Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-01-01

fate of the little villages along the
coast. many of which, it is believed.
have been entirely wiped out.
In many cases entire buildings have
been swept out to sea and fiOurishlng
villages have been wiped off the map.
In some Of the smaller towns. such as
Palml, near Monteleone. the complete
ness of the catastrophe was over
Nhelnling. OF the $4,000 people living
In Palmi, only few score are alive.
Yesterday alone. 1900 corpses were
buried III the cemetery there. The sur
vivors of Palmi. reinforced by rescuers
from other points. and under the lead
of soldiers and doctors. are working
heroicaliy. The bishop of Morabito and
other priests are busy carrying com
fort and consolation to the dying and
the Dereavcd.
The first of the survivors Of Reggie
to- reach Catanzaro were 50 broken
down by the shock of their experience
that it was almost impossible fer them
to give any connected account Of the
destruction of the city They speak dis
cunncctedly of whole districts swept
away in moment ana entire families
of well-known people annihilated Reg
Si' ltiiietiiS '''ioNVd III Il SileiSllS
lence of desolation The railroads and
the footpatns through the surrounding
country have been utterly destroyed,
while the survivors lack food. water
and medlcal supplies.
The visit of the King and Queen of
italy to Messina and Reggie has
aroused Widespread enthusiasm. In
spite of the universal mourning the
sovele iens were saluted when they dis
embarked, by the firing of guns from
the Italian and foreign warships at
Messina. AS soon as the King and his
party set foot on shore they began
W witnessing scenes Of understandable suf-
ferins. His Majesty praised the Italian
soldiers ana the sailors from the for
eign Warships for their heroic work of
rescue. He shook hands with several
officers. saying it was his desire to be
informed of every detail of their SPLEEN
did work Accompanied by Ministers
Orlando ana Rcrtolini, he visited both
Messina ard Reggie. spending several
hours at each place. He visited person.
ally every quarter of these cities, Civ
ing words Of announcement and con-
latlon. The Queen talked with the
wounded on beard the ships in the bar
Dor. cOnlforted the women, spoke kind
l> to the children, and promised assist
ancn Everywhere the visit of the SOW
ereIgns has impaired fresh impetus to
the work of rescue.
General Marazzi has divided the mil
itary forces working in Caiabria PROV
irce into two bodies. One is working Oh
the Tyrrhenian coast. and the other
Oh the Ionan shore. and they are con-
vcrging on Reggie. The troops are dis
trlputina raticns to the starving people
I'll" waters of the Strait of Messina
are covered with the floating bodies of
men and animals and all kinds of
wreckage. The shores Of the strait have
been completely transformed in APP
pearance. The lighthouses on the head
lands have disappeared.
The commander of the Russian cruiser
1,umiral Makaroff. which arrived at Ma
sina, has given the following account Of
the disaster:
Hearing at Aogata Sicily. of inc dis
aster. L hurried to Messina. Tie city
was literally nothing but a heap Of ruins.
Every building there had collapsed. but
in many cases the outward shells remain
StdlulllS anu 81 d ie-Stil elit 3-eH't =
contour of the city is less changed than
might be expected This is particularly
true of the sea front. In spite of what
has been said, the form of the strait cf
Messina shows little if any change.
THE harbor is filled with refuse of
every kind and at one end lies the wrecx
of a sunken steamer
cit is impossible to give even a f;Ii 1t
. l. ,l,,
now and then we heard the crash Of
falling floors and walls. This constitutes
the greatest danger to the rescuers. 1t
is not safe to approach any standing ma
sonrv. Men from my vessel had many
narrow escapes. and I saw several terri
bic accidents to the brave italian sol
ders who We're doing more than their
duty.
1--WE lost no time in setting about the
work Of rescue. We established an open
air hospital on the shore. where we re
ceived and treated thousand people
men, women and children. We also saved
the safe of the Bank of Sicily with its
treasure. weighing two tons.
Eve estimate the deaths at Messina
at 10000 The mind shrinllS
from contemplation of the present condi-
ton in the stricken city. That there are
thousands of persons still alive in the
ruins and that countless numbers must
die.
"'rhe tidal wave lasted much longer
than the earthquake. During all the time
we were in the 4.arbor of Messina our
vessel shivered intermittenty as though
shaken by some huge marine monster.
81 could relate pathetic stories without
number. Under some wreckaSe Enclosed
in kind of a little cubby-hole. and pro-
tected by two heavy beams. 7 discovered
two little babies safe and uniniured They
were comfortable as possible and laugh
ing and playing with the buttons on their
clothes We could find no trace Of their
parents who undoubtedly lost their lives
1T made a terrible impression to see the
bercaved children. Many of the little
ones live while their parents are dead
while we saw many mothers with dead
babies in their arms. 1t was also indie
scrbably painful TO see the many who
had gone crazy from grief. They search
ed and searched aimlessly for their loved
ones. even keeping up the quest after
they had been brought on board our
ship"