THE SICILIAN DISASTER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 53, 27 March 1909, Page 3

THE SICILIAN DISASTER.

1UI.& Orilili AM A fiOSPj IAL m\v. j XEW ZEALAXi)EK',S ACCOI'XT. .Mr Alexander Uilchrist, who is wellknown in Otago from his association willi tiie business of .Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co., in different portions of the provincial district, was, with his bride, a passenger 011 R.M..S. Ophir when that vessel reached the .Straits of .\lessiau shortly after the occurrence ol the terrible earthquake in Sicily. Hihas forwarued tile lollowing spirited account of the incidents thai eaiue under his notice ;

"On 3Jst December, about 2 p.m., just but'oru the K.M.S. Ophir entered the straits of -Medina, we were signalled by a Uermuu .steamer to stop. The fourth oilicer went aboard the pausing vessel, anil learned of Hie great eatastroplie that' had befallen .Messina, lieggio, and sev-, eral oilier smaller towns situated in the .Straits of Messina. Our Captain was in-1 formed that he was under Admiralty orders to proceed to lieggio and take injured and refugees on board for Maples. The main part of the Straits are unaltered, but close into the Jand situated ground ♦■lieggio the chanjnels; leading into the wharves have been considerably disturbed by the earthquakes and it made navigation most diU'icult; in lad, to use the expression of one of the ollieers, we fairly smelt our way in and out. To give some idea of the dangers thai attended ste.nners going near the land, it took "the Ophir two hours and a-half to go three miles out into the main channel, lieggio had a , population of ii0 3 l)Ul) inhabitants, but ow- | ing to the crowded way in which the i people live, the nize of the city was pro- ! babJy half that of Dunedin. When we arrived, three days after the heavy shock, there was only a small part of the city left that did not look larger than from the Octagon going as far south as Rattray street, and from the sea front up to about the Catholic Cathedral. This was simply a mass of ruins. 'There was not a single building left intact. The city was built on a slope similar to the | central part of Dunedin,'and the build-

nigs naa toppieu over one on tup 01 another until all that was left was a continuous heap of debris down to the seafront j the rest of the city had disappeared. As far as 1 could make out from the refugees the ground had opened up ill great gulfs, and houses, people, animals, and everything tumbled in, and were gone for ever. The earthquakes were accompanied by tlnee large tidal waves—all small boats were smashed to atoms and thousands of those who escaped death by being engulfed in the earth or killed by falling buildings wore drowned. As to the number actually killed, 110 one seemed to really know much, and a much more accurate account will have been obtained froiu ollicial sources. The captain of the Ophir was asked to take lbU injured and 700 refugees on to Naples and this he immediately prepared to do. In a remarkably short time, and long before any injured could be brought to the ship, tlie saloou was converted into a hospital. AH the seats were unscrewed and matresses were laid as closely as they would go from one end to the other and from side to side, the result being that when the injured were accommodated there one could only move about among them by stepping over their bodies. By injured i only refer to those who were very badly injured—a broken arm, a smashed head, or dislocated shoulder did not count. Tue injured were mostly men and women, who were smashed from head to foot, I and over half would never recover ordinary health—the bulk 'of tho.se on board 1 the Ophir will be crippled for life. The 1 nninner in which the seamen and stewards brought the injured from small boats up a steep gangway and took them from stretchers and placed them on mattresses was most admirable. Every man worked as if he h;td been trained to ambulance work, and the sull'crcrs fared much better whilu in the care of tins British than they did when their own sailors took charge of them at Naples. The provision of iood and shelter for 700 refugees was also a thing to be admired. These poor people arrived on the Ophi" cold, wet, and hungry. It appears that after news of the earthquake went to Naples and Home all assistance was sent to .Messina, and Beggio was forgotten for two days, Consequently, the refugees and injured were in a deplorable state.j Most of the injured had been lying ouj their stretchers f v om one to three davs| without any attention to speak of, andj none of them had had their bones set, as apparently there was no medical assistance to be had at lleggio. The clothing of most of tic refugees was very scanty—a pair of trousers, a nightdress, a blanket, or soims similar covering was

all thai many had. As soon as these unfortunates arrived on the steamer they were supplied with an abundance of good pressed beef, bread, biscuits, cotl'ee, milk, etc., until they eould not eat any more. Thuy they were supplied with blankets and made as eomfortable as was possible under the circumstances, it is marvellous tile ell'eet a good meal and warmth will do for a starving man. in a hour or two after arriving on the i steamer most of the refugees settled 1 down and went to sleep, and half ofj them looked as if tlicy had not a care or wrong to trouble them. The decks of the Uphir presented a mast weird picture : seated on deck chairs and fonus } and lying on the deck in all j kinds of postures were men, women, and children of all ages, rich and poor, all made equal for the time being, and very glad to got anywhere, provided it was away from lleggio, Some very pathetic scenes were witnessed. Jn Ihe hospital a father, a mother, ami a daughter all recognised each other lor the lirst time since the earthquake. One youth of about 15' years of age stood on the deck of Ihe steamer aad, looking at lleggio, burst into tears aud wept like a shild. lie explained that lie was one of a family of 10, and that his father, mother, and nine brothers and sisters had been all killed. Then there was a pretty little girl of about seven or eight years, who had lost everyone, but did not know whether her parents had been killed or not. There were dozens of husbands looking for wives, and wives looking for husbands, and heaps of mothers with young babies. Then; was one baby only three days old, born .since the earthquake. Three deaths and three births occurred between lleggio and Naples. At lleggio things u'ci'o, to *ay the least, lively. 1 wanted ti) land aud get a close view of things, but found that the town was under martial law, and that all refugees were in their camps. Looting was very common, and a sort of miniature war was going on between the peasants who had not gone into camp, prisoners, etc., and the troops. The result was that anyone found in the streets, unless part of the rescue parties, were shot. Although we could not actually see these looters being shot down, we could hear the report of a rille every 10 minutes or so, and some of the seamen who went to the landing-stage with the boats saw men being shot down like dogs. The refugees were being kept back from rushing the boats by soldiers with set bayonets, so there was no chance of getting on land, and the passengers had to be content with viewing the ruined city from half a mile out in the bay. At night lime four ships of war kept search lights oil lite camps, the largest banks, and aUo wherever the rescue parties, wore working. Altogether the scene was one never to be forgotten, and olio not likely to be witnessed again.