The San Francisco call., 1908-12-30
CITY And TOWN
0BLITFRATEDBY
AWFUL TEMDLOR
Tidal Wave and Fire Complete
Work of Widespread De-
StruCtiOn
Dead in Messina Will Be
Numbered by Tens of
Thousands
MOunt Etna Active and Reyer-
beratiOns Increase Terror
in Catania

i,OafE. Dec. 29-South Italy and the
iSsnd of Sicily have been visited by
gan appalling calamity. the extent Of
.Whic.h- can not get be grasped. The
earthquake yesterday morning wrecked
city aftel city and obHtersted smaller
towns and villages without number.
.ThAn tidal wave swept along the
straits Of Messina and added to the
Horror drowning the people in their
helplessness and panic Fire came to
complete the work OF destruction.
FLAMES broke out in the devastated
.e5ties eand countless numbers of in
lured men, women and children were
purned to death.
Any adequate estimate OF the total
casualties is as yeI quite impossible,
l-5E tie Rome Tribuna places the num-
her at between eo.9oo and 10000.
The horror ana destructiveness Of
tAIs .dsitation probably VIII exceed that
df aar earthquake in italy since 1888,
when to.ooa persons persisted at Mes
. e.na alone
Reports Increase Horror
s.sReports Of heavy loss Of life are COM
sng IN every hour from city and town
and nearly every village in the stricken
zone. and the story in its detail has
:oniy begun TO be told. The horror
grows as further reports come in.
1Iessina has been IRE swept. The
.dead there alone viii run into the tens
.of' thousands. Reggie is q sepulcher of
the dead. Catania suffered heavily
Mount Etns, the volcano on the island
Qf Sicily. is active. The detonations
atesreverberating over Catania and add
ts tho terror. Volumes OF smoke are
Pouring from the crater.
The work of rescue is being pushed
forward with every possible energy.
sTroops are being poured into the zone,
.bst the. efforts at succor are as yet ut
'fesly inadequate. France, Great Britain
ana Russia are hurrying warships to
..lhe scene.
King and Queen Go to Scene
Kng Victor Emmanuel and queen
. zIelena have left Rome for the south.
'1sis majesty viii superintend in person
the work Of relief.
the queen, refusing 10 let her hus-
band go alone insisted upon sharing
: IFS dangers
The pope has made an appeal to
Roman Catholics the world over for
help. He has headed the relief sub
scrih1ion list with a donation of
100000
There is CONSERVATION in Rome. The
telegraph and newspaper Offices are
besieged by weeping crowds demand
ing .uews. Every fresh telegram tells
tile same story Of death. destruction
and nesolauon.
Ambassador Griscom has telegraphed
10 Messina and Palermo. inquiring as
10 the fate OF Arthur s. Cheney OF
.connecticut. the American consul. and
Joseph T. Peirce. the American vice
consul at Messins. Up to O'Clock
this afternoon no answer had been re
ceived-
Hundreds Beneath Ruins
Many hundreds Of living persons are
suu beneath The ruins in Calabrian
towns. but il is quite impossible to
relieve them
At Riposto the tidal wave was ter
rife. at first the sea receded for a
great distance from the shore and
then it swept fo ward with tremen-
dous violence. The water advancing
in a huge wave swept before it every
house and building for a thousand
feet from the shore line. The waters
rushed through the streets Of Riposto
10 a depth Of from 10 TO 20 feet.
The disaster in the province of Ca
iabria and the island of Sicily today
assumed staggering proportions. Each
successive report received from the
stricken region makes it more appar-
ent that the first stories Of the wide
spread destruction were little, IL any,
exageerated. Nessina alone reports
1000 victims. but IL is feared that this
IS only a partial list OF the dead and
wounded. Reports are coming in from
other towns giving estimates OF dead
therein from 500 up to several thou
SAND. Reggie still remains in its iso-
lation. 1t is impossible to get word
from the stricken city. and the silence
gives rise to the most fearful appre-
tensions
Robbers Shot on Sight
Vandalism of the worst kind has
broken out and the government has
adopted the most severe measures for
s.s repression. Robbers and looters are
vuaat on sight
= eae prison at Messina collapsed.
v,yme Of the prisoners were killed, but
the survivors made their escape and
5oined the yandals who we've sacking
The city. such confusion reigned that
the robbers met with no resistance.
,.,e local chief Of police lies dead in