The Washington times., 1909-01-22
RECOUNTS EFFORTS
TO FIND CHENEYS
City Inundated After Shaking and
Solid Buildings Tumble About
Occupants Rescues Slow.
Continued from First Page.)

"hlch clambered on my hands and
knees. BY this time 7 began - see
that the affair was more serious than
1 had at first believed, but as I was still
IN lnky darkness, I could not form any
idea as TO the extent OF the disaster.
AFTER three-quarters Of an hour. I
arrived where / supposed the consulate
TO be- and waited for daylight which
came IN a few minutes I looked for
the consulate, but could see nothing
JhdI reminded me of it, Half the water
front appeared to be down. Here and
lhtfe the walls were standing, while
the interior had collapsed. A few fires
We're breaking out, but owing to the
Sohq construction OF the town, they
made little progress.
AT the place J. supposed the consulate
10 be there was nothing but a heap Of
ruins, iron beams, splintered wood.
Dicks, and stones I'm hapless confusion,
Not Sure of Spot
II was not sure Of the spot and
climbed over the ruins to see # / could
find anything familiar. Finally / came
across battered teapot. which 7 rec
ognized as the property OF Mrs Cheney.
and, remembering the SPOT where il had
stood, was able to get my bearings
Il climbed directly over the spot
where their loom had been and called,
in the hope that If they were still
alive, they would answer ] heard
nothing. however, and further search
revealed a plano covered TO depth Of
about ten feet IN rubbish. i knew that
the Cheneys had no piano, so II must
have come down from one OF the upper
stories. AS the shock was so strong
that no one could stand, and as the
consulate went down almost Immediate
ly, II was absolutely an impOssibility
FOR Dr. Cheney 20 have opened four
doors and go down a long flight of
steps which had three sections Moth
ing belonging to the office could be
seen except the teapot
Goes After Friends.
Realizing that it was Impossible 10
aid the consul, / made up my mind 10
go to another part OF the city to in
quire after some friends. Soon after
started, it suddenly occurred to me that
it might be wise If I put on my shoes.
which / had been carefully carrying an
my hand. People were beginning 10
appear by this time, some half clothed.
others entirely naked.
II gave part of my clothes away. but
found that I could do nothing, there
were so many. People were calling from
upper windows, asking that some one
should aid them. but ladders and ropes
were necessary. and they had to be left
Some men were trying TO lower an old
lady from the fourth floor but as soon
as the weight came upon the cord 10
broke. precipitating the poor soul to the
Another upper window was choked
with rubbish, out OF which STUCK a
mans arm. He was unable to call out
but ratified against the railing with
stick, trying to attract attention. WITH
out men and tools, II was Impossible
20 do anything, so i kept ou-trying 10
shut my ears.
Natives Hysterical.
Almost all the natives were hys-
tericsI, shrieking and moaning. Some
were held by their friends. as they
seemed to be absolute maniaCs.
"Ou the way ] met an Euglishmau
whom I knew, and was Informed that
the house of the British vicar had ccl-
Iapsed and that not one Of the nine
members Of his family had escaped.
Another told ma that me had managed
20 get HIS father out, but that his wife
and son were dead. Everywhere the
story was the same. Later the news
came to- me that of the 1900 men who
constituted the garrison Of Messina,
over 1900 were dead.
Light shocks were felt every few min-
utes. adding TO the alarm OF the people.
& bout II o'clock ] went on board the
steamer Chesapeake belonging to the
AngiO-Amerlcau OIL Company, and man
aged TO get a. cup of tea and q saudWich.
Captain Mort was very kind. and told
me 10 send people Ia need on board,
and he would do anything he could for
them. 4 went again to the shore 10
see what could be done and by that
uiEuC over seventy principally women
and children, were on board.
Rain Begins to Fall
About o'clock rain began to fan,
s.-.
Scores and hundreds of them we're to
be seen sitting I'm an the squares or
wider streets, and looking as Fl they
mad abandoned all hope was abso-
luteIy tired out. and went 10 sleep on
a COLI OF rope ON the foresuore, not
troubling myself about any DossIbIe
consequences. After half an hour 7 was
awakened by the cold. and decided that
the best thing FOR me 10 do vas 10
follow the band OF refugees. and to 20
on board the Chesapeake for the night.
First. I went 10 my hotel and Fo1nd
u stiu standing. bur very much dam
aged. Going upstairs very cautiously
/ got few things into clothes bag
taking care 10 secure my copy of the
Regulations, as have had trOubIe
enough before without one
by the time J reached the shore
again, IoOting had begun. and from an
can near UduuepoUlum Irigned Az
through the night. Customs g1Iardq
were joining the IOOters although some
tried manfuilE 10 Tepress &c. Almost an
the CarabIuIeTs had been killed but the
remaining ones dld the best they could
Oil Ship Quits Harbor.
Next morning early. The captain Of
the Chesapeake went into the outer
harbOr fearing that, as the Chesa-
peake was an oil ship she might be
ina danger of being set on fire bv sparks
Thus I had 90 remain ON board until the
next day Luckily / was able TO send
message to the Sutlej asking the
captain TO forward 81 by wireless. Just
after the arrival of the Sutlej. three
Russian meu-of-war appeared on the
scene. These soon had large rescue.
parties AT work Later IN the dav the
Italians began 90 come ia, bat all thew
could do was totally inadequate.
THE Sutlej left for Syracuse yes
terday morning about o'clock. with
"a bout 100 wounded on board. The Rus
slams, REINFORCED by two other cruisers.
steamed out for Naples yesterday i'm
the afternoon. WItl every available
space occupied Five or six italian
vessels are now iu the HaTbOr with one
German and two British. Another Brit
ish mau-0f-War has gone 10 render aid
ia Sclila. Two more italians are att