New-York tribune., 1909-01-05

house. stii searching for those who were trapped
slve beneath the wreckage.
The scenes for a distance along the waterfront
made the stoutest hearts quail Little groups of
men women and children half clothed, slept
huddle6 together. crazed and numbed with GRIEF
and terror. They We're awaiting boats to take
-he-, AWAY Where they went they cared NOT
-hes- only desire was to leave this accursed spot
-rhere they had lost their loved ones and their
homes No family was complete Men Were
without their wives. many of the women were
widows and children had lost their parenls'
when interrogated these unfortunate creatures
could only lift eyes that had gone Dry OF weep
sns snd call on the saints to save them.
Beb;na This line of refugees there were a num-
her of irnprovised hospital stations. where the
;r77-sd' as fast as they were brought from the
.,,-s on stretchers received first aid before De
a.. o-,hartzea on steamers for transportation
"a >snles Ieehorn, Catania, Syracuse or IA
ierno.
II was astonishing how many people still We're
,,air,r dug ont alive this Friday morning lour
fan davs after the catastrophe. Nhlie the COT
RESPONDER, fingered for an hour near one OF
these stations twelve wounded were brought N
They were almost naked. their bodies covered
win b,ood snd dirt and they were hardly rec
ornizabie as human beings The last WAS an
T4slian soldier who had distinguished himself in
she work of rescue He had fallen from
,,seb+ nf three stories while trying to extricate
an old woman imprisoned in attic and he
was r,1ortaIlx hurt His mind wandered, ano
he talked of his sweetheart and tried to sing
/. r,opular song before he lost consciousness
Although confused and without system. the
work os rescue has been carried on bravery py
night as well as by day Searchlights on the
varships food the ruins with their rays ana give
light 70 the salvage parties
TIE King and Queen Of italy or board the
ssttleship Regina Elena, have given noble
example Of devotion. The King, with some OF
his ministers at his side, directed and super
~ised the relief work, yet he found time 10
visit the field hospitals and speak words OF en-
corrasement TO his stricken subjects Inc
Queen spent fifteen hours day amid the SICK
beds on the Regina Elena, aiding and consoling
end encouraging
DARING OF RUSSIAN SAILORS.
The trslnt Of the work of rescue has fallen
s1pou the sailors foreigners as well as Italian,
and all have done their duty nobiy- Praises OF
the Russians are On every lip. They hesitated
before no danger. digging under tottering walls
or entering the most unsafe shells when asked TO
90 SO by some frantic woman who had not
lost all hope that husband or child was still
alive.
Tha correspnndent made two tours about the
shi-tv feet high with debris. It was wilder
ness of ruin mile wide and two miles long.
-aeautiful churches, splendid villas in the foot
hills hospitals, barracks and the university all
shared the common lot Two-thirds OF the
-aasuiarent Norman cathedral, the pride OF
,sessina. is In ruins and little or nothing re-
snains of the relics of Phoenician, Greek. Roman
end sarscen architecture which marked the
stages Of Messina's twenty-six centuries Of
IN q
world viii be irreparable.
Here and there the correspondent encount-
,z-e5 salvage parties at work. They were dig
sing at the instance of some distracted wife or
mother who imagined she heard voice, but
usually there no echo 70 the pathetic call
sng one party trying TO dig out a girl
whose CRYING could be heard plainly, but as the
correspondent watched there was a sudden
cave-in and thereafter silence.
Curious freaks of the earthquake were every
where 10 be observed Standing walls had
fallen out exposing tier of rooms above
another in which nothing seemed to have been
disturbed Pictures hung straight or the walls.
lamps were on tables and vases and flowers on
<rantelpieces. u one place two bUzzards were
summing themselves on a window ledge over the
dead body of a woman. whose wealth of black
half covered her face and shoulders Dogs and
cats are killed by the soldiers whenever caught
among the dead. The buildings that best re-
SISTED the shock were the old Royal Palace, now
the Prefecture. and the Archbishops Palace
where ten of the inmates lost their lives.
Although the air in Messna is almost un-
bile. several groups Of sicilians have
camped out in the cleared spaces Of the city and
t,hsfsuatety refuse the invitation Of the authori
ties to move away The survivors of the dis
aster are so dazed and worn out that they are
quite incapable OF describing their experiences
connectedly but the accounts OF all agree that
the devastation was accomplished in less than
one minute The strata below the Strait slipped
along the line Of a fault; then tidal wave
rushed in and out. and ali was over. All those
capable CT analyzing their sensations say that
.rhen the shock came they felt an upward thrust
OF the earth This followed by oscila-
tory motion and the crust Of the earth vibrated
Few Of the survivors able 10 explain how
shey escaped They know only that amid fall
fne plaster and masonry they managed to Jump
safely from windows or stumble down crumbling
stsirvays.
Stuart X. Lupton the American Vice-Consul
II Messina. arrived at his post one week before
The earthquake. He was stopping the Hotel
sfttoria which was half destroyed Mr.. Lup-
tons experiences have already been related in
these dispatches. After satisfying himself that
a 8. Cheney. the American Consul at Messina,
and his wife were buried beyond hope Of recov-
cry in the ruins of their consulate Mr.. Lupton
cook up headquarters on board one of the war
ships in the harbor.
The correspondent visited the site Of the con-
euiste. The building had collapsed utterly.
There is hope, however that the bodies and the
archives may be recovered Joseph H. Peirce,
formerly American vice-Consul here, and sew
o< rfS FeryzFI.- ale he