Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-12-18
4 Dreadful Calamity.

TERRIBLE HURRICANE IN SICILY.
\ DR. adtul calamity has bsfallen the
lively aud smiling towu Of PalazzOlo.
Where only a few hours since there were
two ropuous wards, GuardIa and Fuem
grande, where a new theatre and several
elegant mans onS formed the ornaments of
the place, there Is now only heap of
ruins and rubbish, a miserable sight to the
beholder. Five minutes of an Indescrib-
able hurricane have been sufficient to
change the whole look of things, and TO
plunge hundreds Of families into utter mis-
cry. There has been no instance Of such
calamity within the memory Of living man.
No earthquake ever caused so much de-
structlon There are houses ruined, houses
fallen to the very ground, walls cleft from
end TO end, walls hanging outwards, as if
to rest on the adjoining houses. There
are roofs wholly swept away, sunken vaults,
balconies torn from their places, windows
and shutters either entirely rried off or
hanging loose from the walls, lamp-posts
forced from their sockets, uprooted trees
and this Is all one sees along the North
cast side OF the town.
NOT a SINGLE HOUSE REMAINS
in which the whole roof and windows do
not require thorough repair. All on one
line on the side We mentioned there is the
church OF 81. Sebastian. the front part OF
which mas been torn asunder from the rest
Of the building, and the whole will have to
come down there IS a nunnery, all the
walls of which are demolished there was
the theatre, OF which only the front wall is
staudlng-there was the new house Of Bib
bi5, with the adjoining hotel and the Ex-
else office was literally levelled with the
ground, burying more than ten persons
under the RUNS; there were in short, ever
50 many two storied buildings, of which
there is left here a wall aud there cor
uer, a floor or a shattered ceiling. The
streets are mass of fragments and rub
bish The incidents of the diaster are so
strange as to be almost incredible. There
was q store with twenty five hectolit res of
wheat OF which not trace Is anywhere
20 be seen. The books OF the Excise and
the land registry offices have vanished, and
only their torn leaves have been found
here and there at great distances. In one
house all copper kitchen utensils were
blown through the root; in another benches
and heavy chests few through the windows.
The iron basis Of one balcony are to be
seen curled up in one way, those of another
twisted up another way. There is the pill
lar OF palace which has been moved for
ward one foot without breaking. and stands
up isolated all in one piece. There is the
wall of another palace which has fallen
back more than three feet without a crack
Here Is the beam of one house which has
thrust itself iuto another house. There is
half bed-stead, the other half of which
lies no one knows where. All the tiles of
one building are huddled together in one |
spot on the roof, crushed and broken up |
small, as if they had been pounded. The
rafters Of another building are all bare
the tiles have flown, no one can see where. |
| is all a muddle-
AN IMMENSE MIDDLE.
In a stable, on the bare ground, men
are laying the bodies one by one as they
are being dug out Most of them are in
their night dresses, having been crushed
as they we're quietly sleeping. Their fea-
ures and forms are so dIs6gured that one
,an not look at them without shuddering.
Their nostris, ears, and mouths are stop
ped up with earth. The white dust has
pierced through the skin.
Here is the body of a man holding close to
lis heart child, probably his own child
he skulls of both are shattered. There
ire two young men in each others
rms, probably brothers. The chests
md backs of both are crushed. Near
hem is another youth, covered with blood.
lie was clerk IN a government office. He
las his eye glass still stuck in his right eye.
lie was probably reading or writing when
le was struck. There are some mauled past
ecognition Others seem unhurt, and
ook as if they were sleeping. What
lnxious inquiries What awful meetings
What heartrendering farewells. VINO
ver enters it is sure to come out horror
struck and bewildered To condense the 1
narrative, be it sufficient to say, without I
that one third of the town is
and that more than thousand 5
antilles are literally without a home.
About thousand more have one little {
orner of what was once their house to 1
helter them. The damage of the town is {
eckoned at more than million francs. The {
cad are thirty-two the seriously hurt '
bout half score besides. The Perfect I
f the province and other authorities have {
astened to the spot to provide for the {
lo>t urgent wants to the best of their
bilities. Soldiers and gend-arms are ,
ard at work searching the ruins and pro-
scting what private property remains
here. A commission of relief has been
pponted, aud an app cal is to be made to
1 the provinces and townships in Sicily.