The San Francisco call., 1909-02-21

NTEw YORK, Feb fe.--The follow
III ing accounts of inspiring acts Of
1 heroisra and devoted charity fol-
lowing lpon the recent earthquake in
Itaiy have been received from that
stricken country
we are told that npon returning to
Rome from Messina our American min
lister. Ir Csriseona. expressed freely his
admiration for the extraordinary cour-
age shown by Mgr. d'Arrigo. arch
bisiop OF Messina. The archbishop was
ava kened on the fatal morning by the
roar Of falling masonry all around
him. 10 find only a few rooms and the
atriaIa OF his residence still stand
ing. without a moments delay he
hurried to his seminary. only 10 find it
= mass Of ruins E{e was met by
some OF his students running toward
him. almost naked, for whom he found
some more adequate covering They
returned TO the wreckage, where they
worked for hours. finding many corpses
of priests and students, saving 10 stu
dents. more or less seriously wounded,
and drawing out four others whom the
archbishop absolved before they died.
Learning that one of their fellow
students was still on the third floor
of the tottering ruins OF the seminary.
the students climbed ladders, steadied
1Or JHSln On t4lG SO11lSIS tAL4p &OQtQ
not risk their lives IN so dangerous a
venture) and brought him down in
safety to terra firma in the presence
OF the archbishop, who encouraged
them in their dangerous work.
Returning to his ruined residence.
the archbishop found it already filled
with the wounded. naked and terror
stricken. He encouraged them and
was the first one to start an organized
buried in the ruins of the city. He
dispatched his seninarists to seek food
and clothing for the people. himself
going hungry and cold for days. The
aged prelate was seen at all hours OF
the day and night climbing about
among the dangerous ruins. encour-
aging. cheering, consoling all.
LITTLE SISTERS AND VICTIMS
The great majority of the clergy
were killed or wounded: but those who
remained worked with their arch
bishop. and soon other priests Joined
them in the work. An anti-clerical
paper describes the priests as '.focking
like crows to the ruined towns From
Palermo. Cefalu and Patti numerous
priests and sisters reached Messina de-
spite many difficulties and obstacle
The archbishop of Acireale and the
cardinal archbishop of Catania has
tened dl once TO DTlnG leiD.
After the earthquakes four or five
of the Little Sisters of the Poor at
Messina were left uninjured Half their
community and most of their ole peo-
pie were killed Several of the sisters
were injured A dozen helpless old
men and women, trembling with age
and terror. were left on their hands.
Undismayed by this terrible burden.
these heroic women kept their little
flock together, helped them over the
wreckage. and never left them until
they had brought them all in safety to
Catania.
The parish priest OF Mazzacuva.
near Reggie. found himself wounded
and almost naked in the street, his
house and church a mass of ruins.
No officials were in sight but in a
into the ruins OF his house and dis
tributed what clothing and food he
could find there. Then with few of
his parishioners he began to release the
wounded from the ruins. At first his
companions refused TO bury the dead.
alone with a pick and shovel, they
yielded and worked as perhaps they
had never worked before.
In Calabria the great figure stand
ing forth was Mgr. Morabito, bishop
of Nileto. Although he had lost near
relatives in Reggie he thought only
of his duty to his flock. He was the
first in the field. surrounded by his
seminarists and band of devoted
priests and sisters.
SISTERS BEG FOR FOOD
They visited the most afflicted dis
tricts, buried the dead. rescued the
wounded. consoled the survivors, opened
soup kitchens. distributed clothing and
directed the building of wooden shell
tiers for the homeless population.