THE EARTHQUAKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3082, 2 January 1909, Page 5

THE EARTHQUAKE.

THE DISASTER IN SICILY.

AT,T, ITALY IN MOURNING.

EXCHANGES AND THEATRES

CLOSED.

BRITISH BATTLESHIP CONVEYING RELIEF. .

REGGrIO NO LONGER EXISTS.

EARTH OPENS WxTII A TREMENDOUS DETONATION.

CITY SWALLOWED UP. SEA RISES WITH A TERRIFIC ROAR. ROME, December 30. Expressions of profound sympathy with the people of Italy in connection with the terrible earthquake disaster in Sicily and the province of Cala/bria are coming from all parts of the world. 1 President Roosevelt has cabled to King Victor Emmanuel expressing -America's horroj at /he calamity. • President Fallieres, MM. Clemenceau and Piohon (French Premier and Foreign Minister, respectively), King Edward, the Kaiser, and Prince Bulow, also telegraphed their grief and sympathy. . All Italy is in mjurning, and the -exchanges and theatres are closed. A great national effort is being | made to send succour to the depressed districts, including doctors and firemen. Municipalities everywhere are organising relief, and scientists insist that people must be compelled to re-erect homes on spots hitherto spared, instead of rebuilding in places that are regularly devastated 'by shocks. The British battleship Exmouth is conveying tents, mattrasees, blankets and beef from Malta to Messina. The military warehouses at Rome -are emptied of clothing, blankets, and provisions, which have been sent to Sicily. NEW YORK, December 30.

ina. All the buildings and bridges were broken. The death of the chief of police at Messina and his five children, was most tragic. His wife and boy escaped by standing under the framework of the largest door, while walls and floors fell around them, burying the rest of the family. A serious earthquake shock was felt at Palermo on Monday evening. The consternation which prevails throughout Italy, especially in Ko'rne and Naples, is indescribable.

A RAILWAY DISAPPEARS. A MAIL STEAMER'S ESCAPE. ROME, December 31. The Prefect reports that the centre of the city of Reggio has settled down to sea-level, and only the villas situated on the highest points remain. ' Most of the pupils in the Lyceum perished, as did the Bishop of Reggio. The earthquake swallowed up the railway between Lazzaro and Marino. LONDON, December 31. Lloyds have asked the Admiralty to warn merchantmen if the earthquake has caused new risks to navigation in the vicinity of t the Straits of Messina. R.M.S. Mo Itan, bounJ from Australia to London, cleared the straits twenty-one houra before the ! disaster occurred.

The pub'ic of New York have sub- j -scribed £4,000 for the relief of s-Tor- j ers by the earthquake. f The Italian colony here ■ao JI £2,000. | VIENNA, December ! The Emperor Franci3 Joseph has contributed £2,000 to Ihe Italian Relief fund. ROME, December 39. A naval officer who left Messina for Reggio. on the opposite of j the Messina, has telegr tph- j ed that be could not find |tfcii'*io. j It exists no longer. Refugees declare that Reggio *was not only wrecked by the shockjof , the earthquake, but the lower parts,! of Jthe town were swallowed up by the eSrtb, which opened with a tremendous detonation, like the firing of a hundred guns. Simultaneously the sea, with a terrific roar, 'rose to a tremendous height, ruining in one"sweep the most beautiful part ofjthe town, including the Cathedral, the Prefect's Palace, and all the main thoroughfares. A captain of Carabineers, after "visiting Reggio, reports that the number of dead there is enormous. A hundred bodies have been already recovered- from the ruins of Seminara, a town twenty miles north of Reggio. There are a thousand dead at Bagnara, another town north of Reggio. Cannutelli and Lazzaro are destroyed. _ . / THE DISASTER AT MESSINA. ,A SCENE "LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD!" AWFUL TOLL OF DEATH. \ ■ f ROME, December 30. The first shock of earthquake at Mesoina lasted a minute.

A SCIENTIST EXPLAINS. | MERELY A TERRESTRIAL COLLAPSE. "THE SHORTNESS OF HUMAN LIFE." "ALLOWS U3 TO BE OF GOOD CHEER." LONDON, Dscember 31. Professor "Suess, the celebrated Austrian geologist, states that the theatre of the catastrophe is the spot where the earth is sinking in a disclike form. When the sinking process is compete the hills of Scylla and a great part of the Peloritan Range, near Messina, will be below the water, and the Straits of Messina will be widened. Only a fragment of the Eastern Sicilian hills will project from the sea. h Professor Suess addii: —"We are witnessing a collapse of the terrestrial globe that began long ago. The shortness of human life, however, allows us to be of good cheer."

