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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1909-01-08, Page 8THE T Mani Thousands lose Their Lives..; Fire and Flood Do Their Dread Work. Roane cable: .All Sicily and the ssnt. are reported to be rezeda The southern extremity of Italy lava been desta•netion orf 'Reggio di Calabria is confirmed. Reports arriving; up to a late hour all tend to coil inn the state•rnent that the eat astrophe is pose,ibly equal to that which oenteed in 1783. when 40,000 per- sons perished at Messina. devastated by an earthquake so de- structive that. the latest meagre reports indicate it will be the greatest diaster of modern times, The TWO. i; so cum- plete and broadcast that it will be many hours before its scope is fully Nt lE1.Gt'S V.Ii.1.AGES DESTROYED. known. AR communication has been Numerous villages scattered over a destroyed throughout eastern Sicily, wide expanse of territory aro damaged where the damage is the greatest, and or destroyed. Some of these are ex - the only definite information reeeived by the Government from .1.Iessina, by wireless from a warship in the harbor. is that that city is almost destroyed. Mount Aetnaseems to have been the and ntessalgee are being gent. by eourzc'n centre of the disturbance, and that por- A soldier who Caine on horseback reports tt•entely inarvessable and it may be a tceek before the full extent of the calamity can tae emupnted. It is cer- tain that the ruin is complete and broadcast. landslide s have blocked all traits tion of the island within a radius of forty miles seems to have been ram- aletely laid in waste, It is not known If the volcano is in kation, as that sec- tion of the island is completely cut off from the world, even the railroads in the entire eastern half of Sicily being destroy' the destruction of C•altaniseetta, one of the most prosperous in Sicily. t'al- tanieetta has a. population of 30,000 and is in the heart of the island. All the chief buildings were shaken down and the people rushed to the parks for safety. The jail collapsed and 200 pris- oners escaped. Six of those convicts THOUSANDS KILLED. have been shot for robbing the dead. The cathedral. one of the finest in En - The first report of loss of life comes rope, has been damaged. badly. from Messina•, where it is said the death Twelve persona were killed in Mineo, list totals ten thousand, but if the es- a small town south of Catania.. They tent of the damage is confirmed it is were in a ebnrclz, and all were de - feared that the estimate will be far be- • stroyed when the roof fell in. Two low the truth. chnrehee collapsed in Agusta, Sicily. and The shocks began at 5 o'clock in the fifty houses went down. There also the morning and lasted in the outer radius quake split the walls of the jail and of tate disturbances for about 32 seconds. s all the prisnnrrs escaped. The convicts The range of the disaster, from the point fled into the mountains., and troops have of view of serious damage, is about 200 started in pursuit of theta. Other towns miles in diameter. The western end of in Sicily which triffered care nt nroperty the island escaped with slight Fhocks. loss were •Linctus Gloss, Santa Severina The disturbance extended through the anti tioto. Toe of Italy for about 150 miles to TILT; POPE AFT EC'TI P. wards Maples. The Pope was greatly distressed at TIDAL WAVE lril].IQWS, hearing of the scourge that had Following the earthquake a tidal wave, • afflicted the loyal population in the 30 feet 'high, badly damaged the ship- south. Ile could hardly credit the ping in almost all the Sicilian ports. truth of the despatches describing the Palermo. near the western end of the devastation and fatalities as ten times Wand, suffered scarcely at all, and it greater than, in 1105. is by means of the cables through to After kneeling fervently in prayer, Naples, which are still working, that his Holiness arose and said, as he said Most of the meagre news has been re- I three years ago, that he felt his place ceived. Railway communication, both I was amidst the suffering children. It east and south from Palermo, has been I was his firm intention to order that destroyed, therefore detailed news of instructions be given for beginning the the calamity is still lacking. Details journey, but his physicians insisted from the outer fringe of the territory affected, towns in southern Italy.,, and in .the vicinity oa Palermo, told of the seriousness of the dine -ter. The GOY. eminent now realizes that it is face to face