The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-31
Italian Earthquake Ter
 TOTS Discussed
FORMER U. $. CONSUL SEYMOUR
Gives Impressions of Calamity as
 Once Resident of Sicily.
Believes People Are sHost supeEsti- tAoaa ana EAsltahis-AEsmleraAts From southern Italy Came to
 southern United states.

sWe in America cannot conceive the terror which the earthquake and its consequences have brought to the na- tfves of Sicily and Southern Italy.
 ..The Italians and the sfcilians are of much more excitable nature than are we.
 They are very superstitious and. if may say, the majority are more ig- norant than the majority >of Ameri- cans
 Tt takes the Italians of Southern Italy longer to recover their senses after q catastrophe than it does the Americans. For this reason I say that we on this side Of the globe do not realize, we cannot imagine the utter confusion and the poignant anguish or those undeveloped by the news of the quake than the same number in other parts of the United States. Most. of the inhabitants of Italy who emigrate to the Southern States are from South ern Italy, principally from the prov l5ince of Calabria or from Sicily"
 Such are few hastv observations of Hon W. H. Seymour. of this city, former United States Consul at Paler- mo. Sicily, on the situation created by the remark able earthquake. MT. Sey- mour can speak authoritativeiy of the affected region as he was located at Palermo during the second term of President Cleveland and often travel ed over the scenes that are now re- dueed to ruins.
 Palermo is situated about 126 miles from Messina and it is the belief that if Palermo-felt the shock of the quake at all 1t was but slight.
 "The Sieilians and the Italians of the native land may not be so in- genius and skilful about rendering aid to the suffering" continued Mir. Seymour, 'but you may depend upon them being more sympathetic than we Americans. Their ignorance is not in the way of their feeling for their fel- lowmen So their efforts to rescue are perhaps more frantic than effective, but the intentions are most humane" :"
 The visit of King Emmanuel to the scene of the catastrophes will have most salutary effect. In the opinion of Mr. Seymour
 "If one is familiar with the history of Italy one would have guessed that had tue calamity been one-tenth what 1t was or one-twentieth 1t would have drawn a visit from His Majesty" add ed Mir. Seymour. Tt Is not a perfume tory trip of the King and Queen. It is typical of the sympathetic nature of the race And while the Kings pres ence with his dying and suffering sub jects will be influential that was an apt retort His Majesty gave when one of his deputies observed that his pres thee would suffice to console the stricken people. The King replied sharply that such talk was nonsense"
 It is the belief of Mir. Seymour also that the survival of the Statue of St Rose at Messina will affect the super stition of the people. It seems to have survived the earthquake and it's awful consequences.
 'The destruction of Messina and the other ports" continued MT. Seymour twill seriously interfere with the trade between that country and the United States, This commerce con sisted mostly of oranges. lemons, ke- rosene oils and olive oils. There is some sulphur exported from Sicily. mostly from Palermo.