Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-31

LONDON, December 31.-The Marquis
di Ruvola telegraphs to the Daily Mail
as follows:
Catania. Sicily. Wednesday. / 30 pm.
i have just returned from Messina,
which city was absolutely destroyed The
spectacle is a terrifying one.
The ruins are a prey to the roaring
I flames. A great conf1agration broke out
Immediately after the earthquake and
devoured all that the shocks spared
Nearly the entire population is buried
in the debris. and calculations place the
total number of survivors at only 10000
Thus tho dead at Messina alone will
reach the stupendous figure Of nearly
100000
Help from the outer world is at last
beginning to reach the stricken city. The
British army cruiser Sutlej has steamed
in from Malta. and she has been followed
by the Russian battleships Slava and
CzareWitch and the armored cruiser Adj
miral Makaron. The officers and men
sible aid. yet their task is fearful one
under the pelting rain. Open-air hos
pitfalls are being installed in what were
once the streets OF the Guy.
The sights on every hand are so NOV
ing and so tragic that 1t Is almost i'm
possible to describe them adequately in
the terms Of the human language.
Depth Of Anguish Reached.
The utmost depths of anguish and suf-
fering seem to have been piumbed, and
the imagination stands aghast before the
effect Of this catastrophe.
The garrison Of Messina persisted in
the ruins. The people who survive I'M
hurt cannot escape from the vast smold-
ering tomb in which their kinsmen, wives.
husbands, parents and children lie. The
sea Is closed to them for the want of
ships. They are suffering the cruel ex-
tremities of hunger and thirst. Here
and there they can be seen searching
eagerly for some morsels to eat and
water to drink. but the heaps of dust
and the debris yield them nothing.
At every turn some lameptable scene
meets the eyes. Men and women, half
naked and terribly injured, are seen i'm
ploring relief. The hospitals and chem
lists shops have disappeared, and there
are neither drugs nor surgical instru-
ments. Government officials from Ca
tania, however, are on the spot and doing
their very utmost. A Catinia fire bri-
gade has also arrived and is working
with the Russian sailors to eXtinguish
the fires.
An Italian battleship reached Messina
today and has landed a number of sea-
men and soldiers, while troops are on
the way from Catania and Naples, but
it will take at least a year to remove
the dead from under the ruins.
Caught In Their Beds.
The catastrophe surprised the people
when they were asleep. which helps to
explain the immensely of the loss. The
prison collapsed and many of the prison
ers escaped, SO there were number OF
desperadoes let loose upon the ruined
city.
The custom house. railway station and
all the other great buildings and institu-
tions have disappeared. Not a single Off
cial or public functionary remains in the
streets, which were completely destroyed.
1t Is Impossible to find ones way about
The Offices Of the Bank OF Italy have
been wrecked, but the safes and Strong
rooms remain intact. with the treasure in
them.
Some Of the dead have already been
recovered from the ruins, and have been
buried in the public gardens. Search for
the wounded and uninjured in the debris
is being vigorously prosecuted. There
is a hope that even now, two days after
the earthquake. further rescues will be
made
Survivors Struck Dumb
NAPLES, December Billy Wolffsohn.
an Englishwoman, who arrived in Naples
crowded with refugees from Messina, col
lected some graphic stories from some of
the survivors. One man. who was en-
ployed by a German cotton firm in Mes
sina. said:
"Messina was utterly destroyed. Moth
ing remained when I left but a part Of the
citadel, where few soldiers were the
bare survivors of the whole garrison.
Here and there a house is still found
standing erect
81 was asleep when the first shock
awoke me- I lit my lamp, but all was
quiet and returned to sleep again. Sud-
denly fresh shocks occurred which were
more violent and terrific.
AT the repetition I rose. but the house
was swaying and my door damned in. 1
tore the sheets from my bed and made a
rope, with which I lowered myself from
the window to the street.
IAN Italian family of five persons also
escaped from the house with the aid of
my rope.
mo sooner were We in the street than
the house collapsed tried to help in the
work Of rescue, but 1t was useless, The