Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1908-12-30
TOday's Telegraphic News
Appalling Loss of Life.

after comparing the various add cot
fUsinE reports that are constantly coming
In from the Ell cled region, has set led
down TO the belief that fully 100, 600
people we're killed by the Earthquake
Of VI jnday, the tidal wsve AID subse'
qaebt disasters, aud hat Ihousands more
are doomed TO die more terrible deaths
in the chsos thst DOW engulfs many
toWus on blth sides OF the strait and in
the interior.
Messages received today from the war.
ships at Messina say the rescuers are ut
teFly ssamped and that 1t will require
days to effect anything like az adequate
relief system.
The refugees are thickiy scattered for
Leagues 10 every direction. Before the
work of relief can In any great messu ore
meet the needs Of the people, IL seems
certain the weaker element of the popu-
lation-mostly the children and old
people will fall by hundreds from hum
ger aud exposure.
The grayest anxiety is felt as to
whether the authorities will be able to
keep the survivors from starving. 10
many places the food supplies have been
completely destroyed and 1t will be sew
era days before it will be able to reach
some OF the points OF greatest restitution.
The searchsrs are everywhere finding
groups of survivors huddled together
with their dad. Hundreds OF persons,
without food for forty-eight hours and
almost naked, have been found 10 bitches
and hedges, some of them still cliuging
to their dead. Their snfsriDgs have
driven many of these insane. Mothers
have been found still carrying their dead
babies and themselves burning with
fever, racked with coughs and speech
less from cold and terror
No news has been received up to this
hour from any of the Americans who
were In Messins.
Great stretches of the SiciliSn aud
Caabriau shores are gradually sinking
into the sea, according to the naval COM
mauder. 1t is to this fact that he at
tributes the engulfing Of Reggie.
n
Fires are still raging 10 many OF the
ruined towns, according TO the a1vices
received by the ministry Of marine. In
Messina the fires were got under control
last evening.
The pope, almost prostra'ed, insists
tba! his place is with the sufferers, aud
were ii not for the positive warning Of
his doctors that such a trip would prove
fatal, he would leave the Vatican 1t
once. The pope is spending most Of
the time In prayers for CHS sfflicted
people,"
It is now feared that the town Of Can
nsnteIli and LSzzsro, adjacent to Reg
gio, suffered the same fate as the larger
city.
The absence Of any direct word from
this section of Calsbria is the most
ominous feature Of the situation.
Catanz,rO, Dec. 30.--A captain OF
carbinetrs who arrived here today from
Reggie, says that the sea now covers the
city. Not a building WIS left standing
ia the town, he says. The lower part of
the town is rapidly settling and 1t Is
feared that 1t will drop into the ses.
Sailors who left Mes'ira TO investigate
conditions in Reggie returned with the
information that they found the sea had
swsY lowed it.
Osntauis, Dec. 80. Queen Helen
personally rescued child from the ruins
OF building in Messina, according to
an authentic report this afternoon.
Against the remOnstTauce Of the king
aud their attendants, she entered the
ruins, which were In imminent danger
OF collspsing, pulled the child from its
imperiled position and carried 1t to 8
boat that wss waiting. After her first
break down on arriving in Messina, the
queen recovered completely and went
along with the other rescuers. B1th the
king and queen wept at the pictures pre-
sented.
The thick layer of mud that covers
Messipa is still yielding its harvest of
dead, according to reports reaching here
todsy, Heaps Of dead are piled in the
stress and the scenes enacted by the
horror stricken people beggar descrip-
ton. Hundreds who had hoped thst
their friends and relatives might have es-
capped have become msddened by the
discovery of their loved ones in the mud
and debris. Bedlam rules.
Berlin Dec. 30.-B1th the German
and American Consulate buildings 10
Messina we're wrecked, according to q
dispatch received here today via Rome.
Rome, Dec. 3O.-The totsl of esti-
mates of the dead, male to the Italian
government, place the figures at l25,
900. Hundreds are dying today Of
pneumonia and meningitis. General
Fabis Di Ossssto has started the burn
ing of bodies on funeral pyres. AT least
twenty cities are said to be In flames to-
day.
Stromboli has become active aud an.
other quake was felt a! Palermo. The
misery of the victims is heightened by
the chilling rains today.
Mount Etus is s. i'll utering rumblings.
A contribution of $40, 900 WAS received
today from ]. Pierpont MOrgau, the
American hasucier,
/ H.. sktIn