Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-28
ITALIAN RESCUERS
KEEP UP HARD TASK
Work in Aftermath of Quake'S
Disaster Continues De-
spite HandiCaps.
ny Radio TO The Star.

ny Radio TO The Star.
MELFI, Italy, July est is with
stoicism bred of the frightful heat, Of
poverty, and of suffering in past dis
asters that the people OF Southern Italy
today are fighting the aftermath of the
worst catastrophe in their memory. The
hySteria which gripped them during the
first few days is gone and in its place
there is grim fortitude and determina-
ton to start life anew. Most of them
plan to continue living in those same
towns which crumbled over their heads
last Wednesday morning.
When King Victor Emmanuel arrived
here, che found soldiers still digging
about in the ruins and occasionally
extricating additional bodies. The peo-
PIE who are camping in tents nearby
wiped the tears from their faces and
gave him a sad but hearty reception
Seldom does a King come TO this out
of-the-way hill town, and even the
terror of the recent events failed to
check the curiosity of the population.
The dead here, as in most of the
other towns in the stricken district,
cannot be reckOned with any accuracy
snd the task of removing bodies from
unnatural graves has really not been
more than begun. which leads most
UOSEINtIS 10 DCllENF IilhI OIIlEldl Inquiries
of the earthquakes toll. which now
stands just under 1000, will eventually
reach 5000.
Field Hospital Uncomfortable.
At SAINT Angelo del lombard we
visited one OF many field hospitals
which have been set up on the hill
sides near the centerS Of destruction
It consists of a dozen or so large tents
in hay field. which sloped down from
The town. Doctors and Red Cross
nurses are making the pest of an i'm
possible task of giving comfort to
patients who suffer intensely under the
blistering heat of the sun in the day.
time and fight for breath in the muggy
night A doctor told us that he had
not slept for SO hours.
If the population is bearing up in
this disaster in magnificent fashion,
credit is due largely to the doctors,
nurses, soldiers and blackshirts, who
have been on the spot from the very
morning of the quake, laboring with
out any thought of sleep or rest. Now
that the thrill is over, they continue
their work.
At Ariano we found a group of
soldiers, who have been working under
the baking sun all day long at the
most gruesome labor imaginable, shar-
ing their bread and salami with a
small group of children as we drove
in. A little girl, who had lost her
father and mother, was being conf
forted by burly sergeant.
At Villano the town doctor, who had
lost his entire family in the disaster,
was working like fiend in an i'm
provised medical station. Other sur
vivors said that he was trying to kill
himself with work.
Drop From Fatigue.
At Aquilonia, soldiers who had not
slept for "a hours filed down the street,
bearing> bodies of victims to the grave
yard. Two of them, of sheer fatigue,
dropped the rude casket they had been
carrying, but picked it up again and
stumbled on their way.
King Victor Emmanuel himself proves
10 be as heroic as the best of them and
though he Is noticeably worn by the
heat, he carries on without signs OF
letting up At Lacedonia he wandered
around in the baking sun for two hours,
passing out words of sympathy to the
common people. At Aquilonia he spent
one hour in the same heart-breaking |
task, and acted more as a father COM
forting his child than a king.
The mercury has been lowering
around 90 degrees in Melf and the
air is so rank as to make life almost
continues TO perform its task in an
efficient and humane manner. This
sacrifice will be remembered even when
the shock of the disaster has been
forgotten.
Angela Venuti, brown faced, dark
eyed 3-year-old, was queen yesterday of
Villanova. which lies in complete ruin.
incidentally Angela established an
= endurance record.
Found Under Debris.
Capt. Spagnuola of the Bersaglieri
was wandering down debris-streWn
street of the town Saturday when he
thought he heard a child's cry COM
ing from the ruins of a building He
summoned soldiers, who. after plying
picks for half an hour, brought to light
the crying little girl who during four
long days had been hidden under a
big piece of plaster wall
Angela blinked at the rescuers, half
blinded by the sunlight asked fer a
drink of water, which was quickly
furnished, and then ran away to rejoin
her playmateS The soldiers did not
tell her that her father and mother
had been killed in the quake.
Copyright. 1900