with a catastrophe on a vast scale, and great preparations for relief are be- ing hurriedly undertaken. The Ring will start at once on a mission of rescue such as he undertook in almost similar • circumstances three years ago. Il SSLNA CITY ENGULFED. According to the latest, although as yet uncomfirmablc reports, the most dis- astrous part of Messina's doom was caused by a vast wave which, follow- ing the arthgnalte, engulfed half of the city, knoeking down houses and scat- tering ruin and death, The estimates of the number of vic- tims vary widely. One late report says #shpt twenty thousand persons have per- ished. One of the viet•ims was Naval Commander Itassino, who had taken a rescue pant'ashore immediately after the first shock. The Calabrian towns of Palmi, Reg- gio, Scilla and Bagmen- are reported to have been destroyed completely, being how merely masses of ruins. Many hundreds were killed or injured. The Government has telegraphed to Sardinia, ordering the battleships Regina Elena, Vittoria Emanuel and Napoli() to hasten thence to Messina to render whatever aid is possible, and to estab- lish wireless communication. Three thousand laborers are being sent 10 Mes- eine, at the Government's expense to clear the ruins. Merchant vessels are being sent to the various, ports. Whole regiments are going south by train to help in the work of relief. They are taking military ovens. field hospitals, tents and medieines, Signor Bertolini, Minister of Public Works, has started for Calabria. MAY T3E 40,000 DEAD. Concurrently with the first shock the sea rose abnormally at Catania., carry- ing several fishing boats and other small vessels ashore. Soon afterwards li suddenly retreated, and again as sud- ned1y returned, drowning four persons, swamping the merchandise on the quays, wrecking many small vessels, and dam- aging three steamers, which narrowly escaped foundering. The cruiser Pie-, monte reached Catania this evening, bringing 500 injured from Messina.. They describe the rise of the sea, as a gigantie wall of water. It lifted ships in the harbor and dropped them far Inshore as it fell roaring upon the city. When it retreated the :survivors saw the Marine Pain^e., n. number of eo•mmerci;tl buildings and smeller horses piled in chaotic rain. The shays were wrecked. me streets con -reined a layer of mud, Which almost made it impossible to do any rescue want. It seerns. that part of the destruction at Messina was caused by a fire, which broke out before. the tidal wave. 7t originated ' from an explosion of gas, Which occurred eoneurrentiy with the earthquake were aggravated by fico • earthquake from an ' gmloeiorr of gas, the flames. Fro and- Genetnini, subttrbs of :lie's - that it would be impossible for him to undertake such a fatiguing expedition in the present condition of his health. At midnight a regiment of soldiers left home for Calabra. MANY VILLAGES DISAPPEAR. The Aid Filled With Lamentations and Prayers. Rome cable: '['tae fate of entire regions within the zone of the earth- quake is unknown, but reports receiv- ed here u13 to a late hour to -night in- dicate that the havoc has been great and the destruction to life and pro- perty more terrible than Italy Ras ex- perienced in many years: The t ngert0,iu - ty of the 13ituation has filled ail Italians with the deepest distress, for they still have fear that the day may come when that part of the country, which seems to have been most blessed by Nature, will be destroyed by the blind forces of that same Nature which nearly nineteen centuries ago overwhelmed Pompeii and Herculaneunt. All reports show that the present catastrophe embraces a larger area than the earthquake in 1905. The tidal wave which followed the earth shocks, nn the eastern coast of Sicily, sunk vessels and 'inundated the lower part of Catania. It is known that a number of people were ]gilled in that place, The rushing waters carried everything before them and caused an indesciibablo con fusion. As stated elsewhere, the City of Messina has suffered probably more than any other places. The latest in- formation coming indirectly from that quarter states that two-thirds of the town was destroyed and several thou- sand persons killed. Among the dead are many soldiers, killed by the col- lapse of the barracks . The steamers Washington and Montebello, which were in the harbor, later proceeded to Catalania, loaded with injured, who were so stupefied by terror that they seemed unable to realize what hail happened, simply saying that it look- ed as though the