Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-04
QUAKE SURVIVORS
KILLED IN WRECK
Relief Train Is TeIescoped
Near Messina.
MORE SHOCKS IN SICILY
Terror-Stricken Survivors Flee From
Temporary Homes.
BODIES BURIED IN THE SEA
Towed Out by Thousands on Light
ers and Thrown Overboard-King
Returns to Rome.
Terror Stricken Survivors Flee From
Temporary Homes.
BODIES BURIED IN THE SEA

|
Messina and Catania, freight train to-
day ran into and telescoped a relief trair
crowded with injured persons, five OF
whom were killed.
The survivors of the earthquake are in
terror now of new shock, which they
fear will come and complete the work OF
that of a week ago. The shocks that have
continued at brief intervals since the first
and most destructive are now increasing
again in violence. A severe quake cen
trial in southwestern Sicily drove the in
! habitants out from their shelters
| An estimate, credited to Prime Minis
ter Giolitti at Rome, puts the dead al
| ready buried by the authorities in and
about Messina and Reggie al 10000. The
work of burial has not yet been nearly
completed. The bodies of the uninterred
grow more and more a menace with the
passing of every day. Thousands are
doubtless still caught in the ruins en-
tirely inaccessible.
| The rescuers have considered various
plans for dsposng of the remaining hui
man and structural wreckage. The known
| presence of survivors still imprisoned
beneath the ruins deters the workers
| from setting fire to the entire shattered
| city of Messina, burying it under a
great layer of quicklime as has been sug-
gested. The plan of bombarding the
ruins after Withdrawing all the survivors
| is equally impracticable for the same
reason. No one in official position
is quoted as saying that such plan is
likely to be followed.
Bodies Thrown Into Sea.
! Hopeless finally of giving all the vic
| Tins an earth burial, the rescue forces
| began day or more ago hosting the bod
| les on lighters in the harbor. Laden with
dead down to the waters edge, these
| lighters were towed out to sea and sunk.
| BY this wholesale method, the bodies
| could be disposed of by thousands at a
| time. This means is now being used as
| fast as lighters can be found and loaded,
and many such vessels and their cargoes
now lie in the deeper waters off the
shores of Messina.
| The Italian battleship Vittorie Eman-
| uele. which sailed for Naples Saturday
| night with $50 wounded. carried back also
the King and Queen of Italy. They are
now at the royal palace, the Qurinal, re-
| cooperating from their hardShipS in the
stricken district. They landed at Gaota.
near Naples. early Sunday morning. and,
| learning that there was prospect of a
public demonstration. which they wished
| to avoid, they returned to Rome in an au-
tomobile instead of taking the train They
gained the palace scarcely recognized. In
the evening, however, a huge crowd gath
cred before the palace. 1t made a fer
vid demonstration of enthusiasm for the
| sovereignS. 1t was quieted only when
the king. looking greatly fatigued. came
| out on balcony and held up his hand to
give reminder that the time was too grave
| for ordinary noisy shows of applause
|
| frhe great dread of today is famine
In carrying out their enormous task OF
removing the dead the first sanitary
measure. the authorities have let wait the
most necessary attentions to the living
Not only are the great corps of volun-
teerng physicians in Messina working
| handicapped. for lack of medical sup
plies. but bread is short. From many
sources the same dearth is reported
The Italian Red Cross announces that
| those still living and remaining perforce
in the ruins of the city can only be kept
| from starvation by an early and abundant
! supply of necessary food Bread is
doled out by the authorities but there
is not nearly enough to go around The
| stronger fight for it and tear it from
one anothers hands with blows, for
| money among the destitute in Messina
| has wellnigh lost it's purchasing power
| loaf Is hardly to be bought at any price
| Thus the strongest men are fed, but I'M
| fortunately the old, the women and the
| children are unable to enter this fight for
| existence in it's most primitive and hes
| tial form. Their cries are. unanswered
Bayard Cutting, American vice consul
| at Milan, has been sent to Messina as
American representative, and also re-
ports the urgent need of food He recon-
| mends that bread, macaroni and OIL the
| staples of Socilian diet be forwarded i'm
| mediately in the largest quantities avail
| able.
| Americans Giving Aid.
| The American residents in Italy, acting
| through Lloyd C. Griscom American am
bassador at Rome, have secured an 5000
| ton vessel of the Australian Lloyd Com
| pany and are loading it with supplies for
MeSsina at Il cost of $50. 600
| Fortytive English-SpeakinS inhabitants
| under the direction of Mr.. Wood. the
American artist are conducting an Anglo
American hospital at Giardina
Foreign officers who have explored the
ruins on both sides of the straits give
| higher estimates of the loss of life than
| Italian reports. They believe that $4,000
| persons have been either killed or trapped
| In the ruins of Messina and so, coo at
| Reggie, where the tidal wave rose to dou-
| bic the height that it did at Messina.
| Signor Di Nava. Reggie member of the
| Italian chamber of deputies has person
| dliS tIdteISeu lIloSt OF the caTlnQuak0
region both sides of the straits He
| estimates the total dead at 5000 the
| wounded at 10000. Of the dead Signor
| Di Nava CALCULATES that $1,000 are at
| Messina. 5000 at Reggie and 1900 at
other coast and interior towns affected.
| The radius of destruction extends thirty
miles north and south on the coast of
Sicily and on the mainland for an equal
| distance below Radicena toward the
south.
Rich Women as Nurses.
Many women of the aristocracy have be-
come nurses. The feminine section of the
| Italian Red Cross Society, under the ini-
| tiative of Princess Teano, formerly Prin-
| cess Vittorio Colonna, has sent a char
tered steamer fitted for hospital uses to
| the earthquake district. The women are
doing splendid work. The male members
| of the expeditions dispatched to the ruined
cities have now gotten large camp hos
| pitfalls and distributed great quantities OF
/ food The Red Cross corps Is co-Operat-
| ing with soldiers. sailors and civilian vol
unteers in eXcavating the dead and trans
porting the wounded to the provisional
| hospitals. The work is colossal
| Signor Mirabello, the minister of ma
rine. speaking today on the work done
in the earthquake area by the King and
Queen of Italy, said it was admirable
beyond words. His majesty visited
fnumberleSs towns ana villages. He dis
| trih ed with his own hands nd