The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-01-01
100000 DIE N ITALY,
earthduake ard Fires Destroy
Cities and Towns.
AessiNs IN Sicily and Scors Of Towns
In Southern Italy Overwhelme
Feared Many Foreigners Per'shed,
ss hotels Were Crowded.

One hundred thousand dead; Mes
0ina, In Sicily. and Reggie and a
score of other towns In south
ern Italy overwhelmed: the en-
10 the earthquakes record so far as is
At present known from the reports
that are coming slowly into Rome on
account OF the almost complete de-
struction OF lines of communication
to the stricken places.
The death list in Messina ranges
from 1900 to $4,000: that of Reggie.
which with its adjacent villages, num-
bered $4,000 people. includes almost
the entire population. Al Palmi. 1000
are reported dead: at - ano. 1000;
at Coszeno. 500, and hall the pOpula-
tion of Bagnara. about 1000. The
Nonteleone region has been devastat-
vanni. Scilla, I.azZaru and CannitellO
and all other communes and villages
bordering on the straits are In ruins.
The king and queen OF Italy are now
on their way to Messina. having sailed
from Naples aboard the battleship
Vitt0rio Emmanuele. The pope has
shown the greatest distress at the ca
lamity. aud he himself was the first
one to contribute a sum of 100000 to
the relief of the afflicted. British.
French ana Russian warships are
steaming towards the south and al
ready several OF the ships of Great
Britain and Russia have reached Sic
lily. Onicers and men OF these ships
have performed heroic services in the
work OF rescue.
Before the departure OF the king
On the battleship Vittorio Emman-
uele. his majesty received q telegram
from President Roosevelt expressing
the sympathy II the United States.
The king highly appreciated this kind
ly expression of concern.
1t Is feared that many foreigners
have been killed. As u number of the
hotels at Messina and doubtless at
other places were crowded with tour
lists. Little 10 known OF the fate Of
the diplomatic representatives OF the
foreign powers stationed ut this post.
Latest reports state that 1000 SOL
diers In the various barracks at Mes
sina were buried under the ruins. The
rock Of Chsrybdis now blocks the en-
trance to the Strait OF Messina The
tidal wave wrecked the lighthouse in
the strait, including Faro beacon, and
they crashed into the sea.
Tho work Of rescue at Messina pre-
ssnted narrowing details. Hundreds
OF people we're pinioned under walls
and rafters. alive and terribly in
jured for thirty hours. In some cases
heroic rescuers met death In the fall.
ing debris. In one house twenty per-
sons suspended on the fifth floor and
unable to reach the street because the
lower floors had been torn away were
rescued with . rope by a sailor. Many
criminals were killed while attempting
to loot the Bank of Sicily, where cash
amounting to $500OoO lay in plain
view.
Refugees from Reggie reached Ca
tanraro and said that they could see
huge columns OF smoke rising from
the ruins of Messina. They affirmed
that Reggie. Cannitello and Lazzaro
were destroyed.
Stunned at the magnitude of the ca
lamity which has overtaken fellow.
countrymen, all Italy mourns for the
stricken province of Calabria and the
island Of Sicily. Accustomed for GEN.
turies to earthquakes, Italy stands
ever in dread. but none was prepared
for the disaster, which, in the fraction
OF minute. devastated cities and
towns and caused the death of thou.
sands. .Fr ass~. 49,
Messina. whose tragic history has
been marked by tidal waves and war
and which was the center of the ter
resual maelstrom. was shaken to
ruins. Flames burst forth to complete
the city's destruction and to burn alive
untold numbers helplessly pinned be-
meath fallen walls and broken timhers.
The Strait of Messiua was shaken
and twisted by the earth's trembling,
for mariners report the channel al,
tered beyond recognition. The ports
and villages on both the continental
and Sicilian shores were wrecked or
inundated. All the houses along the
coast were swallowed up. Navigation
now Is dangerous and in some places
impossible.
In the Calahrian district. which was
only beginning to recover from the eff.
fects OF the earthquake of 1905, Reg.
gio was the center Of the earth's up.
heaval. The seaport Of Reggie is re,
ported as no longer existing and the
city proper is in ruins, The loss Of
life on both sides OF the strait and
in eastern Sicily was enormous.
Starving. bleeding from injuries and
almost insane from their terrifying ex
periences, Messinas survivors are
fleeing in all directions The spectacle
presented by the ruined seaport is de
kcrihed as terrifying. Tumblins build
fnSs both killed and mu,ilared. while
hundreds Of the injured inpr;s,pa, IN