end of the world had come. Five steamers left Cata- nia for Messina, to assist in removing the injured from that place, who are reported to number thousands. SANK 500 BOATS. At Catania, the panic-strleten peo- ple, fearing new shocks, absolutely re- fused to re-enter their houses, and are camping in the squares, which are free from water, and the sur- rounding country. The tidal wave sunk five hundred boats there, and did great damage to several barge ves- sels and steamers, including the .A.us- trian steamer Buda. It is reported that the villages of Faro and Ganzirri, tidjoinieg Messina, have disappeared. The effects of the whirl,. swept ales etrests, adding fee • SAV p In Calabria, jb teleone woad, ano lage of Stefenacs which number. destroyed. On1J killed, • but 3.1.1111 signor Morabtt who distiegui• earthquake of 1905, did valiant work again to -day. r IIs` rushed into places where the nine was greatest, and brought aid ilaid enooura•goment to all. 'J'huusaods of peopi._e abandoned their homes, although aterrific rainstorm pre- vailed., ,tendl filled- the air with lamentr.- ticies• and prayers. In some places, such, as :Brizzo, Carona Santa Severena and Piseopio, the •p.eopl.a had the courage to enter the ehurches, almost while they were falling, and carry out the saints. They bore these in procession through the open couutry, invoking the mercy of God. in the monntainou-s regions inland the population : :has. taken refuge in grottoes and.. • eaves, where peasants incl priesst soldiers and persons of gentle. biz'clt, ;ere living in common. Their bed. is the ground, and fires burn to keep off Wild animals. In Alhi. alone theme are `2.000 people home. less. Extraordinary scenes are reported at Ckata.nia, following a violent earth- quake shock at 5.20 a. m. The sea rose in a mounted/Mtn ware, whichwreck- ed many sntaek's. A se.eondaty tidal wave caused further great damage and wreckage. Awskenod by the shock; the inhabitants fled, ixtnic- stricicen, froni their homes into the street; and squares. Proeeseions were organized, and soon nil the churches were filled with weeping crowds, im ploring Divine. mercy. Cardinal -Nava. ,1.rchbishop of Cat- ania, exhorted them to be calm. Ile pro- mised that the body of St. Agatha would be earned around in procession, St. Agathais regarded as the special deliv- erer from all scourges. While the number of deaths at that place is not now believed to be large, there were several tragic occurrences. Among the c'aildren .swept away by the tidal wave was a boy 15 menthe old, who was torn from the amts of his mother. • The mother. too, was overcome by theforce of the water sc and lost eonousncss, but her body was caught by a railing and remained there until she was rescued.. Midnight reports state that Reggio, the capital of the Province of Reggio di Calabria, eight miles from Messina, on the opposite side of the strait, has met the same fate as Messina, but these reports have not been confirmed, owing to the lack of telegraphie faci- lities. A very severe shock was felt at Cattanissetta, a city of Sicily, and although much damage was done, no one was killed. The shoe& created great Mare/. and notwithstanding the downpour df rain the whole popula- tion rsrmaiited in the streets through- out the d�iy d marched in religions procession A flying squadron, composed of the battleships Vittorio Emanuele, Regina Elena azd the Napoli, has been ordered to Afes ina. It will arrive there on Tuesdat morning. together with steam ers carr, ring supplies and troops. Sig- nor Be! tolini, the Minister of Public Works, left here to -night for he south. Altogether 3,000 troops have been sent southwa:',l froin this city in the pa.lt 18 hours, while from other military posts abort 15.e00 men are now on their wa.y to Oalab.ia and Sicily.. t; several' of the nor upon terror. THE SAINTS. region around Mon- t affected. The Vit- ali, the inhabitants of ,300, was practically , five persons were sy were injured. Mon- - the Bishop of Mileto, ted himself ' in the HORSE OVERSHOES. Wife of Pittsburg Man to Supply New Device. • e.,e !iL J Y CU. [Dj 3,7.4a4,4x1 ♦ vui ..4r - Madras, Jan. 4.