The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-14

many tried TO kill themselves as soon "A
they realized what the earthquake r-~,-,
10 them and how much they had los,
How the survivors envied the bella
morte' beautiful DEATH W those who
died in church-the goo women Of or.
tucchio, for instance. who were In church
hearing mass when the earthquake CANA
and were crushed to death as they krcr
at the altar. These women all carried
"scaldlni" (warmers) with them &,
church. When the church COLLAPSED ;
overturned "scaldni' set the ruins ,,
fire. Peasants, fathers, husbands and
sweethearts OF the women whose bodies
are entombed in the burned ruin stand
around the church In silence and think
Of the bella morte" OF those inside and
the purifying flames.
Eleven sisters Of charity were IN their
chapel at Sora receiving commlr,,
when the earthquake came. Ten OF them
and the priest at the altar were Killed
outright The soldiers found the eleven
black ROBBED bodies Of the nuns huddI.H
In a row Just AS they knelt. When the
ruins that covered the chapel were
cleared away and the bodies of tho nuns
and priest were taken out the soldiers
discovered that one OF the nuns. althouah
injured was alive. 4 doctor was sum.
moned and revived her. He worked hl,d
10 save her life. hut a few hours later
the nun died Before she died she re-.
covered consciousness and spoke to the
doctor.
THANK YOU" she said. "You have
done your best. but | am glad you failed.
II liz bad enough for me not TO have
died with my sisters perhaps WAS not
worthy of such q beautiful deatn-but
IL would have been awful had | llv.d
while they died"
A Lieutonant of the Thirteenth In.
, fantry who commanded a squad sent FOR
rescue work at San Bcnedetto del Marsi
happened 10 be near the ruins of the
| church when he heard somebody moan
ing The officer knclt down and put
| his ear to the ground The moaning
was recognized by the officer az the
| voice of n man buried under a heap ~
! ruins Tho officer called his men and
started them working After clearing
away all the wreCkage the voice OF the
man could he heard quite plainly. He
| said he was the parish priest. Don
! Filippo De Tomaso. that he Was IN.
| injured sitting on "a chair Just as Ia
} had fallen when the earthquake cams
and explained to the Lieutenant the OK.
act position where he was buried.
Under the priests directions the work
was resumed the Lieutenant helping his
men, and continued without interruption
the soldiers, apologizing for the trouble
he was giving them and praising their
| efforts to save "a poor old man"
| Finally after two days and a half The
officer at the risk OF his life was
lowered down under the ruins and sue.
ceeded I'm bringing out the priest safe and
sound. The priests only sister, who was
injured on the morning OF The carth-
quake and had been sent TO a hospital
in Rome. hearin6 mat her brother was
alive rushed back to San Benedetto just
In time to see him saved. There were
neither tents nor buildings with roofs
on them for miles around. The soldiers
rugged up a hut with broken doors and
window shutters and tried their utmost
to protect the old priest against the
bitter cold Their efforts were futile,
At dawn the old priest died of pneu-
monia and his sister returned.
a peasant woman who escaped from
the earthquake and fed to the country
stopped on the road leading to her Crum-
bled house as among the ruins that
covered everything as far as the eve
could reach she saw stll intact way.
side shrine dedicated to the Virgin where
she had often prayed. AS she knelt
again to thank the Madonna for savns
her she raised her eyes TO the image
OF the Virgin inside the shrine and u
her d!sr,ay saw that tie face WAS turned
toward the wall The earthquake shocl
had moved Il. The woman called hei
friends and pointing to the image sh,
said Look, even the Madonna has for
saken US and turned her back upon US