Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1909-02-13
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
; THE CASE OF (
; GIUSEPPE VITTORI (
A siory Of The Italian EarihquaIss..


tori, fruit merchant Of Messina, Sic
fly, kissed his wife. Natalina, and chill
dren-Antouia and varina, aged re-
spectively six and four years-and, GO
ing to the dock. boarded a steamer
bound for Naples. Having transacted
some business there, he started on his
return. The vessel just before day
light was nearing the spot where Mes
sina was then located when vittori
lying in his berth, felt the ship rise.
sink, rise again, then steam on tran
gully as before.
Vittori, not conscious of the impor-
lance Of this rising and falling Of the
ship. arose, dressed himself and went
on deck. Oh. the horror of that sight
Where the city I'm which he had been
born and passed his life had stood he
saw a mass of ruins.
The ship came to anchor in the bay,
and vittorI went with others in a boat
to the shore. What be had left pop
ulous city was now a gigantic sepuI-
cher. He could not for a long time
find the street on which he had lived.
and when be did 1t was still longer be-
fore he could find the place where his
home had stood. and then he was not
certain Of IL. How could he tell the
difference between ruins? He cried out
in despair "NatalinaT' "Antoniow IVA
rinar' in succession, but the only reply
was the grcans Of the wounded and
dying 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 a high building, and the de-
brls covering them was an immense
pile. The scenes about him, too, were
dispiritlng. 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 browning horror was the break
ing out of the fire which covered all
with a pail of lurid smoke.
Vittori remained near the burial
place of his wife and children till sat
isfed that they had persisted, 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 store:
from America. vittori's wife's brother
/ lived in New York, and there the
stricken man determined 70 60. 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 b.
sent to America, and after considera
BILE delay a passage ticket in the steer
age was given him.
The Journey through the Mediter
ranean and across the Atlantic was
melancholy one. vittori was by NJ
means one Of the lower class Of Ital
fans, and his surroundings were no
calculated to alleviate his grief. Wha
was the world TO him while bis dea
wife and children were lying under th
ruins OF their homel He was torture'
by the thought that possibly the.
might have been. like others. days,
not weeks, dying.
At last the long voyage was ended
and the vessel which held Vittori an
other Of his countrymen sailed up th
bay Of New York. As she neared he
pier many upturned Italian face
looked anxiously for friends or love
ones they hoped might have escape
the terrible earthquake and were con
ing to them. Vittori could not endur
, to look at them and went below II
most Of the steerage passengers ha
gone ashore, then Joined the line moV
ing over the gangway toward tn
crowd still waiting on the pier.
Suddenly he heard cry, and a pal
Of arms were thrown around his necl
4 For a moment he was held so clos
5 that he could not see who embrace
him, but knew that It was a woman
t. Unwinding her arms and holding be
Off, he stood staring at her as II sh
had been a ghost. he saw his wife.
But his wife. was dead. buried wit
his little ones under the ruins of Mei
slna. What was this vision that Ia
come up to mock him? Laughing
crying, she still chung TO him. A tin
hand clasped his. He looked dow
and saw the upturned face Of Ant
Mo. And standing by the boy was Il
tie Varina.
, Still he stared and wondered 81
: gradually 1t came over him that thes
s were flesh and blood. They were II
= deed his lost wife and children. II
senses were leaving him. but by a
b efS-t he controlled them.
How did they get here? How dl
they escape the earthquake?
One after the other he embrace
them, taking the cbil5.en up I'm b
arms and looking at them as If r
turned from the dead.
,. Then he was led away.
Natallna. after her husbands d
!, parture from Eesssns. being lionel
!. had gone with the children to Il
home Of a friend, a low frame dwel
y ing on high ground. where the It'd