--- Tl to Indian t - a- tional Congress was opened in this city to -day, with 2,000 delegates in attendance. Emphatic approval of the reform plans for India advanc- ed by Lord Morley, the Indian Sec- retary, was expressed. The session to- day was entirely harmonious and the sneering this year promises to clear the air and put a damper upon the activi- ties of the agitators who recently have caused much anxiety. At the last meeting of the Con- gress, just a year ago, opposition to the election of Dr. Ghoz as President resulted in a free fight and was the cause of the Congress being indefinite- ly postponed. Referring to the Morley reforms, Dr. Ghoz declared to -day that they had broken up the sinister clouds which, had hung over India for the last twelve months, and he said they would give India some- thing like a constitutional govern- ment instead of the unpopular auto• critic regime. Continuing, Dr. Choz criticized all repressive legislation. He said British suzerainty could not be shaken by "a few flasks of picric acid or a few pounds of gunpowder," and he hoped that the genuine co-operation of the Indians with the British Government would lead to the obtaining of colonial eel£-govein- ment, CENTRE NEAR VOLCANO. Further Shocks May Follow—Girl Students Burned in Ruins. Palermo cable: Reports from all the towns and villages around. Messina state that serious damage has bean done by the earth riake and that the number of victims is laage. The gravest damage was done to qublie ouilldings axil churches at Flaridia, Nato, C.hiaremento, Vittoria. Paterno, Terranova, Marianopoli and .Naso. At Mimeo there 'were a. number of shocks. At Augusta, which once be- fore was destroyed by an. earthquake, 'the tidal wave to -day wrecked the Government salt works. The prison- ers employed the''e mutinied, but were eventually suppreesed. At Patti, the shock was accompanied by a. blinding flash of light, while serious havoc was wrought at Barcelona, and ten persons were killed. at Castrodeale and Monta- gue. Prof. Rieeo, director of the Mount Aetna Observatory, says that the centro of the earthquake was near the vol- cano. It is possible that further shocks wilt follow those of to -day, but these are expected to be of minor force, The Santa Maria College at Ali, a little distance , between Meesina and Catania, was overthrown, several of the girl students being buried in the ruins. The .steamer Piemonte, oecord- ing to word received here, has arrived at Milazze, with 300 women and child- ren and 50 men, who were injured at Mesainia. After transferring the wound- ed the Piemonte started back for the stricken city. • There is no doubt that a large part of Messina lids been destroyed. To add to. the terrible effects of the dis- aster thieves were soon at work setting fires art various points and stealing everything they could lay their hands on, not stopping at robbing the in- jured as they lay helpless ant dead. Stores were broken into, and great disorder, and even teerorisni, prevail- ed for a time, T1sie authorities, how- ever, promptly took the most stringent measures to maintain order, and those who were caught in acts of incendiar- ism and robbery were severely dealt with. Hoax --Time flies. jean—Yee, it'll 5 ,;;,aeM.. any time. e.a A GHOST HEN Girl's Pet Hen Which She Hid to Save From the Christmas Axe. register .way,... .Rtiil.eu stocks were sold by tate firm before the receiver was appointed, or by the receiv- er, he replied that he did not know. #. resolution was adopted giving Mr. Lit- tlefield authority without further notice to sell and dispose of the assets and to settle, adjust and compromise all claims and controversies, subject to the appro- val of Referee Townsend, HIS BEER, NOT BIER. Irishman Surprised When the Re- latives Came to His Wake. • :Minneapolis, Minn., Jan. 4.--Apr+e. 'Ethel Manning, of this city, to -day petitioned the district court to great her ,$51,160 damages against th.e Western 'd.Tu— iott Telegraph Company for an alleged mistake in a message. Mrs. Manning says, in her complaint, that leer hus- band, Patrick Manning, is addicted to the use of liquor ,and during the mouth of September, 1908, went on a spree. Mrs. Manning, wishing to notify her brother, sent the following message: "Pat is drinking; came at once." in- stead of this message, Mrs. Manning asserts that the telegraph company sent a message saying: "Pat is dying; come at once." When L. G. Manning, the brother, re- ceived the message Ire took matters into his own hands, and telegraphed allethe relatives living in Clinton, Ia., Chi- cago and Fall River, Mass., to be pre- sent at Patrick's wake. Mr. Manning was much surprised to have the rela- tives come pouring in several days later, and when the mistake was discovered, Mrs. Manning says that she had to pay all the expenses of her guests, amount- ing to $160. She asks the addition $1,000 for damages to her nerves. Clinton, N. J., Jana. 