The Prescott daily news., 1909-02-20

pound for Naples. Having transacted some business there he started on b,s return. The vessel just before day. iight was nearing the spot where Mes siha was then located when Vittori lying in his berth, felt the shin r,se SILK, rise again, then steam on tran- quilly as before.
 Nlttori, not conscious of the imnor. tance of this rising and falling of the shlp, arose, dressed himself and went on deck. Oh, the horror of that sight, Where the city in which he had been porn and passed his life had stood he saw mass of ruins.
 The ship came to anchor in the bav ana 'ittori went with others in a boat to the shore. What he had left a pop- ulocS city was now a gigantic sepul- cher. He could not for long time md the street cn which he had lived, and when he did it was still longer be- Tore he could find the place where his nome had stood, and then he was not certain of it. How could he tell the difference between ruins? He cried out in despair "Natalinaw "Antonio!" "Va- flna!' in succession, but the only reply was the groans of the wounded and dylng emanating from beneath the piles of wood and stone. He set to work frantically to remove the ruins that covered his dear ones. But he soon realized that his efforts were use- less. They had lived in the lower story of high building, and the de- bris covering them was an immense pile. The scenes about him, too, were dispiriting. People half clothed, some naked. some covered with their own blood, were going about wailing or pulling at the debris to get at their loved ones.
 The crowning horror was the break ing cut of the fire which covered all with pail of lurid smoke
 Nittori remained near the burial place of his wife and children till sat- isfied that they had perished, then in a starving condition sought to get away. He was too late to join the first survivors taken by the steamer Regina Margherita to Palermo, but later he succeeded by another ship in reaching Naples. There he was pro- vided with what he most needed in the way of food and clothing and be- thought himself what next to do. His dominant desire was to get as far as possible from the scene of carnage. Relief committees were forming. money was pouring in from all points, and above all came the immense stores from America. Vittori's wife's brother lived in New York, and there the stricken man determined to go. Learn ing that one of the principal objects of the relief committees was to re- move the survivors of the earthquake to other ports. Vittori applied to be sent to America, and after considera- ble delay passage ticket in the steer age was given him.
 The journey through the Mediter- ranean and across the Atlantic was a melancholy one. Vittori was by no means one of the lower class of Ital- fans. and his surroundings were not calculated to alleviate his grief. What was the world to him while his dear wife and children were lying under the ruins of their home! He was tortured by the thought that possibly they might have been, like others. days, if not weeks, dying.
 At last the long voyage was ended. %Lo hoII ~1 other of his countrymen sailed up the bay of New York. As she neared her pier many upturned Italian faces looked anxiously for friends or loved ones they hoped might have escaped the terrible earthquake and were com ing to them. Vittori could not endure to look at them and went below till most of the steerage passengers had gone ashore, then joined the line nov ing over the gangway toward the crowd still waiting on the pier.
 Suddenly he heard cry, and a pair of arms were thrown around his neck. For moment he was held so close that he could not see who embraced him, but knew that it was a woman. Unwinding her arms and holding her off, he stood. staring at her as if she had been a ghost. He saw his wife.
 But his wife was dead. buried with his little ones under the ruins of Mes sina What was this vision that had come up to mock him? Laughing, crying, she still clung to him. tiny hand clasped his. He looked down and saw the upturned face of Anto- nio. And standing by the boy was lit