Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-17
MISERY IN MESS|NA
BEYOND DESCRIPTION
DesoIation Defies the Power
of Words to Tell.
ONE VAST CHARNAL HOUSE
Tragedy the Most Stupendous in
Worlds History.
WITNESS WRITES IMPRESSIONS
Scenes of the First Days
of Terror and Their Effect
Upon the Survivors.
WITNESS WRITES IMPRESSIONS
special Correspondence Of The Star.


MESSINA, January ), 1909
tiny fraction of the earthS surface
readjusted itself to the changing forces
of nature the other day and a few score
thousands of the insignificant creatures
who had built habitations thereon were
buried in the ruins of their frail dwell
ings.
That is one point of view Of the incl
dent which has drawn the attention of
the race to a spot blessed and cursed
with the most lavish beauty of scene
and climate that is vouchsafed to man.
The more human aspect of the event
which obtrudes itself upon all the senses
even in the reeking atmosphere of
death as / WRITES that we are in the
| presence of tho most dramatic, the most
stupendous tragedy in the history of man.
Kind 1t is easy to register the loss of
10000 to 100000 lives, blotted out in the
space OF half minute, and to record the
| fact that nine -tenths Of the buildings over
an area of about $500 Square miles have
been destroyed; but neither pen nor
camera can give family adequate i'm
preston of even the residue of utter
desolation which nature left.
l have had some experience of grave
disasters. and of the depicting of So
called important events, and l arrived
mere four days ago in the expectation
that with the aid of a well equipped
| photographer l might be able to give a
| fairly comprehensive idea of the effects
of great earthquake.
Scene Battles Description.
| l had not been half a day i'm Messina
before I abandoned that ambition Every
hour has added to the crushing futility
of the effort. l shall set down, there
/ fore
gathered in the center of the vast necrop-
| oils
Half the population within a radius of
about eighteen miles from San Giovanni
which is roughly the center of the dew
astated region, have persisted. In the
area thus included about half is land
and half water. The greatest struc-
| doubleday occurred beneath the Strait of
Messina. The recharting of the waters
which will soon be made, will show to
| some extent what these alterations have
| been. The dead in Messina and Reggie,
the two towns the worst afflicted, num-
| Der consdera bly, more than half the orig
inal inhabitants. The mayor of Messina
| estimated the city's victims at 10S 900.
The figures for Reggie are approximately
$4,000. There remain the heavy death
rolls of Palmi, San Giovanni, Scylla, Ga
| lima, Bagnara. Galat and Pallero, not to
mention scores of smaller villages The
exact TOTAL Will never De known. but
there is little hope that it will fall be-
low 100000, and quarter of million
will probably be nearer the truth.
Niessina was shaken as a terrier shakes
rat until she dropped bleeding and life
less into her own dust. / have asked
| many to describe what actually happened
in that fateful half minute. No two i'm
pressions agree. One man said ii was
| like being rolled inside hogshead down
steep and bumpy hill. Some say that it
Incredibly violent
| yanking from side to side, followed by
| equally rapid upheavals and depressions
| Others reverse the process. Some speak
| of the nauseating effect of the I'D and
| to escape were too compelling TO give way
| to mere dizziness.
Trapped in the Streets.
| 1t is not improbable that fully half the
dead succeeded in reaching the street be-
| fore death overlook them. If they had
| gone to the top of their houses instead of
| to the ground they would have stood
better chance. There are miles and miles
of residential streets here piled full from
end to end with a conglomerate mass of
| stone. brick, mortar, dust and general
debris as high as the level of second
story windows Those who followed their
natural instincts and rushed outside We're
literally stoned to death. Their bodies
| lie on the pavement beneath the ruins of
| their homes.
| 1t is hardly worth while TO give mere
! versions of that bitter hour. / will re-
fer to but one, the most intelligent that
l have heard given. DIR. Francesca Den
| tice, chief of the cabinet of the project
OF governor of the province. was one of
| the fortunate ones. He lived in the aris-
/ tocratic quarter of the town some distance
| back from the sea. His house did not
fall and his family survived unhurt.
| He was flung from his bed before he
| could get to his feet voluntarily. He
| called to the others and all managed to
get down stairs. while the shaking con-
tinued with ever increasing violence. The
last and worse paroxysm was finishing
| as they reached the street, and to this de-
| lay they probably owed their lives. for
they escaped the danger from falling ma
SonTy. The house was almost at the
corner of small square. and to that
they fastened. There they stood in the
utter darkness for two hours listening to
the death thrOes of the dying city. There
were occasional CLEANS of flame in sew
eral directions, but torrents of rain which
fell quenched these, as fas as they
could judge. They were joined from time
to time by struggling fugitives from the
| houses bordering on the square until they
| numbered twenty.
Stood Silent, Stupefed.
l asked DIR. Dentice and many Others
what was the effect on them of the black
terfOrS or those Two hours or SuSpenS
before the dawn. Did they lament. did
they cheer each other with sympathy
did they abandon themselves to despair
All who were able to give an intelligent
account of that dreadful time of waiting
said the same thing:
I'VE did not. We stood silent in the
rain dull. daZed half stupefed l dc
not remember feeling any keen emotion
not even of fear. I think we all passed
into condition of submissive indiffer-
ence With the slow coming of daylight
our faculties awakened. The gloom re-
vealed little until actual sunrise. and
then we strove to make our way to the
lower part of the town and the sea front
We found to our establishment that we
were prisoners Every street leading
from the square was piled twenty feet
high with impossible ruins. We imagined
that we alone were the victims of this
isolation, and we looked for the speedy
coming of soldiers or relief parties. We
had no suspicion of the truth until two
hours later when i saw a priest little
distance down the street / shouted to
him to know what was the situation else
where.
'Messina is no more came back the
answer Even then l failed to compre-
bend the extent of the disaster bat be-
gan to struggle over the debris toward the
shore. l reached il after an hour and
then realized that the priest had not ex-
aygerated'