The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-01-27
AWFUL SCENES
Described by Some Americans
WHO Were in the
GREAT EARTHQUAKE

Cities and Killed Nearly Thre
/ Hundred Thousand People-The
Say Naples Is a Veritable Hospita
| and Grave-A Graphic Picture.
| New York, Jan. 18:-The frs
Americans to tell of having bee,
In the Italian earthquake and wit
messed it's scene Of death and de
struction, amid which they said the
were practically imprisoned for tw'
days, reached New York recently
They tell heartrending stories of th
sick and dying refugees, who hat
been brought to Naples. "The entir'
city," one Of them said, "was botl
a hospital and grave.
Persons in all walks Of life,
said DIR. Marsh, took part in relic
work. The pushecarts of street ped
dlers and the automobiles Of thu
rich were alike used to transport the
dead and wounded. When relic
ship from Messina whistled in the
! bay hundreds of people crowded
down to the Quays to help out
Mentally as we'll as physically the
refugees showed the awful effect Of
the calamity. Many had gone in.
sane and had to be locked up.
"We left Naples for Reggie, op.
posite Messina, Sicily, on the evening
of December 27,':' says Mr.. Alvin
Hurford. There was no sleeper on
the train, so Mr.. Moeller and myself
bunked- on the seats of our com
partment. About Sis Mr.. Moeller
said he heard a heavy detonation
like that of nearby thunder. I must
have been asleep at the time, for
do not remember hearing such a
sound.
eve had no idea that there had
been an earthquake, and that we
were even then invading the de-
yastated region until we began to
see in the gray sunrise shattered
buildings. Even then we were not
sure what had happened. We were
the only English speaking passen-
gers on the train. I thought at first
the ruined buildings were the rel
les of the former Calabrian earth
quaB&
Meanwhile, our fears were arous-
ed more and more by the sight o.
soldiers. who seemed to pour down
upon US at every station until the
train was jammed almost solid with
them. At one station large guam
tity Of provisions was loaded on the
train. The rain then began to pelt
down, a rain that seemed veritable
waterfall, the torrential kind that go
often follows an earthquake.
"a little further on we were hor-
rifed to see people crouching near
train, clad only in rags, and many
of them bleeding, as if just extricat-
ed from railroad wreck. Some were
almost naked. We guessed that
there had been an earthquake, but
still we were not positive. When
we tried to learn by means OF ges-
lures what had happened, the in
habitants would fee in terror.
At last l heard the English Ian
guage, and, though spoken broken
ly by an Italian Red Cross Officer,
who had for time lived In America
and returned to his native land to
serve in the army, so that he might
make his home in Italy in his old
age without being arrested as a de-
serter, his words were like music.
He told US what had happened, and
said that Ps.lmi, just over the hill,
was almost entirely destroyed. Be
yond the tracks had been torn apart
by the shock, so that it was impos-
sible to proceed further.
Z" Around US the scenes OF suffer
ing were iudescribable. We saw
men and women with broken arms
and ribs, moaning and groaning OF
writhing in silent agony up .ano
down the roadways. I saw several
old women, naked to the waist, with
bunch Of rags tied with strings
that did not reach by six inches tc
their knee caps. Children from four
to fifteen, bleeding and hurt anc
crying, kept coming continually to-
ward US from over the hills.
"eW walked over the hill and saw
the ruins Of Palmi below. Five
hours before $4,000 people hae
peacefully slept where now Wa'
heaped one vast mausoleum in whlcf
the head were buried beneath heaps
of broken rock, mortar, twisted 1rol
columns, skeleton walls just read.
to topple and a forest Of splinteret
timbers. It made me think o
| Pliny's description OF the destlucliol
of Pompeii.
"Now began the task of loading
the wounded on ships. The deat
were left in the ruins.
"Those that died on the road Wer
laid in trenches By the roadsle
| Many frightful scenes were benz
enacted on every side. On reachin
Naples we found that Palermo wa
packed with refugees and that ship
were bringing them in by the thous
ands to the hospitals at Naples. MOS
| of them, as they were carried pas
US, moaned in agony.
"Others died while being carrie
from the ship. Most Of those Wn
had died on the voyage were lei
on the ship. The scenes here /
Naples were worse than in the eartf
uuake-stricken district. The street
were constantly filed with wagon
carrying the dead, dying and Wounc
ed.