NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1566, 9 April 1887, Page 1

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE. London, March 12. Later details are as follow -Thousands of people are without homes and needing assistance. A fisherman in the harbor of Genoa on the night preceding the great earthquake, noticed that the sea retreated much more than usual. Instinctively feeling that something was about to happen, he remained the whole night on the bay. The inhabitants of Oneglia complain that the authorities neglect tham because of a belief that the town has suffered less damage than others. On the contrary they say, although the walls of the houses, being well built, withstood the shocks, all themteriors have collapsed,inconsequence of which 9000 persons are compelled to live in sheds and tents, suffering greatly through exposure to wind and rain. There are 3000 bodies buried at Diauo Marino, and only fifteen have been identified. A thousand persons there are still camping out. The air is becoming horribly offensive owing to the stench I arising from the corpses that are yet in the ruins. The structures in which the injured at Bogsrdo were sheltered were blown down before the helpless people could be removed to a place of safety. They wore all covered with snow and half dead with cold. At Diuno Marino two men and a child were extracted after being three days under the ruins. A boy and his father were found alive, but the father soon died. At <h« moment of the earthquake they were sleeping in the same room. They heard a great noise, and then found themselves thrown down and in perfect darkness for some time. They called for help, and minutes seemed ages; at last they lost consciousness. The boy, who is still stunned, cannot remember how long they had been buried. In certain portions of the Mediterranean the coast has sunk considerably, while other porportions have been raised. Many new springs have burs! forth among the mountains, others having dried up, About 6000 people have gone away in two days since the day before yesterday. Most of che churches have been almost entirely destroyed, those at Mentone having suffered very severely. At Nice the earthquake shocks caused an awful surprise to crowds of persons returning from carnival festivals in fancy costumes, worn and bedraggled by the night’s exercises, and looking ’dull and dreary under. the glare of the morning sun. The first shock caused an immediate panic. Women screamed in terror, and there was a wild rush in all directions for safety from what everyone thought was an impending calamity. The barking of dogs and clanging of church bells added to the momentary terror. The people first rushed to the Church of Notre Dame, and besieged the confessionals. A dramatic scene was presented of strong men on their knees praying. Then came a second shock, and terror was depicted on every face. The praying crowds hastened outside for safety. The troops were called out to keep order among the crowds besieging the railways throughout the city. The troops have been compelled to keep back at the point of the bayonet crowds of despairing men and women, who were impeding the work of excavation in their efforts to find missing bodies of the victims of the disaster. The sufferings of the survivors are great, the supply of provisions, drugs, and ambulance apparatus being painfully inadequate. The woik of the rescuers is attended with considerable danger. In some cases they have been obliged to flee from tottering walls, although they could hear the groans of the yictimi buried by the debris. Half-clothed people are wandering on the sea shore, exposed to the inclement weather. Oneglia is threatened with a atom of rain or snow, which will cause great distress, although clothing and supplies of all kinds are beginning to arrive in ample quantities from Genoa. for refugees are being erected, and volunteers for search parties are plentiful. Nobody enters a house who ,i» able to obtain shelter elsewhere. Only new and well-built houses are habitable.

NEWFOUNDLAND DEFIANT. The publication of the Address of the Newfoundland Legislature to the Imperial Government in relation to fisheries has produced a sensation. No such defiant document hss been received by the Home Government since the revolt of the .American colonies. The Newfoundlanders tell the Imperial Government that they own their fisheries, and they do not propose to pay the slightest hoed to French or American interests, or to brook any interference from Great Britain, Newfoundland, in fact, stands on its own right to make its own laws, control its own property, and preserve its existence as a community, let the effect be what it may. The situation is so serious (says a despatch of March 2nd) that both Premier Sherbura and Sir Ambrose Shea,J leader of the Opposition, have left the Legislature to take care of itself and gone to London to represent the dangerous character of the prevailing feeling in the island, Meanwhile the Press and thepeqple are universally discussing the benefit of annexation to the United States. If annexation were submitted to a popular vote it would be carried by a three-fold majority.