Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-01-01

from Calabria confirm the destruction
of Reggie. They report that the sit
nstion there is as bad, if not worse,
than at Messina. The streets in
Rome are damned with people who
snatch the special editions from the
newsboys. The people are plunged in
grief and lamentations are heard on
all sides.
Whole World Is Sympathetic
The hands of all the nations have
been extended to Italy in her aflic-
ton. From rulers have come mes
sages of coincidence, and from the
people spontaneous promise of that
aid which brings the world closer to-
gether in times of great calamities.
Great Britain. France and Russia
have sent their warships, quick as the
flash of the telegraph could carry the
orders, to lend assistance to the
stricken cities. Relief funds have al
ready been started, and hundred
ships and trains are on their way car
rying supplies and reinforcements to
the south.
Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples
and other cities are sending physi-
clans, police and firemen. All the
ambassadors and ministers expressed
sympathy with M. Tittoni minister of
foreign affairs, whose emotion was
profound.
The Bourse and theatres have been
closed throughout Italy, and de-
spatches of sympathy continue to pour
in from all quarters of the globe.
Torpedo Boat Officers Story
At the time of the earthquake the
torpedo boat Sappho was lying in the
harbor at Messina, and one of the
officers told of the occurrences as fol-
lows:
AT $50 in the morning the sea
suddenly became terribly agitated,
seemingly literally to pick up our boat
and shake it. Other craft nearby
were similarly treated, and the ships
looked like bits of cork bobbing about
in tempest. Almost Immediately
tidal wave of huge proportions swept
across the strait, mounting the coasts
Scores of ships were damaged, and
the Hungarian mail boat Andrassy
parted her anchors and went crash
ing into other vessels.
"Messina Bay was wiped out and
the sea was soon covered with masses
of wreckage, which was carried off in
the arms of the receding waters"
Desperate Calls Unanswered
Desperate calls have been made
from Rome to Messina, but these re-
main unanswered, and fears are en-
tertained that Fort Spuria, near
Messina, has been destroyed, as the
wireless station installed there, one
of the most powerful in Italy, is evil
IDENTIFY not working.
The work of rescue at Messina, &C
cording to the meagre details received
here thus far, presented narrowing
scenes. Hundreds of people we're
pinned under walls and rafters, alive,
but terribly injured, for thirty hours.
Six criminals were killed while at
tempting to loot the Bank of Sicily,
where cash amounting to half mil
lion dollars lay in plain view.
Refugees from Reggie who reached
Catanzaro said that they could see
huge columns of smoke rising from the
ruins of Messina. They affirm that
Reggie, Cannitello and Lazzaro were
destroyed.
A tidal wave demolished the rail-
road between Lazzaro and Reggie and
small army of men are working des-
perately to repair 1t.
The Worlds Greatest Quakes
There is no country of the world
that has yet to feel the death dealing
influence or suffer the devastating eff
fects of the earthquakes. Its tolls in
deaths have been millions: the finan-
cial loss it has wrought is incalcul
able.
Long before the birth of Chri It,
history records, there were great up
heavals in which cities were utterly
demolished and thousands upon thou
sands killed. Antioch, the capital Of
Syria, probably has been the worst
individual sufferer from earthquakes,
for four visitations have as many
times wrecked the city and slaugh-
tered hosts of its inhabitants. In the
last and most terrible of these, $50, .
600 lives were lost.
There are but three other disasters
of record where the fatalities have
been anywhere as great as this last
one at Antioch. These occurred at
Jeddo, Japan, at Pekin, and in Sicily.
At Jeddo 200, 900 persons are said to
have persisted and 100, 900 each at
Pekin and In Sicily.
In the United States the greatest
earthquake disaster was that in 1906
in California, when a great portion
OF San Francisco was burned. The