The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-01-30


houses lay In one great heap or rub
Lish, save where the skeletons or hali
a dozen houses stood cracked and tot
tering. They emphasized the desola
ton Without them one would hardy
have imagined that city had exis,ed
on that spot Over all cloud Oh
smoke made a sullen trail across the
sky
No enc spoke. The writer's stood
staring like statues. except that mere
and there some one involuntarIl!
raised a hand TO shut out a sight tha'
could hardly be borne.
A City Of Ashes and Dust.
Messina. the third port Of Italy. is In
absolute ashes and dust. No words
could be too strong to give an idea o.
the extent OF the calamity. Every
thing is gone. The few buildings that
preserve a more or less un6roken front
are ruins within The Palazzo Num-
cipio. the solid facade of which mas
resisted The earthquake. is In flames
while lesser fires burn in three or four
other parts OF the city. Nothing-ab-
solutely not one habitable building
Is left OF a city OF l49,17S inhabitants.
| In the harbor warships OF Itaiy'
Russia, France. and England are an
choree, and with them many SHIPS
from little boats 10 great liners ike
the Campania and the Duca di Geneva.
AL are Busy. The crews or the battle
ships. WHO are digging for those pos
sibly still living, have been reinforced
| by ten or twelve thousand ltalian
troops. The ships OF war are hospi-
tails for the reception OF the injured
| as soon as they are dug out; as the
| liners come in they are transferred
and carried with all speed 10 Palermo.
Naples. Syracuse. Salerno. and other
nearby towns. The smaller boats run
| in close of what is left OF the wharves
and take the dead little way down
| the bay TO spot where they are
buried In great trenches. NO one ap'
gears 10 have slept or rested since
the work began
AS the writer sprang out OF the row.
boat on TO the pebbly beach, heap
OF white cloth lay within two or three
feet aud. unprepared 10 be greeted az
once by the tragedy OF the place. they
turned toward IL in idle curiosity. 1t
Vas the corpse of woman still hold
lux lSltA1 iACa AA5AA ~
In small park were tents OF SOL
diers and little groups of terror
stricken refugees crouching together
in hastily made novels OF boards. Some
sat FIJI boats that the waves had
thrown up. For the most part they
stood stolidly about; only OCCASION
ally a woman sobbed, with her face
In her hands. Wrapped in their bright
colorcd shawls, a strange note OF bay
ETY. in the midst Of the desolauon.
these silent figures of grief sat, fright
full To see, and watched the soldiers
digging in the rubbish that covers
those they loved, while groups OF sol
diers and sailors marched slowly
a.oLg. bringing in the results OF their
search.
Along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele
the debris has been cleared sufficient
" to make IL possible 10 walk with
tolerable ease-only tolerable ease
for to begin with the street Is badly
cracked and is several feet higher in
some spots than in others. Moreover.
hundreds OF barrels OF lemons have
been thrown up from wrecked boats
and lie in slippery rottenness along
the way Some houses have In their
fall made such piles OF rubbish that
not even the heroic efforts or the dig
gers have been able in five days 20
make much impression. and as one
Chambers over these heaps the stencil
OF the dead beneath rises heavily.
Only the Corso seems passable even
10 this degree. Workers report that
II is impossible to get far. Even work
inr day and night there are whole
quarters yet untouched. Here at the
center II is possible TO speak with y
certain definiteness about the tragedy.
though not even now with as much
precision as one could wish. Actual
statistics cannot be compiled for a
long time-pertaps never, Today GER
tain military officials were convinced
by the figures at hand that the dead
ir Mcssina alone will number over
$4,000. The population was. In round
numbers, 10000 Some 5000 have
been actually dug out of the ruins,
while a rather larger number were
found seriously hurt, but not buried.
This would give about $4,000 as the
number who escaped, and this figure.
small as ii is, seems exaggerated 10
many officials In the center OF the
town practically no one escaped.
The facts of the earthquake have
I long since been cabled from many
sources, but there has naturally been
j so mucn guess-work that IL may be
well to gice in a few words the cir
cumstances under which the cataclysm
occurred. The great shock was at
! first said 20 have lasted twenty-five
seconds. length OF time that seemed
even at first 10 be rather unlikely.
/ The German consul tells me that ten
80 conds would be nearer the truth.
At about $50 o'clock every one was
awakened by the hcaving OF the earth
and a sIbterranean roar. The next
sccon1-so runs the dramatic story
OF the consul-one shrek arose from
the whole town. piercing. despairing.
! Then tho opdJap 90 4, 49,.