Mexico Missouri message., 1909-01-28
.LUPT0N REPORTS QUAKE
AMERICAN TELLS OF cLlMslNo
OUT or TANGLED WIRES
IN THE DARK.
Men and Women. Psnned In oebrlsr
Call In Vain for Help TO EHtrl-
cate Them-Has Remark
able Escape.

Washington. d. CA thrilling
story OF the horrors or the MeSsiha
earthquake. the destruction OF tho
American consulate and It's occupants
and his own remarkable escape IL toAd
In q mail report received Friday BY
the state department from Stuart Kk
Lupton. who was at the time vice.N
consul. and who has since been APP.
pointed consul, succeeding Arthur l..
Cheney. The report follows:
"Messin. Italy, Dec. 81, 1908. The.
Honorable Assistant Secretary OF
State. Washington: sir-I have to re-,
port that on the morning Of Deem
Der 2S the southern part Of Calabria-
and the province Of Messina, in Sicily,
experienced violent earthquake.
which seems to have been the most,
severe on record. At $50 was awak-,
ened by q shock so violent that Il
could lot get out OF bed. At first the
motion seemed vertical. and not very
much damage could have been done.
This lasted, according to my recolle
ton. only about two or three second l.
when there was a pause OF half j
minute, succeeded by q much strons4
horizontal shock lasting 10 or IL 81
onds, l believe.
waIls Begin to Crack.
THE walls and roof Of my room be-.
gan to crack and crumble. stones fell
on the bed and the dust was so thick
| was almost unable to breathe. All
last, Just as l supposed the house must
fall in, the motion ceased. / seized myt
clothes and made my way down thei
stairs az best was able, having tot
jump wide breaks in the flooring. At
the doorway Of the hotel ran into O.
network of tangled wires, none Of
which was charged, luckily for me-. T.
soon found my way to the water
front, about block away. and started
for the consulate.
AT this time did not realize the
extent OF the disaster and expected TO-
find DR.. and Mrs. Cheney In the street.
Knowing Of DR.. Cheney's lamness. Il
wished TO render what assistance II
could. had not proceeded more
than 80 yards when l found myself
walking up to water up to my knees
In a place which ! knew had BEEN
eight feet above the water.
still In the Dark.
IL came upon a pile OF rubbish some
10 or 20 feet high. over which / clam
bered on my hands and knees. By
this time began to see that the affair
was much more serious than / had at
first believed. but / was still In dark.
ness and could not form any idea a.
to the extent OF the disaster.
After three-quarters of an hour, T.
arrived at what | supposed was tho
consulate. and waited for daylight,
which came in few minutes l.
looked for the consulate. but could
see nothing that reminded me of It.,
Half the water front appeared to be
down. Here and there walls were
standing, while the interior had col
lapsed a few fires we're breaking
out but owing TO solid construction
OF the town, they made little progTessA
Consulate a Heap Of Ruins.
AT the place | supposed the con,
tulhlt hah hbNhthh buN -
heap of ruins, iron beams. splinteredl
wood, bricks and stones in hopeless
confusion. was not sure OF the spot
and climbed over the ruins TO see re
| could find anything familiar. Finally
I came across a battered teapot which
recognized as the property OF Mrs,
Cheney, and remembering the spot
where II had stood. WAS able to get
my bearings.
II climbed directly over the spot
where their room had been and called
in the hope that they were still alive
and that they would answer. | heard
nothing. however. and further search
revealed a plano covered to the depth
OF about ten feet In rubbish. knew
that the Cheneys had no piano. so II
must have come down from one O.
the upper stories. As the shock was
30 strong that no one could stand and
the consulate went down almost i'm.
mediately, Il was absolutely an impos-
sibIlity for DR.. Cheney to have opened
four doors and gone down a long
fight Of steps. which had three SEQ
lions. Nothing belonging TO the Of
Zee could be ssen except the teapot
Rect 10 Grand Jury.
y