Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-01

no food, the persistent rains make 1t I'M
possible to kindIe fires and the majority
lave but battered rags for clothing. In
the inland villages surrounding Reggie
alone that have been destroyed the dead
number 1000 Whenever it has been pos
sible to get d message through from these
localities the cry has been for food
Two Noble Women.
Amid the gloomy and depressing horror
which like lcaden weight Expresses the
land that by all countries has been called
the garden spot OF Europe. two noble
female figures stand out as guardian
angels watching over the afflicted popula-
ton They arc Queen Helena and another
Helena. the Duchess of Aosta. The queen
has given the sufferers her tears, and
with her own hands she has bound up
their wounds. using her handkerchief
when other bandages were lacking She
also has given her worldly possessions
including the rings from her fingers
The Duchess of Aosta, who still proud
ly signs herself a princess of France, Is
performing miracles of love pity and en-
durance at Naples. where the wounded are
arriving in great numbers This noble
woman has given not only pecunlary help
but has nursed the injured with demon
strations of affection. Children robbed
by a cruel fate of their parents and rela-
tives have found in this princess new
and tender mother.
Several unfortunate little ones have been
conveyed by the duchess in her motor
car from bare and cherries hospitals to
her royal palace at Capodimonte.
Both Helena the Queen and Helena the
Duchess of Aosta were born on foreign
soil but today the people of Italy worship
them for their love and devotion, and
the unselfish service 10 the stricken suf
fereIs given by these two women of high
lineage has made them doubly dear TO all
Italians.
Whole Nation Mourns.
There is mourning throughout Italy
From the Capitoline tower to the pima
cles of the Milan cathedral. from the
shrine of Monreale to the Cathedral of
st. Marc at Venice. the tri-color is at
hdlf-mast as an expression of the uni
versal sorrow. The national grief is man
ifeSted also by numberless religious pro-
Cessions and the collecting of money.
clothes and medical supplies for the relief
of the stricken.
Naples. owing to the arrival there of
several thousand wounded. has had great
or opportunity than her sister cities to
demonstrate her generosity. and the peo-
pie have responded with true southern
feeling. Phe members of the aristocracy
have loaned their motor cars and car
ridseS for the transportation of the in
jured from the docks To the hospitals.
and when these methods of transportation
were insufficient the poorer classes have
come forward offering all they had
strong drmS-to carry filters
\ Neapolitan beggar went to the docks
and asked To help. He was given an
injured child. and tenderly he carried his
burden to a hospital and deposited it on a
bed in crowded ward. He then returned
TO the docks seeking further merciful en-
ployment. An old woman enveloped in a
shawl was carried through-the streets by
Il sturdy barefootcd fisherman. She was
light as a feather in his arms The
crowd divided respectfully to make them
passage. any many eyes filled with tears
at the sight.
The British and Russian sailors who
worked so devotedly at Messina are the
heroes of the day. Whenever they pass
through the streets of Naples hats and
caps are raised in their honor
The desoiation of the Strait of Messina
recalls the sinister prophecy found in an
old Sicilian legend, The day will come"
the oracle answered questioner. when
the navigator will make his way through
the strait, saying, Here once was Sicily. -
Children Greatest Sufferers.
One feature of the disaster at Reggie
is the large number of homeless chill
dren. In some cases little babies were
found creeping about in the ruins and
1t seems impossible to restore them to
their parents. even if the parents are
alive. A sailor who went ashore al Reg
sio relates that during his work of res
cue he was attracted by sound of in
FAINT voices. Looking under fallen
beam he found twins about year old
IN a basket They were uninjurcd and
their clothing was of the best They
have not yet been claimed
youth, himself wounded carried his
two little brothers from their wrecked
nome w hen the party was found they
were lying by the side of the road, the
Young man dead, but the children unin-
iured.
The project Of Reggie after the first
shock, rushed about like mad man
seeking help to save his wife and chill
dren. who were buried in the ruins OF the
prefecture Two brave workmen finally
reached them and brought them out, but
The two children died in the arms of
their father 4 young girl arrived at
Cantazaro today from Reggie after walk
clothing. Finally on the outskirts OF
tatanzaro a monk stripped off his habit
and gave 1t to the unfortunate.
Another young woman of Reggie was
imprisoned forty-eight hours on the fifth
floor OF her home. She called for help,
which none dare give her because of the
unsafe condition of the walls. Finally
when a fireman braved the danger and
brought the girl down she was found to
have gone raving mad. Her mother and
were lying dead in room beside her.
Reggie Worse Than Messina.
What has taken place at Reggie has
been a repetition OF the scenes at Mes
sind, but the proportion of the populati ton
to perish at the former place is higher.
Today the conditions at Reggie are
worse than at Messina owing TO the dan
ger of epidemic from decomposing bodies.
II has been proposed. in small villages
where not one house remains standing.
10 set the debris on fire a means of
publication.
The rescue work at Messna is proceed
ing today with undated energy. but the
conditions are difficult. The streets are
so incumbered with wreckage that the
movements of the rescuers are very SLOW
and the area to be gone over is so vast
that much time must elapse before all
the crevasses. holes, cellars and heaps
OF ruins can be examined
THE LIPARIAN ISLANDS.