New-York tribune., 1909-01-02
THE REGION OF MISERY
TALE OF AWFUL SCENES.
4 French Correspondents Tnp
Through Cdlabria.

Paris. Jan 2-The special correspondent Of
the 'Matin' who has just arrived at Messlna
after an adventurous journey foot through
the wasted Calabria region. sends vivid story
OF the scenes of devastation. The dispatch was
sent bv special boat TO Naples, from which point
II was teIegraphed here The correspondent
says:
II arrived al last at Messna, with my legs
almost dropping off, after tramping thirty-one
consecutive hours covering distance of sixty
seven kilometres fCrty-one milesD MY nerves
will never recover from the atrocious impress
sions to which they were subjected, and my eyes
will retain, long as they remain open the
vision of death and devastation which oppresses
them A mournful silence covers the country
like a funeral pail.
''I proceeded as far As PaImi by train. and
thence afoot. Six OF seven Inhabitants accom-
panied me 10 Propea, and ! decided TO reach
Reggie at whatever cost. Two or three rail-
road frernen. surprised at duty by the catas-
trophe were returning to seek news Of the fate
of their families They preceded me- brandish-
ing resinous, smoky torches. We marched IN
Indian file through the tunnel from Palmi TO
Bagnara, holding hands and stumbling over bal
last heaps The roof of the tunnel was cracked
everywhere and now and then rocks fell in the
inches of the trackmen. Whole families were
enCamped around wood fires and lighted. srok-
ing torches Many of them were wounded Men,
women and children, etupihed by the catas-
trophe and crouching among the stones. looked
al us with vacant glare. if their thoughts
wandering.
Some distance along We came upon families
roasting sea birds which had been killed by the
ternnest and cast ,Ip on the beach. Others had
the strangest objects packed in sacks. In reply
to questions as TO what had happened at Mes
sina and Reggie. they made fague and desolate
gestures and continued to gaze at US Ike
stalled oxen After two hours march, we saw
Ragnara perched the spur Of mountain
overhanging the sea.
The country house of the Mayor. on the sum
nit Of the rock was half tumbled into the sea-
but the Mayor safe. He was giving orders
for the installation Of a telegraph wire in
freight car Every house in the town and
rounding country was in ruins. Little palaces
were open like cut pomegranates in sections
In one saw tumbled beds and disordered din
ing rooms. Seated on the broken wall was
man selling bread ar exorbitant prices amid
chorus Of curses and maledictions- Another, de-
mented, trying to dig into the ruins with
his fingers. How many dead-one thousand two
thousend-who knows?
The tunnel beyond Bagnara was impractical
bic. An enormous portion Of the mountain had
fallen and totally obstructed the road We
forced to walk In the sand. often up to knees
in water. Beyond the tunnel the track was torn
and the rails twisted. Huge rocks and danger
Gus masses came crurlbing down momentarily
We decided TO climb the mountain and advance
across the ravines OF brushwood.
Might fell: the rain coming down in a
deluge My guides marched with their
brains than with their legs. followed nechan-
ically. though ready TO drop. At II o'clock we
reached Favazzina, hamlet of three hundred
They were shiverng under the shelter of a
couple of sheets stretched two olive trees
They asked us pitifuy for bread, but we our
selves had not eaten since the start and we
knew not what to answer; so we left them
hopeless.
After eleven hours we had covered only thir-
ty-four kilometres. every step at the OF
greatest exertions. Our clothes soak ed
and the torches had burned out. At Scla
decided to rest. but rest impossible. The
whole countryside, except TO the north.
completely botted out. Walls standing
but the interiors had collapsed. carrying down
the sleeping occupants.
a railroad employe, who his mother. his
grandmother and his three sisters perish before
his eyes. told me that the victims must be be-
tween $50 and 1000.
"A few kilometres further on. Canniteo pre-
sented still terrifying sight Almost at
earthquake it was swept by the sea 1t is no
more.
The country is a charnel housc whence
horrible stencil arises. All the houses are
heaped into one pile of ruins. under which the
dead and wounded lie. The sea round about
was covered with household articles and chill
dren's playthings From the ruins muff1ed
voices calling for help reached US time and time
again. l asked a fisherman the number Of the
dead and saved. The survivors-perhaps FIVE
six or seven; the dead-perhaps two thousand
three thousand-who knows he answered
The once prosperous San Giovanni was an
other awful sight. The tidal wave smashed
the jetties and overturned the six moles and
swept the entire passage. The railroad station
the wireless station. six ferry docks and the
hospital are all destroyed. Four thousand in
habtants are buried beneath the ruins
The witnesses of that terrible night relate that
the sea rose up as If lifted by subterranean ex-
plosion- Survivors here and there are huddied in
wagons which were half buried in the sand by vio-
lence. They wounded and naked. Not soldier
had arrived: not a morseI of bread remained
When We found them they by a strug-
gle over few provisions they had discovered in a
freight car. but these now gone
Fifteen kilometres further we entered the tomb
of Reggie Those who saw Reggie a few weeks
ago would not be able to restrain their tears I
wept like child 1 outspresd before me
where the town had stood ocean of ruins Moth
ing was standing; all were dead; all had been
killed The palaces, churches, theatres and banks
longer exist.
The Jetty, with its tive stations, had been car
ried away to was standing close at
hand. against which & girl of twelve had been
hurled. The girls head off, and noated out
20 sea; the body hung on the door jamb of the
The waters had poured down the Via Marina cut
ting off retreat and drowning those who had not
already been killed The two other main thorough