Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-01-08
PARTISAN CORRESPONDENT TELLS
GRAPHIC STORY OF EARTH
QUAKE HORROR.
MAKES DANGEROUS JOURNEY.
Travels from Palmi to Messini Afoot
Among Scenes of Dreadful
Devastation.
PEOPLES CONDITION p1r1FUL.


spondent of the Matin, who has just ar
rived at Messina after an adventurous
journey on foot through the wasted
Calabria region, sends vivid story of
the scenes of devastation.
The dispatch was sent by special boat
to Naples, from which point it was tele-
graphed here.
Il arrived at last at Messina, with my
legs almost dropping off, after tramping
thirty-one consecutive hours, covering
distance of forty-one miles," he says.
my nerves never will recover from the
atrocious impressions to which they were
subjected, and my eyes will retain, as
long as they remain open, the vision
of death and devastation which oppres-
ses them. A mournful silence covers the
country like a funeral pail.
Goes from Palmi Afoot.
Il proceeded as far as Palmi by train,
and thence afoot. Six or seven inhabi-
tants accompanied me to Tropead, and L
decided to reach Reggie at whatever
cost. Two or three railroad fremen, cut
off from home while on duty, by the
of the fate of heir families. They pre-
ceded me, bl l1.dishing resinous smoky
torches.
1--WE marched in Indian file through
the tunnel from Palmi to Bagnara, hold
ing hands and stumbling over ballast
heaps. The roof of the tunnel was
cracked everywhere, and now and then
rocks fell.
"Whole families were encamped around
wood fires and smoking torches. Many
of them were wounded. Men, women
and children, stupefed and crouchlng
vacant glare, as if their thoughts were
wandering.
Sea Birds Only Food.
'Some distance along we came upon
families roasting sea birds, which had
been killed by the tempest and cast
upon the beach. Others had the strang-
est objects packed in sacks. In reply TO
questions as to what had happened at
Messina and Reggie they made vague
and desolate gestures and continued 10
gaze at us like stalled oxen.
after two hours march we saw Bag
nara perched on the spur Of mountain
overhanging the sea. The country house
of the mayor, on the summit OF the rock,
was half tumbled into the sea, but the
mayor was safe. He was giving orders
for the installation of a telegraph wire
in freight car.
Every house in the town and sur
rounding country was in ruins. Little
palaces were open like cut pomegranates
in sections. In one l saw tumbled beds
and disordered dining rooms. Seated
on the broken wall was a man selling
bread at exorbitant prices, amid a cho-
rus of curses and maledictons. Another,
demented, was trying to dig into, the
ruins with his fingers. How many dead,
1000, 2OOO-who knows?
Awful Sight at San Giovanni.
"The once prosperous San Giovanni
was another awful sight. The tidal
wave smashed the jetties, overturned the
six moles and swept the entire passage.
The railroad station, the wireless sta
all destroyed. Four thousand inhab-
itants are buried beneath the ruins.
''The witnesses of that terrible night
relate that the sea rose up as though
lifted by a subterranean explosion. Sur
vivors here and there are huddled in
wagons which were half buried in the
sand. They are wounded and naked.
Not a soldier had arrived, not a morsel
of bread remained. When we found
them they were worn by a struggle over
a few provisions they had discovered in
freight car, but there were now gone.
Reggie Charnel House.
Fifteen kilometers further we en-
tered the town of Reggie. Those who
saw Reggie a few weeks ago would not
be able to restrain their tears. l wept
like a child, as l saw outspread before
me WQero the LOWu uuu SlOOu all ocean
of ruins. Nothing was standing; all
were dead; all had been killed. Palaces,
churches, theaters and banks no longer
exist.
'The jetty with its two stations had
been carried away to sea. a car was
standing close at hand, against which
a girl of II had been hurled The girls
head was cut off and floated out to sea,
the body hung on the door jam of the
car. The waters had poured down the
Via Marina, cutting off retreat and
drowning those who had not already
been killed. The two other main thor
oughfares, the Corso Garribaldi and the
Corso Ascheneuse, were completely OBJ
structed by enormous heaps of Blazing
ruins. | was stunned at the complete
ness of the disaster
Only Death in Sight.
Never in imagination have I felt so
strong an impression of death; not a soul
living in this smoking charnel house; not
a human voice 1t was a terrifying 81
lence. Ruins were piled upon ruins.
Among the debris l saw furniture and
women's clothing. A house cut in two
revealed three stories, bed, in which a
man lay dead, crushed by falling beam;
a bridal chamber from which the bride.
seeking to escape, also lay dead on the
threshold; another, a parlor, in which
there was nothing but a mirror and por-
traits of King Humbert and Count Ca
YOUR. l could bear no more. My heart
bursting with grief and horror, l asked
the eternal question: The survivors,
perhaps five or six thousand; the dead?
perhaps $4,000 or 10000, who knowsY
Il obtained q rowboat and crossed, I'M
der a beating rain, with death in it's
soul, the sinister strait, still agitated by
the horrible crime it had committed"
Tells of Messina Horror.