The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1908-12-31

Rome.-The three provinces of Co
zena, Catanzaro and Reggie di Caleb
ria, comprising the Department of Ca
lobria, which forms the southwestern
extremity of Italy, or "the toe of the
boot, were devastated Monday by an
earthquake. the far-reaching effects
oil which were felt almost throughout
the entire country.
| One hundred thousand dead; Mes
sina in Sicily and Reggie and score
| OF other towns In southern Italy over
whelmed; the entire Calabrian region
laid waste; that is the earthquake
record so far as at present known
| from the reports that are coming
! slowly into Rome on account of the
almost complete destruction of lines
| of communication to the stricken
places.
| The death list in Messina is esti
mated at from 10000 to $4,000; that
| of Reggie. which, with it's adjacent
villages, numbered $4,000 people, in
| cludes almost the entire population
AT Palmi, 1000 are reported dead; at
Cassano. 100; at Cosdlza 500, and
half the population of Bagnara, about
1000. The Monteleon region has
been. devastated, and Biposa. Semi
nara, San Giovanni, Scilla. Lazzaro
and Cannitello, and all other com
| in ruins.
Stunned at the magnitude of the
calamity which has overtaken fellow
countrymen, all Italy mourns for the
| stricken province of Calabria and the
island of Sicily. Accustomed for cen
turtles to earthquakes, Italy stands
ever in dread, but none was prepared
for the disaster which in the fraction
| of a minute on Monday devastated
cities and towns and caused the death
of thousands.
| Messina, whose tragic history has
been marked by tidal waves and wa.
end which was the center of the ter
restial maelstrom, was shaken tc
ruins. Flames burst forth to complete
the city's destruction, and to burr
alive untold numbers helplessly pin
toned beneath fallen walls and broker
timbers. The strait of Messina was
shaken and twisted by the earth's
trembling, for mariners report the
channel altered beyond recognition
The ports and villages on both the
continental and Sicilian sides were
wrecked and inundated, and all light
houses along the coast were swal
lowed up. Navigation now is danger
Gus and in some places impossible.
In the Calabrian district, which wa
| only beginning to recover from thu
effects of the earthquake OF 1905, Reg
| gio was the center of the e3rth's up
heaval The seaport of Reggie is re
ported as no longer existing, and thu
city proper is in ruins. The loss o
| life on both sides of the strait and il
eastern Sicily was enormous. One o
the refugees from Reggie, who wa
the first TO bring the news of The
city's destruction, tried to make hi
way to Sicily In sailboat, but wa'
compelled to return, and finally fount
safety at a peninsula port. In de
scribing his experiences, he said:
"The sea was strangely, mysterious
! ly agitated, and the heavens were
ablaze. Nearing Sicily the clearing
smoke revealed the mystery; Mes
sina was in flames. In the frenzy o
despair, | turned my boat back to Ca
labria''
Starving, bleeding from injuries
and almost insane from their terrify
ing experiences, Messina's survivors
are fleeing in all directions. Th'
spectacle presented by the ruine'
seaport is described as terrifying
Tumbling buildings both killed ant
mutilated many, while hundreds o
the injured, imprisoned in the wreck
age, were abandoned to their fate b.
the fleeing populace. One of thos'
who escaped said:
"The earth seemed suddenly t.
drop and then turn violently on it
axis. The whole population, VIII
practically were precipitated from tn
houses rent in twain, were spul
around like tops as they ran through
the streets. Many fell crushed t,
death. and others, bewildered, tool
refuge for breath beside the totteI
ing walls, where they soon met tn
| fate of their companions"