The sun., 1909-01-31
AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE.
Battle with Conucts-saved by . Dos
-COuraKe a( Women.

The following incident was rooountsd
In secret report sent by Capt. Cagnl
OF the Italian navy, now In command OF
the battleship Napoli the first war vessel
to reach Reggie after the earthquake
to the Minister Of Marine.
As soon as Capt. Cagni reached Reggie
he landed in a boat accompanied by a
party Of officers and men. q score In all,
in order TO arrange for the organization
Of relief parties. No sooner did they
set foot on shore than about hundred
escaped convicts armed with rides which
they had stolen from the barracks opened
fire on the party.
Cagni and his men were unarmed. 30
they returned to their boat and signalled
to the battleship to despatch at once
200 sailors armed with rifles and two
quick firing. guns. Within ten minutes
the sailors were landed. Cagni assumed
command, lined them on the beach and
gave the order to march.
The convicts opened fire on them from
behind the ruined houses. The sailors
fired volley in the air and then. as the
convicts continued to fire, Cagni ordered
his men to fire on the convicts. which they
did. The firing continued for five min
utes until most of the oonvlcts were killed
and the remainder surrendered.
Capt. Csgni In his report does not state
how many were killed. but he says that
his first step was to secure all the escaped
convicts he could find. convey them on
board In irons and sail TO a port In Sicily.
where he handed them to the police and
he did this before rendering any help TO
the victims. as he considered " OF the
utmost Importance to free the city from
this band Of looters.
A reference to this incident sent by
wire was stopped by the press censor as
looting was officially denied.
Many OF the earthquake survivors owe
their lives to strange circumstances.
Some fell, bed and all. from top stories
to cellars and we're not hurt. A sacred
picture served as a shield from the crum-
bling walls TO others. while some were shot
from their beds to the street without
sustaining any injury.
One family owe their lives to dog q
mastiif, who. sCenting the approach OF
the earthquake ahead Of time. barked and
bayed for twelve hours before the catas-
trophe. alarming his master 30 much that
neither he nor his family could sleep all
night. The dogs barking grew feroer
and louder as morning came until at the
first shock he leaped toward the door,
begging with his eyes for his master and
the family to follow him. He guided
them down a street over a mass Of ruins
to the Cathedral. barking all the time and
looking back to see II they were still
following him.
The master and his family sought
shelter under flight Of steps. but the dog
refused to stop and no sooner had they
followed him than the stairs collapsed
owing to a fresh shock. The dog was
only satisfied when they reached the
Marina, where they found a boat which
conveyed them to man-o,-war.
There are many cases OF wives saving
their husbands. which shows that Italian
women under stress OF circumstances
play a better part than the men. One
courageous woman dug out herself. her
husband and five children.
Another young girl with two small
brothers was taken out after eight days,
nearly all the rest Of the house had fallen.
She dug for three days with her hands
until she had opened a small hole for
air and by reaching out her hand and sig-
mailing she caught the attention Of a pass
ing squad Of soldiers. who rescued the
trio Just as the two children were about
to die.
A party Of soldiers removed a portion
Of a crimbling wall at Messina, which
blocked a room in which a husband and
wife were discovered in bed. Their
heads appeared first side by side on the
same pillow. The husband was dead,
while the wife was alive. A soldier seeing
this took OF his coat and covered the mans 8
face TO hide II from the wife.
Never mind. she said. Il know he is
dead and his arms are around me-
When the bodies were removed IL was
found that the poor man had embraced
his wife when he died and the doctors
had to amputate the arms to detach the
dead from the living body. The wife
did not cry,