DETAILS OF CATASTROPHE.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 766, 31 December 1908, Page 3

DETAILS OF CATASTROPHE.

(BY ELECTBIO TELEGEAPH— < OPIBIGBT.] [?EB PBEBB ASSOCIATION.] Rome, December 30. The earthquake has altered the aspect of the Straits of Messina and changed the coastline. King Emmanuel has given £8000 to the sufferers, and aleo a large stock of provisions and medical supplies. Thousands remained in the streets all day, half naked, in spite of the torrential rains, filling the air with lamentations, prayers and imprecations. At Pinozo, Catrom-, Sant Severina and Piscopio the people entered- the half-wrecked churches and took therefrom the statues of the Saints and carried them in a procession to the open country where they evoked the mercy of God in a downpour of rain. In the mountainous regions of the interior, in grottoes, in caves and in subterranean cavities, peasants, priests, soldiers and gentle-folk are all living and sleeping together on the ground with a fir<> burning in the centre of the group for heat. The Queen of Italy insisted in accompanying King Emmanuel to Reggio and Messina. The Pope, being prevented fromgoing, telegraphed his profound sorrow and consternation and has ordered prayers, and offered liberal, help — probably a million lire. (A lire is worth about 9jd.) Fires resulting in the explosion of the gasometer, increased the horrors. Hooligans and escaped prisoners looted the town and pillaged the dead until mounted soldiers were directed to shoot. Refugees give appalling accounts and say that Dante's Inferno gives a very pale idea of the scenes at Messina in the early morning when the town was almost uprooted. Those who were not instantly killed, rising on undulating floors amidst falling beams, descended unsafe stairs to find Tlie streets blocked by falling houses with the balconies and chimneys thrown down in all directions. Everywhere streams of injured, half-mad and nearly naked people were, shivering in the torrential rain while the lower part of the town was inundated, the tidal wave reaching heaps of fugitives. Signor Fulci, a member of the late Zenardelli Cabinet, together with his wife, was buried in the ruins of his house. Mount Etna showed considerable .activity, thus increasing the panic. Scientists, however, do not anticipate a great eruption after the violence of th© earthquake. Large bodies of troops are assisting in the rescue. The heroism of the rescuers has been attended by some fatalities. AU the finest palaces, churches, theatres and villas are a heap of ruins, covering decomposing bodies. The officers of the warship Sapio declare that half the people of Messina have perished. About half-past five the sea became terribly rough, rocking the ships violently, and suddenly an enormous wave swept down the Strait, devastating the coast, damaging th© vessels and destroying the quays and docks. Some accounts estimate the mortality in Sicily and Calabria at 120,000. •It is reported that 70 English and 43 German visitors were buried in the hotel ruins at Messina. It is also reported that the whirlpool Charybdis has shifted its position, and the Straits of Messina are much obstructed thereby. Details hourly arriving by wireless telegraphy show that the catastrophe was unprecedented. •>;;£*;', Lighthouses along the devastated coast are unworkable, and navigation it impossible at night and dan^etauß by day. _^-""" Refugees declajeHiat Reggio, Villasangiovanui, Scylla, Cannitello, and all thejaMnnmnes and villages along th«^B£raits are a heap of ruins and tmrying innumerable victims. , Mr Ogston, the British Consul at Messina, was rescued with his daughter, but his wife perished. Crowds of survivors, almost insane, wander among the ruins, and the panic throughout Calabria is almost indescribable. Palmi and Bagnara are practically destroyed, while around Montelnone, which is most affected, the dead may be counted in thousands. British, Russian, German, and French! warships have been sent to Messina. The Lord Mayor of London has opened a relief fund. London, December 30. "* Reuter's latest report shows that the deaths number 100,000 whilj the injured are even of greater number. Three provinces of Calabria have all been devastated and Messina is practically destroyed, and there is rain everywhere in the surrounding provinces. Since the area of the disturbance is larger than in 1895, and the violence of the shocks is more intense, the survivors dread an upheaval similar to that of Pompeii and Herculaneum. A tidal wave, 35 feet high, overwhelmed everything for over 60 yards inland at Messina and Riposto, causing greater destruction than the earthquake. The troops and volunteers succeeded in extinguishing the fires at Messina, and restoring comparative order. Sydney, December 30. The seismographic records at the. observatory disclose no traces of the Italian earthquake. The Italian residents of Sydney have opened a fond to assist the sufferers of the earthquake und funds are being opened in other cities. Melbourne, December 30. Mr A. Fisher, Federal Prime Minister, and Sir Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria, have forwarded messages of condolence to the Italian Consul. Perth, December 30. The first preliminary of the tremors of the earthquake reached the seismograph at Perth Obsorvatory at four minutes past twelve on the 28th. The vibration continued to affect the instruments for 47 minutes, when a second and more intense series arrived. There appears' to have been two periodß, the maximum intensity of which was reached at Perth at 12.52 and 1.10 p.m. corresponding with 5.52 and 6.10 a.m. by European time. The last trace occurred at 2.18 p.m., corresponding with ti. 18 a.m. by Italian time. '