The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1909-02-24
|TALY'S BIC TRAGEDY.
Strange Results OF Earthquake
In .Messina and Reggie.
SOUL NARROWING EPISODES.
Girl Hung From Balcony Four Days
Swayins In the Wind - Woman
Driven Mac by Her Awful Expert
ence-Fish Found In Upper Rooms,

driven MAD by Her Awful Expert
ence-Fish Found In Upper Rooms.
Many stories are told Of the fearful
earthquake which recently destroyed
the Sicilian city Of Messina and Reggie,
in Italy. There were several narrowing
and strange episodes. A girl in a
frantic effort to escape attempted to
leap over the railing of the balcony of
her home In Reggie. Her skirts caught
on the ironwork, and she hung there,
swaying in the wind, for four days.
A woman, buried under the debris Of
her house, although slightly injured,
was unable to move, while her hus-
band and children, crushed on the floor
above, slowly bled to death, their blood
dropping on her breast and arms. She
was finally taken out alive, but Is de.
mented, not even knowing her name.
A cobbler Of Messina named Frances
co Missiano relates that Immediately
after the first shock he and his wife
and children rushed into the street.
Fires were starting all around them.
Hearing groans from a pile Of debris.
the cobbler made a hurried examina-
ton. He found two girls dying. He
picked up a baby, but the infant ex-
p1red In his arms. Seized with mad ter
ror, the MAJ fled toward the sea. It
took his party two hours and q half to
traverse the heaps Of ruins between his
house and the water front. After plac-
ing his family in safety he returned to
seek his mother and sisters, but he was
Obliged to give up the effort. It was
impossible to make his way back to his
home. This man owes his safety to
the fact that he lived in a one story
house. He says no help arrived for
thirty hours after the catastrophe.
Flora Parini, an actress, recites that
While she was lying half buried in the
wreckaGe at Messina she heard the
voice of a lieutenant of artillery from
close at hand. The man had recognized
her, but his plight was worse than her
own.
"~Signorina," he cried, "for PHYS sake,
lAS. N.ill LII SOlilS one 10 rescue
us. Don't leave me. l was at the thea
ter the other night, and l applauded
your singing. l have a mother. Don't
leave me to die"
The woman was eventually dug out
by some sailors. She remembered the
lieutenant and led her rescuers to
where he was pinned down. He also
was saved.
An infant clothed in a little night
shirt was rescued well and uninjured
after having lain for four days on q
square yard Of flooring in a house that
was otherwise entirely demolished.
The Marquis di Ruvolito, who visit
cd the stricken district of Catabria.
writes:
l have visited Reggie and the sur
rounding district. The railway to Reg
gio from Salina and rs far as San Gre
gorio was invaded by the sea, and the
rails are still strewn with corpses. The
tidal waves roared over and swept
clear two districts of Lazzaro and Pei
laro. 1t is impossible even to tell
whore the houses stood.
The waves ut Salina raised a man to
the height of the second story of a
house and swept him through it and
for a distance of 500 yards inland.
His head WAS like a broken eggshell.
One house. that Of a postal official, re-
manned erect at Lazzaro. The waves
flooded it so that fish We're afterward
found in the upper rooms.
l found a man in Reggie pinned
alive beneath a fallen roof. He was
hidden from view, but his relatives
were feeding him through a narrow
crack.
The grotesque intrudes everywhere
upon the terrible. l saw a corpse with
a vast block of stone upon it's head
and shoulders. The man had died
while pulling on his trousers.
Near the mayoral offices a man was
lying buried in such a name that
his parents could speak to him, but
dared not seek to save him. A great
wall tottered above him, and the least
movement would bring it down. An
other buried man who could receive
help through a crack in the wreck
age maintained complete tranquility.
When his relatives came to feed him
he asked why they had not brought
him any liquor. When they told him
that no attempt could be made to res
cue him till the next day he answered
coolly: eau revoir. then. I will see
you tomorrow"
Signor Vidala, the proprietor Of a
Messina newspaper, relates that he
was experimenting the printing Of an
when the shock came. He man.
aged to get out to the street before the
building collapsed. He CROPPED his way
the Place Cavour, which had been
transformed into a huge %crevasse.
For the first ten minutes after the
shock M long cry Of anguish
seemed to rise from the city. Then
there was comparative silence for a
short while. The worst shocks were
by 6 o'clock. Vidala made his
way to his home and found his family