The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1915-01-22
KING VICTOR EMMANUEL Is ON
SCENE AT AvEZZANO AND
10000 SOLDIERS LEND
AID.
MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED
SHOCKS ARE ESTIMATED
Thousands of Dead Lie Beneath
Mounds of Debris Which Once
Were Dwellings, Churches and
Public Institutions, Which
Earthquake Wrecked.

Rome, Jan. 16.-The toll of dead
that has swept over Central and South
ern Italy has not yet been made up
but all advices reaching Rome indi
cate the ever-growing extent of the
disaster.
Towns with thousands of inhabit-
ants have been overthrown and from
some of these come details which
show an immense loss of life. The .es-
Inmates ran from $4,000 to $4,000 dead
and injured, and yet there are sew
eral sections which undoubtedly felt
the earthquake in full measure, from
which no estimates can be obtained.
King is On Scene.
In the ancient territory of Marsi,
which includes Avezzano, the victims
are placed at 10000. Only small mi
nority is left of the inhabitants of
Avezzano, who numbered approx
mately 10000. Fifteen other towns
and villages in that section have been
laid waste. King Victor Emmanuel is
on the scene at Avezzano and 10000
soldiers have been dispatched to the
various centers where the force of the
disturbance was greatest.
Italy as nation has arisen again to
give succor, as she did at the time of
the Messina earthquake, six years ago, |
to those who have fallen in this latest |
catastrophe from which the country |
has suffered.
Many Shocks Occur.
While the greater part of the dam |
age was done by the first earthquake, |
which took place on Wednesday morn
ing at 7:55, there has been at least |
one severe shock since then, which |
resulted in the collapse of many of |
the structures that escaped the first, |
and it is estimated that more than 100 |
shocks, for the most part of minor
nature, occurred during the "a hours
after the disaster.
Demolished or partly demolished
towns dot that part of Italy from
Naples northward to Ferrara, and
crosswise the peninsula from the
Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic Sea, over
which the earthquake of Wednesday
passed. Thousands of dead lie be-
meath the mounds of debris which
once were dwellings, churches and
public institutions, which crumbled I'M
der the earth's vibrations.
Avezzano Is a Cemetery.
Not even an estimate of the aggre-
gate fatalities is yet possible, as many
places are yet isolated owing to the
severance of telegraphic, telephone
and railroad communication. 1t Is
Known, however, that Avezzano is
lecropolis and that also in Cora, some
IS miles to the southwest, large
lumber of lives were lost. In Avez
.ano and vicinity it is estimated that
5000 persisted and that the dead in
,ora will total 1000.
So far as is known, about 20 towns
lave been leveled, while an almost
quail number suffered serious damage.
n all these places persons were killed
IT injured Throughout the day vol
nteers worked heroically endeavor-
ng to extricate wounded or rescue the
odies of the dead. King Victor EN-
manuel himself directed the work at I
lvezzano, where the piteous appeals
f persons caught beneath the wreck
ge could be plainly heard. 1t is esti- t
lated that inAvezzano 1000 persons
vere buried alive, some of them school $
hildren in an institution which col {
apsed. Only four soldiers of the t
arrison of 400 in the town escaped
hen the barracks fell.
Sora, with it's population of 10000, q
as almost entirely wiped out. All the
lunicipal and government officials a
erished Four hundred and fifty a
odies already have been taken from
lie ruins there, and large number q
[ injured are under treatment. q