The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-17
MESSINA WORLDS
CHARMED HOUSE
Continued from Page One.

erai feet below its level OF a week be-
fore As soon as the fOrmalities OF mar
tiai law had been complied with plunged
behind that curtain Of stone and in an
other moment 1 stood IN the world s
eharnei house I shall not attempt 70
describe what 1 saw. l thought I would
get a general idea of the extent of the
hopeless expanse Of ruin. The lines OF
the streets were easily identified and
began to make my way. Il would be
rough work even for mountain climber.
One eiambered, row up. now down, some
times coming to the street level. but
raore often two stories above IL
FoothOld was always precari0us-now
on bit OF furniture, brick, a corner
OF granite, a prayerbook, once on the
keyboard Of a piano. which changed dis
coTdantly; more often in the universal
white powder OF grOund-Up plaster.
Ruins or earthquakes are entirely diff
ferent from ruins OF fire. Walls and
twisted iron occupy little space compared
with the whole material OF construction
combined with the contents OF the de-
stroyed buildings.
Messina, like most Slcilian and South
ern italian towns. was OF tremendously
solid construction.
Another popularity struck me az once
An earthquake has usually some general
directiOn-nOrth and south, east and west,
OF between these points. Not so this con
vulsion. The debris fell In all directions
and invariably into the street unless the
front wall failed 10 give way.
Everywhere rescue parties OF soldiers,
sailors. and frenen were still at work
Smothered in White Dust.
The incessant cry Of the searchers. rs
any one there?'' will ring in my ears for
many a day. I saw several dragged
back from death covered with that ever
/ lasting mantle % white dust which made
them look ike living moving plaster fig
ures Hundreds must have been literally
smothered in it. Some were almost
naked. and for them the blanket Of pow
der had warded Of the additional suffer
ing OF cold. for the nights have been
frosty this past week I went last night
for A brief view OF the ruins by noon
light.
/ I have looked upon other dead cities
cities that had been swept away by FIRE.
One OF two such sights have seemed 10
express the last word n destruction.
DesoIation in black is appalling; desola-
ton in white pierces the soul
sat upon a block OF granite about
twenty-five feet above the original level
Of a street The city that was lay silent
about ne. its jagged lines softened a
little by that wonderful light In front
rose the mighty head OF Aetna. black IN
/ the moonlight save the tuft OF white
rising slowly from Jne crater.
And the rest OF the scene? The camera
: cannot depict IL. ncr can any poor words
Of mine Memory alone viii preserve the
( Impressions If that hour. realized, as
had not before. that the cold finger OF
( humiliation had touched this fair city,
and that sIessina must be marked of the
map Of the world
; Like Scene in a Destroyed Planet
! It was difficult 20 chain the magma
tioS TO the still existing world % the
I twentieth century Il was easier 10 be-
lieve that a sudden TRANSPORTATION Of
soul had flashed ones spirit 70 a dead
and desolate planet The frowning vol
I canoes alone seemed real and living The
/ isolation and loneliness grew almost tan
gible The weirdness was becoming IN
I bearable. when I happened TO glance
down at my feet, and the spell was
/ broken. There lay the photograph OF .
young SRI. Her smiling face, rich with
T the dark beauty Of her race. looked Up
/ at me. Probably her crushed and man
T gied body was not far beneath my feet
{ / could stay no longer.
stopped for half an hour or Monday
4s-h a. oil =
I Of a rescue operation which had been go
I ing of forty-eight hours. Il was IN the
ruins piled forty feet high adjoining the
+ principal theater in Garibaldi street. Ii
was Just as the resCueTs had come in
I sight Of the poor fellow that I happened
10 climb over that section Of debris. A
few moments apparently would effect his
I release. and then safety was in sight
/ The treacheroUs sides OF the great hole
began to slip, and IN a few seconds the
man was buried anew. There was a cry
OF horror on all sides. A dozen soldiers
buried their faces in their hands and
wept The d0wnpour Of powdered lime
/ and stones stopped for a moment Sud
denly the officer in charge cried:
Who wiz go in with this rope and
ifasten il beneath his arms underneath the
/ dirt2 II may mean death. for IL the dust
4
ton for whoever goes
Saved from Living Death.
Let me 90. let ne go: I don't mind
what happens 10 ne" were the cries
/ from almost every man IN the detach-
ment- a moose was quickly made in q
stout rope and a little. young private
went quickly TO the bottom Of that suf-
locating funnel In a few moments the
rope was fixed and a dozen men dragged
the poor creature into freedom. He
shrieked with pain under the rough treat
ment which the emergency made neces-
sary, but the waiting doctor, IN a hasty
examination. could find no serious injury.
The strangest human spectacle have
ever seen was this piaything Of the earth
quake There were Just two spots OF
color upon him. and those were his eyes.
There was a look in them such as !
have seen but once before, and that was
in the eyes Of three or four miners who
had been buried for twenty-four days in
Pennsylvania coal mine nearly twenty
years ago.
The most CHASTITY sight still remaining
is in the principal business street, Carl
baldi- A side wall Of q high building
still stands, and over the edge of a bit Of
flooring on the fifth story there bangles
the leg Of a dead woman. High in the
air in full view OF all who pass il hangs,
but 20 reach It Is impossible. The next
sharp shock Of earthquake will probably
thrown down the wall
1 do not ike to dwell on the grewsome
features OF this disaster. I shall not
soon forget, however, an experience Of
three days ago. 1 was stumbling along
over ruins piled two stories high IN
what had been the middle Of a street in
the center Of the town. Ny foot slipped
and landed upon something soft. looked
and saw that I had inadvertently stepped
on a dead mans hand