The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-12-30
EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY.
HAVOC WROUGHT BY TERRIFIC
SHOCK IN CALABRIA.

AAo Ao"n OI Me6S1na Partially De-
stroyed-Loss Of Life is ProbabI,
Heavy, But Cannot be Estimator
Owing to Interruption OF News Fa.
ciItses-Damage Great.
Rome. Dec. 2s.-The three nrov,nces
OF Cosenza. Catanzaro and Reggio d,
Calabria. comprising the department
OF Caiabria. which forms the south
western extremity OF Italy or "the toe
or the boot" were devastated today
by an earthquake. the far reach
ing eject OF which were felt al
most throughout the entire country.
The town OF Aessina. in Sicily, was
partially destroyed. and Catania was
inundated.
In Aessina hundreds Of houses have
fallen and many persons have been
killed. Owing. however. to the fact
that telegraphing and telephone COM
munications were almost completely
DESTROYED It is impossible to obtain
even an approximate idea Of the vast
damage done.
The fate OF entire regions within the
zone Of the earthquake is unknown,
but reports received here up to a late
hour tonight indicate that the havoc
has been great and the destruction of
life and property more terrible than
Italy has experienced in many years.
The uncertainty OF the situation for
many thousands has filled all italians
with the deepest distress, for they still
have fear that the day may come
when that part Of the country which
seems to have been most blessed by
nature will be destroyed by the blind
foes OF that same nature which nearly
19 centuries ago overwhelmed Pompeii
and Hercuianeum.
All reports show that the present
catastrophe embraces q larger area
than the earthquake in 1905.
The, tidal wave which followed the
earth shocks on the eastern coast Of
Sicily sunk vessels and inundated the
lower part Of Catania. 1t is known
that a number of people were killed at
that place. but the rushing waters
carried everything before them and
caused such an indescribable condition
that II ID impossible to estimate dam
age.sysF
For a period the town Of Messina
and the whole province Of Reggie were
completely isolated through Interrupt
tions to the telegraph and telephone
and landslides that obstructed the
railways. Absolutely nothing was
heard from Reggie throughout the
day. while the first news from Mes
s!na came in the form Of dispatch.
which q torpedo Boat, flying at full
speed along the coast Of the peninsu-
la, carried from point to point, al
ways finding the wires dow n, until it
reached Nicotera, where the telegraph
lines were found to be intact.
From this point the dispatch was
sent. 1t briefly stated that the sit
uation was desperate and after sum-
marizing the immensity Of the catas-
trophe ended with the announcement
that Capt. Passino, commander of the
station Of torpedo boats. was buried
under the debris after having, with
other officials. performed neroic work
In trying to save others.
The italian government proceeded
energetically to relieve the far-spread
distress. concentrating at the points
Of greatest need troops and engineers.
Members of the Red Cross were dis
patched to various places. and camps
with provisions were Immediately pro-
vided, all available railway lines and
ships being used for their transport.
The city Of Messina has suffered
possibly more than any other place,
the latest information coming indi-
rectly from that quarter stating that
two-thirAs Of the town was destroyed
and several thousand persons killed.
The steamers Washington and Monte
bello. which were in that harbor, later
proceeded to Catania loaded with in
1ured. who were so stupefied by ter
ror that they seemed unable to realize
what had happened, simply saying
that 1t looked as though the end of
the world had come. Five steamers
left Catania for Messina to assist in
removing the injured from that place
who are reported to number thou
sands.
AT Catania the panic stricken peo-
pie, fearing new shocks, absolutely re-
fused to reenter their houses and are