HOW MK OGSTON ESCAPED. A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. PEOPLE FRANTIC TO SEARCH FOR RELATIVES. ROME,, December 31. Mr Ogston, the British Consul at Messina, gives a harrowing account of his escape. He relates that he an a bis wife, carrying their little daughter, escaped from the Consulate through a window on to the balcony, which fell into the street. Mrs Ogston was killed by the fall, but Mr Ogston seized the child, which was uninjured, and joined fifty others who were fleeing the country.. Falling balconies, columns, and chimneys, killed half a dozen of the party at a time. Ultimately only four reached the open country. The Consul was injured in the course of his flight. ROME, December 31.

Some survivors say the earth like a Maxim gun. Others describe the scene like the end of the world. They say it is impossible to convey an idea of the Titanic grandeur of the tragedy. British and Russian bluejackets -performed wonders in rescue work at Messina. Out of 200 Customa guards •there only 41 escaped, and out of 280 railway employees only eight were • saved. Of 100 post office employees only six survived. The garrison has •been reduced to a small number. Hundreds of persons injured at have been taken "to Naples. The survivors describe the town as a gigantic dust heap. Only a few thousands escaped. The British steamer Drake rescued 2,500 persons, while the crew of a British merchantman rescu.ed many from burning Houses. A train from Palermo was unable ato come within iten miles off Mesa-

TREMORS IN EAST RUSSIA. FELT AT THE SAME TIME AS MESSINA SHOCKS. ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. 30. A shock of earthquake was felt at Ekaterinburg, in the government of Perm, on the Asiatic, side of the Ural Mountains. The magneto-meteorolo-gical observatory there recorded the tremor.®, which coincided in time with those at Messina. SHOCKS IN AUSTRALIA. MELBOURNE, Decsmbsr 31. Seismograph records at the Observatory show that the first tremor was felt at Melbourne at 2.45 p.m. on the 28th instant—equivalent to 5.54 a.m. Italian time —and continued til! 3.8 p.m.

These were followed by a group of waves, each representing a fresh shock, which reached their maximum at 3.12 p.m.

Another group of seven shocks were registered at 3.49 p.m. and anotner at 3.52 p.m.

Subsequently the disturbance took the shape of a succession of quakes, about eight in number, but of more amplitude until 4.24 p.m. Then they changed into minute tremors, terminating at 4.34 p.m., having lasted altogether an hour and forty minutes.

The records were not; nearly so pronounced as those observed at the time of the greet San Francisco earthquake.

Mr Barrchi says that probably the centre of the Ilalian disturbance was nearer the surface of the earth than the San Francisco quake. If so, the effect would be felt mora severely locally, and the waves would be projected through the earth \vitn, smaller amplitude. ANXIOUS ABOUT RELATIVES. MELBOURNE, December 31. Some Italian reaidanta of Melbourne fear they lost relatives through the earthquake disaster. A TERRIBLE DEATH ROLL. Received January 1, 9.50 a.m. ROME, December 31. Of the 44,000 residents of Reggio, 40,000 perished. The deaths at Missina totalled. 135,000, including 20U visitors. Two-thirds'of the Palmi district has been destroyed. The deaths there numbered 14,000. Of these 3,000 were interred in a common grave. Twelve thousand perished at Bagnara. The town of Scylla has vanished. There were 1,500 deaths at Seminara. The railway station at Reggio falling crushel 400 persons, and at the barra:ks 2,000 soldiers where killed.

FIGHTING FOOR FOOD. ALARM CAUSED BY CONDUCT OF ROUGHS. Received January 1 ,§9.55 p.m. , ROME, January 1. A few dozen survivors fought with knives in the ruins of the custom house at Messina for provisions. Several throats wera cut for a few handfuls of beans. The extraordinary boldness and effrontry of the lowest roughs caused alarm. FURTHER SHOCKS AT MESSINA. CHILDREN FROZEN TO DEATH. ROME, January 1. Two severe shocks were experienced at Messina yesterday. The crew of the Russian warship Admiral Makharoff saved a thousand lives at Messina. Thousands of half-naked men, women and children are wandering in deep mud along the shore. Many little children were frozen to death. TRIUMPH MOTOR CYCLES FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY-

We have just landed, per s.s. Rimutaka and Tainui, two large consignments of latest model "Triumph Motors." The improvements embodied in these machines are higher compression engine,magneto ignition, spring forks, Dreadnought or rubber studded "Clincher" tyres, handle bar control, and comfortable foot rests and saddle. W. E. Hyslop is the sole representative for Wairarapa, Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay. Any correspondence to "Hyslop, Motorist, Hastings," will receive immediate attention. Enquiries can be made at Mr R. Pook's Cycle Depot, Masterton, who has arranged to stock a sample machine. *

It is reported at Naples that sailors from the Russian warship Makaroff discovered in the ruins of Messina twenty million francs, supposed to belong to the wrecked branch of the Bank of Italy. The sailors took the treasure to the commander of their ship. People are frantic to go to search for their relations, bui: steamer captains! are refusing passages from Naples to Sicilian ports. As much as £SO has been offered for a passage, and declined. | Hundreds of doctors and nurses are I hurrying to the spot.