New-York tribune., 1908-12-30
ITALY'S VISITATION

! Several days must eapse before the exact
nronor+,ons Of the calamity which has just over
taken Southern Italy can be known. ana the
uncertainty leaves faint hope that the present
estimates may somewhat exaggerate the truth.
Nevertheless. II is impossible to resist the con-
viction that the event has been without prece-
dent for ct least century, and it may be neces-
; sary to go much further back for parallel.
An official statement issued at Palermo puts the
loss of life at 10000 and leading newspaper
In Rome at between 10000 and 10000. The
latest dispatches received here make the loss
100000 It is with these appalling figures that
comparisons must be made.
| Insignificant, therefore, seems the DESTRUCTION
wrought in Caiabria In 1905, when about 5000
men, women and children perished. The num-
Der of victims at Naples in 1857 was not far
from 10000 at Caracas in 1919 about 12,0oO at
Areduipa and adjacent places on the South
American coast in 1869 nearly or quite 25,Ooo
Yet even the heaviest loss at these times and
places appa rently falls short of that which has
now occurred In the vicinity of the Straits or
Messina.
Going back of the nineteenth century, we
find two memorable dates. In 1888 Messina
was nearly destroyed, and not far from 2O'ooo
of it's inhabitants perished. 1t begins to look
as If that one city alone had now suffered even
more severely perhaps to the same extent as
Lisbon did in 1759 when the number OF per-
sons killed was $4,000. Catania has repeatedly
had experiences of a similar character Inc
worst one occurred In 1888, when in that city
and fifty-four other towns in Southern Italy
100000 persons are said to have perished. Here
at last is a total which appears TO have been
uneuuaIled In Europe or America since that
time and by a strange coincidence, IL was
supplied BY the identical region now visited
That earthauake the one which is said TO have
killed 100000 Chinese In 1871 and the one by
which 100000 japanese are reported to have
perished in 1703 may prove to be the only dis
asters of their kind which have surpassed that
of last Monday The one which overwhelmed
the country around Naples in 1856 and involved
a loss Of 10000 lives closely approached the
Lisbon earthquake, but it is to be feared that
II must rank behind the latest addition to the
list
EARTHQUAKES are frequently associated with
volcanic action. Sometimes the former are
merely incident to the latter, and sometimes
the eruption is an effect of a seismic disturb
ance Inasmuch as the destruction OF Pompet
and Herculaneum was due primarily TO their
burial in ashes from Vesuvius, their fate Is
hardly comparable with Messina's and Cata-
MAS The explosion of Krakatoa. in the East
Indies in 1888. with the consequent loss of life
on adjacent islands, estimated at $4,000, like
wise belongs in another class.
The only compensation Immediately discern
ibIe in the case of such appalling catastrophes
Is the almost universal outpouring of sympathy
in practical forms. The collection of funds for
the relief of the suffering began in this in
stance at many points before any appeal for
help had been made, and we may hope that,
however inadequate to replace what has been
lost. they will be large enough at least to
thousands from starvation.