Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-29
CITY 2,7OO YEARS OLD
MeSSina Has Suffered Many
Disasters Before.
RUINED BY QUAKE IN 1888
Loss of Life That Time Was Es-
timated at 10000.
ONCE RAvAGED BY PLAGUE
Was a Great Commercial Center and
Is Still a Busy Port-Found-
ed by Pirates.
RUINED BY QUAKE IN 1888
ONCE RAvAGED BY PLAGUE

destructive in the history of Italy. Then.
as now, the earthquake caused enormous
damage on both sides of the Strait OF
MesSina, which separates the toe of the
so-called boot of Italy from Sicily. The
historic disaster completely wrecked the
populous seaport of Messina, IN Sicily,
near the northern end of the strait. and
destroyed many smaller cities and towns
in southern Italy and Sicily.
The loss of life in this disaster OF 11Si
was estimated at 10000. Messina. a city
which is for the most part but little above
the level of the sea, suffering terribly
then, as yesterday, from d tidal wave.
The region TO the south of Messina has
also been often overwhelmed by eruptions
from Mount Etna. The southeastern and
eastern portions of the island have been
damaged time and again by eruptions of
Etna and very little by earthquakes,
while the northeastern portion has sus
tanned heavy loss of life and property
from earthquakes and very little from
volcanic eruption
Messina which, as in 1883, suffered the
greatest loss of life and property from
the earthquake yesterday. is Il city and
seaport of upward of 10000 inhabitants,
while in the commune embracing the city.
suburbs and adjacent country the popu-
latlon is upward of l.I200O. Next to
Palermo. it is the chief commercial town
of Sicily, and its harbor, which is formed
by peninsula. is the busiest in Italy
Fourth in Italian Commerce.
Among all the Italian cities the town
ranks fourth in the volume of it's com
merce. The total tonnage entered and
cleared in a recent year was 100000,
with imports valued at 100000 and eN
ports at s10,O00,oO0. Silk, OIL wine. coral.
fruit essences. arsol. oranges and lemons
are the principal articles Of commerce
The fish and mamertine wines of the dis
trict find ready sale. and in manufac
turing the town is noted for its satins
and damasks Apart from these the
manufacturing interests are not impor-
tsnt, the chief products being hardware,
silk. muslin and linen.
The city is the seat of an appeal court
an archbishop and a university The
university was opened in 153S and is at
tended by some GD students. There is
also technical institute in the city, and
there is municipal hospital, which is a
vast structure. built prior to 1900 a. D.
The principal object of interest 10 tour
lists, apart from the scenic attractions of
the place. is the cathedral, which was be-
gun in 10aS at the time OF Norman oc-
cupation of the island, and parts of which
are still standing as originally con-
structed. with the exception of the evil
dences of damage wrought by the fire.
quent earthquakes. The cathedral, like
the town, has had many vicissitudes and
bears the marks of most of them. In
1874 1t was damaged by fire. which broke
out in the course OF the funeral of Con-
rad w. In 1854 the spire of the cam
panile was burned down. In 1883 the
campanile and the transept were over
thrown by earthquake.
Noted for Its Scenery.
The city vies with Palermo in grandeur
of scenery. A chain of abrupt peaks
rises behind it on the west to the height
of 800 feet, and the view of the oddly
shaped harbor is most attractive. The
climate is very even with mean tenn
perature of &c degrees Fahrenheit.
The town is one of great antiquity. and
derived it's first known name Zancle "a
Sickle), from the shape of the harbor 1t
was founded by Cumaean pirates and
Chalcidians in 49, B. c., and was gov
erned by the laws of Charondas At the
end of the fifth century Il. e. the town
was seized by the fugitives from Samos
and Mietus. and soon after fell under the
dominion of AnaXilas the tyrant of Rhe-
GUM, who introduced Messenans from
the Peloponnesns. by whom the name was
were expelled few years after his death
and the constitution was re-established.
In the great Athenian war with Syracuse
the city remained neutral.
In 1856 B G. the town was destroyed by
the Carthaginans but was rebuilt a few
years later by Donysius of Syracuse,
only to fall again into the hands of the
Carthaginians under Hannibal in 269. The
first Punic war, however. left the place
in the hands of the Romans and the city
was of Importance second only 10 that of
Syracuse and Llybaeum in Sicily during
period of Roman occupation lasting for
several centuries.
In S3l A. D. the town was taken by the
Saracens, but i'm 1tH1 it was taken from
them by the Normans The city pros
pered greatly during tho Crusades. being
a favorite rendezvous for soldiers from
the continent en- route to the Holy Land
In the middle ages also it became flour
ishing commercial city.
It's commercial Importance disappeared
a fter a bitter struggle between the arts
tocratic faction, Merli. and the demo-
cratic faction. or Mavizzi, in 1914. The
democratic faction appealed to the
French and the other to the Spania rCs.
The former faction was at first victor
ious. but eventually was deserted by the
French. the city was taken by the Span
iards. and when the struggle was over
the population was reduced from 10000
to about d tenth of that number
Ravaged by the Plague.
The town never fully recovered from
this disaster. Whatever recovery was
made was neutralized in the eighteenth
century by a series of disasters. In 174O
a bout 10000 persons died of the plague
and in 1888 the town was almost entirely
overthrown by the great earthquake of
that year. Great damage was caused by
Commandment i'll September, 1S4S The
cholera carried off no fewer than 5000
victims in 1854 and earthquakes in 1894
and 1903 also caused loss of life and prop
erty In 1860 the town was occupied by
Gariba ldi. 1t became part of united
Italy the following year.
In respect to the feature apparently
resulting in the greatest loss of life the
Messina disaster bears close resem-
blance to the great earthquake of Lis
bon which November L. 100, laid half the
city i'm ruins and caused the death of ap-
proNmately 40WO persons. A large por-
ton of Lisbon. like Messna. was built on
low ground but little above the level of
the bay and river Tagus. 1t was the
tidal wave following the earthquake that
caused by far the greatest damage.
The Lisbon earthquake is one of the
most memorable recorded in history and
there is no record of damage from tidal
wave in Europe or America exceeding it.
According to accounts accepted as reIi-
able the sea retired almost as soon as the
shock Of the earthquake was felt leav-
ing the bar dry, and returned in a few
minutes a great wave or breaker fifty
feet or more In height. In six minutes it
had engulfed the entire lower portion of
the city and in this time at least 10000
people persisted. Some of the estimates
place the number drowned as high as