The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-07-15
,soeososos sososoosososososost
TIE CASE OF
, GIUSEPPE VITTORI

One December morning Giuseppe Wit.
tori. fruit merchant of Messina, Sic.
lily, kissed his wife, Natalina. and chill
dren-Antonia and varina, aged re-
spectively six and four years--and, GO
Ing to the dock. boarded . steamer
bound for Naples. Having transacted
some business there, he started on his
return. The vessel just before day.
light was nearing the spot where Mes.
sina was then located when vittori,
lying In his berth, felt the ship rise,
sink, rise again, then steam on tran
gully as before.
Vittori, not conscious Of the impor.
tance Of this rising and falling Of the
ship, arose, dressed himself and went
on deck. oh. the horror Of that sightl
Where the city I'm which he had been
born and passed his life had stood he
saw a mass Of ruins.
The ship came to anchor In the bny.
and Vittori went with others In boat
to the shore. What he had left pop
ulous city was now a gigantic sepul-
cher. He could not for long time
find the street on which he had lived,
and when he did It was still longer be-
fore he could find the place where his
home had stood, and then he was not
certain of 1t. How could he tell the
difference between ruins? He cried out
In despair "Natalinar' "Antoniop Eva
rlnap In succession, but the only reply
was the groans Of the wounded and
dying emanating from beneath the
piles Of wood and stone. He set to
work frantically to remove the ruins
that covered his dear ones. But he
soon realized that his efforts were use-
less. They had lived In the lower
story Of high building, and the de-
bris covering them was an immense
pile. The scenes about him, too, were
dispiriting. People half clothed, some
naked, some covered with their own
blood, were going about wailing or
pulling at the debris to get at their
loved ones.
The crowning horror was the break
Ing out Of the fire which covered all
with pail OF lurid smoke.
Vittori remained near the burial
place Of his wife and children till sat
lsiied that they had perished, then In
starving condition sought to get
away. He was too late to Join the
first survivors taken by the steamer
Regina Margherita to Palermo, but
later he succeeded by another ship in
reaching Naples. There he was pro.
vided with what he most needed In
the way Of food and clothing aud be-
thought himself what next to do. His
dominant desire was to get as far as
possible from the scene Of carnage.
Relief committees were forming. money
was pouring I'm from all points, and
above all came the immense stores
from America. vittori's wife's brother
lived In New York, and there the
stricken man determined to 60. Learn
Ing that one of the principal objects
OF the relief committees was to re-
move the survivors of the earthquake
to other ports, vittori applied to be
sent to America. and after considera-
BILE delay passage ticket In the steer
age was given him.
The journey through the Mediter-
ranean and across the Atlantic was a
melancholy one. Vittori was by no
means one of the lower class of Ital-
ians, and his surroundings were not
calculated to alleviate his grief. What
was the world to him while his deor
wife and children were lying under the
ruins Of their home! He was tortured
by the thought that possibly they
might have been, like others, days, II
not weeks, dying.
At last the long voyage was ended,
and the vessel which held vittori and
other Of his countrymen sailed up the
bay of New York. AS she neared her
pier many upturned Italian faces
looked anxlously for friends or loved
ones they hoped might have escaped
the terrible earthquake and were COM
Ing to them. Yittori could not endure
to look at them and went below till
most of the steerage passengers had
gone ashore, then Joined the line NOV
Ing over the gangway toward the
crowd still waiting ON the pier.
Suddenly he heard a cry. and pair
OF arms were thrown around his neck.
For moment he was held 80 close
that he could not see who embraced
him. but knew that 1t was woman.
Unwinding her arms and holding her
of, he stood staring at her as IL she
had been a ghost. He saw his wife.
But his wife was dead, buried with
his little ones under the ruins of Mes
sina. What was this vision that had
come up to mock him? Laughing,
crying, she still clung to him. A tiny
hand clasped his. He looked down
and saw the upturned face of Anto-
MO. And standing by the boy was lit
tie Var "a.
Still he stared and wondered. But
gradually 1t came over him that these
We're flesh and blood. They were In
deed his lost wife and children. His
senses were leaving him, but by an
effort he controlled them.
How did they get heref How did
they escape the earthquake? 4
One after the other he embraced
them. taking the children up in his
arpas and looking at them as II 70.