4,—A ghost scare, which for five days had distract- ed the family of Trueman Nottenstein, a .2atener, living in Warren road, near here, has been term:nated. It was discovered by the farmer to- day that the ghost was an old plymouth rock hen, which had been carried secret- ly to the garret by his daughtea, Sarah, eight years old, to save it from "being butchered and sent to market for the Christmas holidays. Members of the family heard strange noises in the upper part of the house. They recalled an old tale that the place was haunted. They were worried so much the Christmas was spoiled. The only member of the family who did not seem to mind it was little Sarah. To -day her mother eaw her start upstairs with a saucer filled with breadtilnd other things. Investigation diselosed the hen hi the garret, fatter and fussier than ever. The farmer re- warded the child for her devotion by promising never to kill her pet. • 4 C BUCKET ORDERS. 20 MEN KILLED. dhereiiits of Castro and Gomez Engage in Fight. Port of Spain, Trinidad, Jan. 4. -•-- There has been fighting at Macuro, on the Venezuela coast, between the ad- herents of former President Castro and: the crew of a gunboat working be the interests of t.be new President, Juan Vicente Gomez. About twenty men were killed and some fifty were wound- ed. The Gomez party was obliged to withdraw temporarily, but later they returned to resume the engagement. This news was brought in here by the Miranda, the gunboat in question. The Miranda left La Guaira for Is. Macuro with a number of officials on board, who were to take the places of the officials there who had been serving under Castro. The Miranda arrived off Macuro yesterday morning. It was at once discovered that General Torres had gotten together about 500 men, and that he was prepared to resist a landing. The Miranda cleared and went into action. She made use of her battery, and the men on board tried to effect a landing. In this they were not successful The men under Torres succeeded in keeping them off. The fighting lasted about four hours. Canadian Wanted to Know What Be- came of the Assets. New York, Jan. 4, -During the en- quiry into the affairs of the defunct firm of A. 0. Brown & Co., bankers and brokers, to -day, Mr. T. 0. Ander- son, a Canadian creditor of the Brown firm, asked the bankrupts to explain how they bad dissipated the assets and how they had made such a moss of things. He was particularly eager to learn whether they had really purchas- ed stocks or had bucketed the orders. Mr, A. 0. Brown replied that they had purchased the stocks on the exchange. Asked if they had Rept the stocks, he replied that Mr. 13uchanan had charge of that part of the business. Mr. Anderson (heti plied Mr. Buchanan with questions, and he replied that the business had been conducted in the * 4 e TWAIN'S ELEPHANT. R. Collier Gave it to Him For Christ- mas and Sent Load of Hay. Redding, Conn., Jan. 4.—Samuel H. Clemens (Mark Twain) received on Christmas Day, among other presents, an elephant. The gift was from Ma friend, Robert Collier, of New York, and came as a complete surprise to the humorist. Mr. Collier notified Mr. Ciemen's see - rotary in advance of his intention, and also sent a large quantity of bay from South Norwalk by freight, to feed it. Great preparations were made for the elephant's reception. When it arrived on Christmas morn- ing it was in a box. linpaeked, it was about the size of a small calf, and its insides already held all the stuffing it will ever need, 44A ENGLAND'S DIVORCE Decrease of Eight Per Cent. h2 Num- ber Dalring the Year. London, Jan. 4.—In view of the tre- mendous increase of divorce in America the question of the respective domestJie morality of English and American so- ciety is raised by the publication of the English divorce statistics for 1907. In' these figures a decrease of 8 per cent. is shown, In 1907 only 734 divorce petitions were filed, against 787 in 1906, while the de- crees granted in 1907 were 598 against 650 in 1900. Of decrees 332 were on the husbands' petitions and 266 on request of the wives. One illuminating fact brought out was that in 361 petitions the marriage were cltikdlese, and in 219 only one chit& had been born to this discordant par- ents. While divorces decreased in 1907, judicial separations increased from 696' to 7,158. Thes-a statistics apply only to England, as Scotland, Ireland. aadl Wales possess their own divorcejuris- diction. 11 you are going to join a suicide club it is just as well to bccotne a life mein- ]aer,