The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-12-31
Now Believed None of Victims
Claimed by Wreckage Are
Alive - Search Reveals
None.
CHARRED BODIES FOUND
Hundreds of Terribly MutiIat-
ed Corpses Sicken the Res
cue Partie who Work Night
and Day.

Rome, Dec. 31.-Foreigners In Mes.
sina, Reggie and other DESTROYED
towns who have not yet been heard
from are in all probability, dead. ac,
cording to statements reached here to-
day. These say there is little hope,
that any, not yet heard from are still
alive. This is believed to be particul-
ariy true of the Americans who. with
characteristic energy, would surely
have reached some of the news disse-
minating points by this time if alive
Thousands of inquiries have been sent
to authorities on the scene who have
made every effort to locate the per-
sons sought, but comparatively few of
them have been found This is
case of no news being bad news" said
one of the government officials today.
What will add greatly to anxiety of
friends and relatives of the foreigners
Is the uncertainty that must surround
their fate for days to come.
Days OF Work Ahead.
1t will be days before little more
than the edge of the ruins is reach
ed and before they are cleared away.
Hundreds of bodies never will be re-
covered Many were incinerated in the
ruins and others washed to sea in IT,
dial waves. 1t is probable that clos
est final estimate made on victims can
not come within ten thousand of the
actual number
Loss of Life 24O,oOo.
One report from Messina today SAYS
dead in Sicily and other Italian ter |
ritory will reach 100000 The govern !
ment estimates, on reports thus far |
received, are as follows: Messina.
$4,000, Reggie, 10000. Monteleone l. |
500. Saint Eufemia 1900, Bagnaria l. |
600, Gazziri 1000, Almi 10000 Sem !
mara 400. Other towns and country i,
districts $4,000. Press estimates put |
the number all the way from 10000 /
TO 100000.
Il Is conceded that the best that can /
pe done at present is simply to guess. /
No Victims Alive.
The late reports from rescuers saw n
that there are NO longer any victims
stu alive in the ruins During the
first two DAYS many were found suf-
Ierlng untold tortures in wreckage,
but three days of such torment proved
more than the strongest could bear.
and today's reports show that death
has mercifulls put an end to their
agony.
charred Bodies. II
Numberless charred bodies are
found in ruins telling of death too ter
rible to contemplate. In many cases
bodies We're but slightly burned, death
refusing an early escape to the vic
TINS. Features of these were terribly |
distorted. The railway station at
Messina where many people gathered |
after the first shock hoping to escape |
ns rain was uncovered today reveal |
ing scores of corpses packed togeth-
er. The number of dead here was not
even counted, the rescuers having
more urgent work to do. II
Horror of Starvation.
To the terrifying spectacle of death II
mas been added the horror of starya- II
lon and the fear of spread of pesti II
'ence. In the ruins OF Messina, Reggie II
ana various other towns in Sicily and
Iaiabria the bodies of many dead
which It has ben impossible to extri- II
ate. We're found while everywhere II
thousands OF homeless and hungry II
,ersons throng Uttered thoroughfares /
words are inadequate to express hor-
or OF the ruin and the desolation that
las overwhelmed Calabria and Sicily.
vnere the earths trembies and fire and il
Fater have combined to change the
milling, verdant country into deserts.
dessfna exists no longer and at.<easx II