with 3.r>2 and U.lO a.m. European time. The hist trace occurred at 2.18, corresponding with 7.18 Italian time.

Received 30, 11.3 p.m. Sydney. Night. ; The seismographic records at the objervatory disclose no traces of tho Italian earthquake.

I FUNDS OPENED IN AUSTRALIA. I Received 31, 0.20 a.m. L Sydney, Last Night] r Italian residents have opened a fund ,'to assist the sufferers from the carth■ijuakc. Funds are being opened in other ic-ities.

Received 31, 0.20 a.m. Melbourne, Last Night. .Mr. Fisher, federal Prime Minister, ami Sir Thomas Bent have forwarded messages, of. condolence to the ItjjW(h Consul in (•omiucliou \vitfj._j- u **"*™% f "~

AN IMPORTANT SEAPORT. Messina is a city ..with a population of about a hundred tlhousund, mid is a seaport capital of the province of Messina in Sicily. It is situated on the Straits of Messina, at that point about two -milns wide. It is situaled| >j>n «.'

splendid liarbor formed by a peninsula in the shape of a sickle, with mountains towering in the immediate background, and its streets command superb views of the Calabrian mainland. There is little in the appearance of Messina to reflect the great antiquity of the town, which has been a sufferer by earthquake and other calamitous visitations. It is well laid out, with broad thoroughfares paved with blocks of lava. A line esplanade skirts the sea. The principal open places are the Cathedral Squaw. with a handsome fountain, and the Piazza Dell'-Annunziata, with a statue of Don- John of Austria. Among the interesting edifices are the cruciform Nonnau cathedral, of whose original structure little now remains; the Church of Santa Maddalcna, the fine Palazzo Municipale, the Villa Hoi.'ca| Guelfonia, and the municipal hospital, a vast and venerable pile. The old citadel which defended the harbor has been demolished. The uui : vcrsity, dating from the sixteenth century, has about 050 pupils. Messina is, next to Palermo, the most important commercial city of Sicily, and its harbor presents a scone of extraordinary animation.

Messina has enjoyed a reputation for its silk fabrics, and the fisheries are important. The town is the seat of an archbishop,

OTHER DIG TOWNS DESTROYED. Catauzaro is the capital of the province of Catauzaro, and is situated on a mountain near the Gulf of Squillaee. The population of the commune was given as 31,81)0 in 1001. Many of its principal buildings were destroyed by (lie cailliqttakc in 178-1, but anions those which survived was the Cathedral. The city was visited again by a disas trons earthquake in September, 1005. Ri'ggio di Calabria lies about eightf miles south-east of the city of Messina, though it is on the Italian side of thl strait. It was picturesquely situated and was well built, wilb broad streel.i and fine villas which have been com strueted since flic, terrible earthquakt of 1753. Its principal objects of intieri est were the cathedral, the municipal museum, containing a fine collection of antiquities, nnd a statue of Garibaldi Rhcgium was one of the most flourish* ing of the cities planted by tho Greek I in southern Italy. The population ») the commune in 1901 was given aj 44.015.