The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-02-15
FollowingEarthqu
King Emmanuel S Do
main Is Threatened
by Another Disaster
STREAMS AREOUT
OF THEIR BANKS
Vatican Quarter of Rome Generally
Flooded and Waters In the Streets
Around st. Peters Have Risen to
Nearly Five Feet
By Associated Press.

~ Associated Press.
Rome, Feb. 10, 1856 p. M.-The
flood waters in the streets around st.
Peters nave risen to height of four
feet and eleven inches. Several walls
have collapsed, but without serious
consequences.
Rome, Feb. Is, 2.55 A. M.-Italy,
having just passed through period of
grave anxiety as a result of destruc-
tive earthquakes, is now facing new
peril in the form of floods. Every
where streams are out of their banks,
due to heavy rain storms, which have
continued for several days.
In the low lying quarters the people
have been driven from their homes or
are prisoners in the upper stories of
their houses. The military authorities
have taken cognizance of the situation
and troops have been sent to aid in res.
cue work and to provide food to suf-
ferers cut off from supplies.
River Fifty Feet Out Of Banks
In Rome the river Tiber is more than
fifty feet out of its normal banks and
is rising at the rate of two inches an
hour. The one bright spot in the situa-
tion is that the weather, ugly to-day,
showed signs of clearing and this gives
hope that the waters will soon recede.
The Leonine city, as the Vatican quar-
ter of Rome is called, is in the lower
part of the town and this section is
generally flooded. The water, however,
has not reached the apostolic palace.
Pope Benedict is taking sympathetic
interest in the situation and has in
structed all the parish priests to display
the greatest energy in aiding their dis
tressed parishioners. The Pope him
self spent a good deal of his time Sun
day in watching the rising waters in
the quarter Just below the apostolic
palace.
Patients Removed From Hospital
Two hundred patients in the hospital
of Santo Spirito, near the Vatican.
have been removed to upper floors Of
the building because Of the flood. Some
fear is expressed that the rising water
may cause the building to collapse.
| The authorities have closed the road
from Rome to the sea in which there
are several deposits of carbide and
lime Some of these, through infltration
from the flooded Tiber, have already
exploded and caused nearby buildings
to collapse. Fortunately there were no
victims, as the people, forseeing danger
had left the place.
st. Angelo Bridge Endangered
Great anxiety is felt to-day for the
famous st. Angelo bridge, originally
erected by Emperor Hadrian and which
connects his tomb with the city. The
water is already over the pillars of the
bridge and troops, engineers and fire.
men are at the scene doing what is
possible to check the peril. Milos bridge,
built over one hundred years before
Christ, is inundated and water also sur
rounds the imposing Basilion of st.
Paul's s. The Sublious bridge, the struc-
ture supposed to have been defended
by Horatus and two companions, is also
under water. This is the oldest bridge
in Rome, having been built in the year
$50 B. C.
Bridges Closed to Trafic
The bridges which have shown signs
of weakness have been closed to traffic.
Many houses in the immediate neigh
borhood of st. Peters have from three
to four feet of water in the lower
stories and the inhabitants were obliged
to remove their possessions to the mp
per floors.
The floods have turned the low living
quarters of the city into second
Venieeyas the streets are now all water
ways and boats are the only means OF
progression.