Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-24
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

The Straits of Messina, through which the German warships Goeben and Breslau are supposed to have slipped, eiuding the eagerly pursuing British Mediterianest fleet at the outbreak of the European war, have again found a plaee in European des- patches as the scene of a naval mis- hap in which warshipS belonging to England and Italy mistook each other for enem1cs after a collision in a foS, and proceeded to shell one another Concerning this narrow lane of sea between the rocky masses of Sicily and the "toe" of the Italian peninsula, the National Geographic Society's most recent war geography bulletin says:
 The Sicilian an dItalian banks which border the Straits of Messina for nearly 25 miles to the east and west are among the most luxuriant to be found in a cruise of the Medfter- ranean. Magnificent golden groves of lemon and orange, and orchards of pomegranate with their brilliant red fruit contrast wonderfully with the flowers of the almond trees which per- fume the whole region.
 'The straits are entered from the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the north, at the 1 narrowest point, the distance between Punta del Faro on the Sicilian shore at the mainland lighthouse on Punta
 
 | The whole or the Calabrian coast is l thickly sown with villages, some | clinging to the beach, while others | chamber up the sides of well wooded hills which culminate in the towering ] Montalto, rising to an elevation o1 I more than a mile above the sea Be- yond the straits 10 the southwest 1 looms notwithstanding Etna,' the | highest volcano In Europe '%The most important city situated | on the straits is the once magnificent seaport of Messna. wrich boasted a fore the worlds most cruel earth | quake of December 18th, 1908, tossed nearly a hundred thousand lives l away.
 l "The harbor of Messina is the larg- est and safest in the kingdom of Italy l with a depth of more than 30 fath- oms. Before the great calamity il was visited annually by more thai 1 5000 vessels which brought cargoe. of wheat, cotton, wool and hardware and took away i'll exchange lemons oranges, almonds. wines, olive oil an6 silks. Much of it's commerce was ant still is carr.ed on with the mainland | of the kingdom by means of a ferry line to Villa San Giovanni, only foul l and half miles away, while Reggie the chief seaport on the Italian side | of the straits, and also the chic
 
 is ten miles to the southeast. Ferry boats ply between these points, too Scilla, Fare, Catona, Pellaro, Scallits and Galati are minor towns on the | shores of the straits.
 "The historical records of Messins and the neighbo1ing settlements con. tain many accounts of bombardments raids, and piratica1 descents during the Punic and Roman wars, and ray l aging expeditions by Goths, Norman: and Saracens, while earthquakes priol to the latest tragedy left their ihdel- ible scars from time to time, particu- 1 larly in 1T33. Nor has plague spared this region. In 1740 Messina alone lost 10000 of her population by dis. ease, while IA years later cholera re. | moved 16,000..
 Homer did not accord definite habitation for this terrible sea-crea lures. Scylla and Charybdis, but mar iners familiar with the perils Of tht rocks on the Italian side of tht straits and with the strong eddie! near the harbor of Messina, saw il