Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-08
WARSHIPS QUIT THE CITY
Americas Share in Relief First in
Premier's Praise.
SHOCKS SHAKING DOWN WALLS
Fires, Too, Are Slowly Completing
the Destruction Wrought by the
@--- First Great CONFUSION.
special Cablesram TO The Star.

ROME. January S-io lhc "f7t"'~''
ment of the rescuers themselves, it IS
reported seven more persons were 1ouno
at Messina Yesterday alive after ten days
and nights spent entombed IN the
ruins. The majority of them. how
ever. AS with those rescued after nine
DAYS. seemed to have lived only to see
the daylight again and died shortly after
being brought into the open air. Two or
three are still lingering in the field hos
pitfalls with slight chances of lfe
There will be no abandoning the search,
says Cen Nazza commanding the forces
at Messina until the day passes when no
living prisoner is found. The last of the
living. it is again believed. were re-
moved yesterday. Yet as each day has
been reported for some time past as bring
ing probably the last of the survivors.
there is stiIl the diminishing chance that
others may be found. Those rescued OF
late have according to accounts, all been
at the very point of death from hardship
and privation. None are known to have
been able to give any plain account OF
their experiences during the ten days '0f
their apparently hopeless entombment
The age of those found alive. by
curious tendency, has seemed to increase
as the days go on rather than to tend to-
ward the prime of life. Forty-eight hours
ago was found one old woman eighty
years old.
Archbishop Blesses the City.
The Archbishop of Messina performed
the ceremony of blessing the city in the
presence of the crews of the foreign war
ships and the soldiers Wednesday. He
exhorted the survivors to take courage
and join in the work of rescue. His ad-
dress was received with, cheers. AS he
walked through the streets many women
spread their ragged garments on the
ground before him.
The last of the foreign warships will
leave the straits of Messina today.
Work in the ruins is hindered and made
perilous by earthquakes and ayalanches
Of masonry. In one hour ten very notice
able shocks were felt. Occasionally the
quaking occurs severe enough to shatter
a city, IL there were city standing.
Nothing has occurred, however, that can
be compared to the original CONFUSION
Of December IS. The extreme violence
Of this far exceeded all that followed. as
shown by the tidal wave and by the dura-
ton of the shock-thirty-two seconds. The
worst trembling since has not outlasted
few seconds.
Fire is still hidden in the ruins of Mes
sina where it breaks out in an occasional
confagration Of obscure origin. Such a
fire sprung up in. the ruins of the city
hall building and ragged where it was al
most inaccessible along the masses of
ruins. where the city records lay. AS it
spent itself before extinction. those work
ing at Messina think likely that there was
a final wiping cut of all records and deeds
that might have escaped earlier destruc-
ton
Premier Gioletti's Summary.
Premier Gioltti's latest communication
regarding the governments labor in the
ruins is follows:
The rescuers during the first week
saved 1900 persons, some wounded and
others injured. from the ruins. At the
same time all the survivors, the total
running up into the tens of thousands,
have been moved away, nourished, cloth
ed and housed all at the expense of the
government. There are no survivors at
Messina excepting small number being
embarked on steamer for Taormina or
on board emigrant vessels placed at their
disposal to convey them to point near
Syracuse. The last refugees can live for
one month with the provisions on the YES
sells transporting them.
THE prompt cooperation of foreign
aid added much to the rapidity and thor
oughness of the relief work. and in this
respect America stands first. Our graf
itude to the United States will endure
forever"
Reports from Mesina speak, notwith-
standing. of a small body of men, Mes
sina's leading commercial citizens OF
former times. who have insisted on re-
naming. Some have fortunes i'm securi-
ties. currency valuables still buried
in strong boxes and bank vaults Special
searches for such treasures are being
carried on by hired gangs at certain
points.