Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1908-12-31
kyE. EVER LIKE THIS.
List of Dead May Reach the
Frightful Figure Of
OVER HUNDRED THOUSAND

Reggie, Returned With the .lnfor.
nation That Nothing but a Heap Of
Ruins Remains.
Rome. Dec. 3O.-Half the population
OF Calabria and the eastern part OF
Sicily Is dead; the other half is weep
ing. AS the great extent of the ter
rifle seismic disturbances become ap-
parent it seems impossible to exag.
gerate the horrors which followed
them. The calamity, which over
whelmed Italy, is almost beyond the
grasp of the imagination, not only
because Of the dead, now known to
number tens of thousands. but be-
cause of the innumerable wounded
buried in the ruins, many of whom
persisted because it was impossible
to rescue them from the wrecks OF
their former homes. The whole OF
Italy is absolutely stunned, and at the
scenes of the disaster the bulk of the
people were literally demented with
the suddenness and extent of the
blow. The total number of victims is
variously estimated at from 10000 to
10000.
King Victor and the queen arrived
at Messina Wednesday. AS they made
their way into the town the scene
of the disaster and horror was too
much for the queen who almost
swooned. Crowds of terror stricken
persons swarmed about the royal
party, throwing themselves in the mud
and screaming for pity and aid
Many terrible stories are related in
connection with the rescue work. The
rescuers had to contend with a super
stition so deep rooted in the Sicilian
mind that in many instances injured
men and women chung to crumbling
walls. refusing to let go their hold and
seek a safer position.
As further facts concerning stricken
4hOSoihti btNOIlt dNdlldDle lUPN COT
roborate in every detail the worst
fears heretofore expressed The ca.
thedral, municipal buildings. barracks
and prisons were destroyed. and pre-
sumably all smaller buildings shared
the same fate OF the $50 railway EN-.
ployes in the station at Messina only
eight are known TO have survived,
while at Reggie the silence of death
still reigns and leaves to the magma
ton the terrible havoc wrought by
catastrophe. with the horrible thrush
of the sea, swallowing up boats and
crushing ships, and the destruction OF
bridges and walls.
Gable communication with the Aolan
islands twenty-five miles west OF
Sicily, was interrupted II is evil
dent the line Is broken and IT is fear
ed the islands have also been destroy
ey. The largest of the group is the
Island of Larparai. and its capital town
has a population of 10000.
Information from Palermo says
torpedoboat which went to aid the
earthquake sufferers at Reggie, re.
turned, reporting nothing remains of
the city but ruins.
A MeSsina survivor arriving at
Catania says only a small proportion
of the total population escaped Thou.
sands of persons are still buried alive
in the ruins where they are suffering
slow death by torture Flames are still
making their way slowly over the de- |
wasted area in an inexorable advance |
The imprisoned and pinioned human |
beings, unable to extricate themselves. |
are being burned alive. Others are /,
dying of injuries. Many are starving. |
The streets are filled with confused |
masses of bricks and mortar. beams, |
furniture, chimneys and roofs. In |
many cases the streets appear as
enormous crevasses, twisted into fan.
fastic shapes The celebrated Avenue
PalazZati, which runs along the sea
front from the university to the post.
office, is quite impossible All pub.
lie monuments have entirely disap.
peared
Calamity Grows.
The calamity grows with the re.
,eipt of every fresh dispatch from the
south. Calabria is dotted with small
owns and villages and new localities
ire reporting almost hourly casualty
lists that run from hundreds into thou.
sands. It is still impossible to reach
my accurate estimate of the dead. but
he total number is placed anywhere
between 100000 and 100000 In some
quarters it is declared the final num-
,ers will be high as 100000 persons.
)ne-half the population of Calabria
md eastern Sicily has apparently
,erished.
Countless thousands of wounded
men, women and children are dying In
he ruins. II is utterly impossible to