THE MESSINA CATASTROPHE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 320, 11 January 1909, Page 4

THE MESSINA CATASTROPHE

IMPRESSIONS OF A RECENT VISITOR. Those who have had the privilege of travelling around the picturesque coastline of Southern Italy, and through the charming Straits of Messina, will read tlie graphic and painful tidings of the terrible catastrophe which has overtaken the country with special and peculiar regret (writes the Rev. E. Carruthers in the Sydney Telegraph). On the whole voyage from Australia to England there is no coastal scenery to compare for variety and beauty with that presented by the part that' has within the past week been rent by earthquake, deluged by sea, and laid waste by lire. Early i n the month of -May last—the Italian spring—a party of us stood on the deck of the Ortona entranced by the panorama that unfolded itself as we steamed round the Calabriau coast, entered the Straits of Messina, passed through the classic portal of Srylla, and headed out into the under Stromboli to Naples. From the time we got within .-sight of lieggio until we had left Messilia well behind, few of the passengers Imtl eyes or heart for anything other than the rapturous scenery. On the Italian shore the high and rugged mountains formed a striking background. The higher peaks were capped with .snow glistening in the sunlight. The spurs were mostly terraced and cultivated, and the vallegs and gorges were made to render subsistence to the population so far as could be done by the utilisation of every available foot of laud.

It was an object-lesson to us all in intense cultivation. In the clear Italian light, and witli all the rich tints of a .Mediterranean springtime, the effect was charming in the extreme. The population was comparatively dense. Towns and cities occurred at'i.ilcrvals of a few miles, and villages clustered on the hillsides and away up the spurs, in some instances crowning an apparently rugged peak, like an eagle eyrie up in the clouds.- The railway line skirti.i" the coast was also an object of interest. It r't" mostly just above the sea level, the line piercing the hills in tunnels, or carried over wide and rapid waterways by substantial bridges. Several trains passed in one direction or other (hiring the afternoon; and our ship was so close in-shore that their movements were watched with eager interest, lieggio especially attracted attention. It was the ancient Rhegium at which the Apostle Paul touched on his voyage to Rome, and this historic incident came more within the range of the general knowledge of the passengers than any other circumstance, connected with the che(|Uered career of the ancient citv. There it stood, with its solid background of mountains and its open front to the sea. Its principal buildings, including its line cathedral, its imposing public offices, and its grand hotels, were plainly visible; and from tho city proper there radiated a line of suburbs running to the right and left, and together accounting for a population of 30,000 persons. To our left lay the island of Sicily, the most prominent feature of which is Mount Etna, 11,000 ft high. As we looked ■upon its colossal form it wore a robe of snow, while from its crater there ascended a curling column of smoke —a significant token of the mightly forces at work within its bosom, and capable (it any moment of untold mischief to the surrounding country. About 0 o'clock we were, in the Straits of Messina. We had rounded the toe of the boot of the Italian Peninsula, and only a mile or two of water separated us from the two Sicilies, as for a long period they were geographically described. On the Italian shore still there was intense cultivation, picturesque slopes, ragged peaks, and continuous settlement, willi villas, castles, and monasteries Interspersed amongst the tliickly-plaeed villages and towns on the Sicilian side; the town of .Messina occupied the sea front, and stretched for two or three miles right up to the head of the -Straits. It also had a mountainous background, but the mountain was more thickly wooded, and there were not the same evidences of intense culture. We passed more closely to Messina than we had. done, to Reggie, or the oilier towns on the. Italian shore. Moreover, if was lareer and more imposing that any of Ihem. Its population, we were told, was 100.000. and it. was the seal of a university rind an Archbishop. Its splendid marine parade was a special feature of the place, and along it motor-cars, carriages, and other modem vehicles could be seen driving in happy proximity to donkey-carts and the old-fashioned methods of locomotion. Passing through Scvlla we avoided Charybdis, and as we steamed out into the open sea we cast, a look backward upon the scenery upon which we had feasted nur eyes and hearts for two hoars or more, and than which it is scarcely possible to conceive of anything more exquisite or sublime. To-day. much of this has to be written of in the past tense. liogejo is destroyed. The "Tale of Ruin" savs graphically: "lieggio di Calabria Wiped Out"; ••Messina a Gigantic Bust-hear,.'' Enrlluiuake, succeeded by tidal wave, ami this in turn bv lire and pillage, have changed Hie face of one "of the fairest scenes on Cod's .earth, and reduced a province to ruin. Httndrcil.s of thousands of fellow - creatures b,avo either perished instantcr or have been reduced to utter poverty ami temporary helplessness. A tragedy- of this kind should do more than appeal to what may be called our scenic emotions. ?t should call forth a sympathy that vili express itself in active help towards those who for the. time being are beyond all power of helping themselves. And personally I cannot but think that the introduction of a thousand or two of j those Calabrian Italians, to teach us how to terrace our hillsides and culli- | vale our idle mountain patches, would j lie a permanent enrichment of Australia.