THE ITALIAN CATASTROPHE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13948, 2 January 1909, Page 5

THE ITALIAN CATASTROPHE.

HAVOG AND DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE.

TWO HUNDREDTHOUSAND DEAD

SURVIVORS FIGHTING FOR FOOD.

SUCCOURING THE WOUNDED.

NOBLE LADIES AS NURSES.

By Telegraph.— Press Association.—Copyright.

(Received January 1, 11 p.m.)

Rome, January 1. The reports from the stricken areas now being received make the record of the earthquake catastrophe more dreadful than ever. Eighteen of the districts of the province of Calabria have been completely destroyed, and the director of the Observatory at Catania estimates the number of the killed at 200,000. For eleven miles south of Reggio the face of the country has been completely altered. Large tracts of formerly fertile areas are under water, and everywhere havoc and destruction have been wrought. A few dozen survivors fought with knives among the ruins of the Customhouse at Messina for a little store of provisions, and several throats were cut for a few handfuls of beans. The extraordinary boldness and effrontery of the lowest roughs are causing great alarm. There is still a terrible lack of food supplies, medical necessaries, and wood for building shelters. The docks and harbour works at Messina have sunk to the level of the sea. The effects of the seismic wave were felt from Termini Imerese, on the north coast of Sicily, to Syracuse, on the east coast. The Italian Government is sending emigrant vessels to Reggio and Messina to serve as temporary hospitals or to remove survivors else* where. Scores of noble ladies are volunteering to nurse the injured, and are also adopting orphans. Clouds of carrion birds are devouring the corpses in the streets of Reggio and neighbouring villages. The drinking=water has become contaminated in many places. No damage was done at Taormina, the popular health resort on the east coast of Sicily, 35 miles from Messina.

The Italian Parliament is shortly to be convoked, to vote extraordinary taxation for the next five years and increases in the railway rates. The stricken districts will be exempted from taxation.

MORE SHOCKS AT MESSINA.

LIVING VICTIMS IN THE RUINS.

(Received January 2, 12.20 a.m.)

. Rome, January 1. Two more severe earthquake shocks were experienced at Messina yesterday.

The crew of the Russian warship Admiral Makharofi saved a thou* sand lives at Messina. Thousands of half-naked and half*demented men, women, and chil= dren are wandering in the deep mud along the shore. Many little children have been frozen to death. Thousands of men are needed to extricate the still living victims from the ruins.

HELP FOR THE SUFFERERS.

ASSISTANCE FROM THE NATIONS.

(Received January 1, 11.30 p.m.)

London, January 1. King Edward has sent 500 guineas to the Lord Mayor's fund for the relief of the sufferers in Italy and Sicily. The Prince of Wales and Queen Alexandra have given 250 guineas each.

The English fund now amounts to £100,000.

(Received January 1, 11.10 p.m.)

New York, January 1.

The United States supply ship Celtic, with a million and a=half pounds of navy rations intended for Admiral Sperry's fleet of battleships, is sailing from New York for Messina. It is expected that President Roosevelt will ask Congress to pass a liberal relief vote.

The American public is subscribing most generously. The Steel Trust has given £5000, and the Standard Oil Trust £2000. The Red Cross Society has remitted to Italy £10,000 remaining from the San Francisco Relief Fund.

(Received January 1, 11.35 p.m.)

Paris, January 1. The French Government has opened a national subscription, Pre* sident Fallieres heading the list with a donation of £1000.

VANISHED TOWNS.

BEFORE THE SHOCKS.

i THE ENORMOUS DEATH ROLL. IMMENSE EARTH FISSURES. Rome, December 31. Later and more authentic details show that, fearful as were the first estimates of the loss of life by the earthquake, they were far under the mark. The number of those who have perished is now believed to exceed 200,000. In the town of Messina alone 135,000 persons, including 200 visitors, lost their lives, almost the whole population being killed by falling buildings or overwhelmed by the tidal wave which swept the lower portion of the town. At Reggio, where a portion of the town was swallowed up by the opening of a huge fissure in the earth, the proportionate loss of life was as great as at Messina, and 40,000 of the inhabitants were killed. The railway station, in falling, during the shocks, crushed 400 people. The barracks, which also fell, entombed 2000 soldiers, none of whom escaped. Immense fissures have opened in the earth, in and around Reggio. Two-thirds of the Palmi district has been laid waste, buildings, trees, and crops being levelled, and here the loss of life is estimated at 14,000. Of these. 3000 were buried in a common grave. At Bagnara, the death roll was enormous, 12,000 being killed during the shocks. The town of Scylla haS vanished altogether, while at Seminara, which has also partly disappeared, the deaths numbered 15,000.

STRANGE PHENOMENA. DIVIDING OF THE SEA. Rome, December 31. Prior to the earthquake a aurora borealis was- -"'""' Sicily and Calabrir , Then the sea wk ~ ~~* Doth coasts and gathered in an enormous wave in the centre of the Straits of Messina. The earthquake shock followed, and the wave dividing, swept both coasts, driving inland and drowning many thousands of those who had survived the shock. There was a renewal of the disturbance yesterday, several shocks being experienced at Catania, on the coast of Sicily, south of Messina. The inhabitants were thrown into a state of panic. Since the first shock they have daily made religious processions with saints' relics. The German steamer Therapia, when approaching Messina, was met by, boatloads of men and women, carrying food and water. The beach was seen to be furrowed by enormous gaps, whence sulphurous vapours were issuing.

MEDICAL AID.

SUPPLIES FROM MALTA. Rome, December 31. The British cruiser Exmouth, from Malta, took 30,000 blankets and a field ambulance to Messina, whilst H.M.S. Duncan conveyed 60 members of the Army Medical Corps and

many nurses;, and H.M.S. Philomel 14 doctors and a quantity of medical supplies to the same port. Malta is being stripped of all appliances which will be of use to the stricken people of Sicily and Calabria. , • . The steamer Sutlei has made several journeys with refugees from Messina to Syracuse. The Canadian Government is sending a subscription to the relief fund, and the American Red Cross Society has voted £10,000. Queen Helene of Italy, who is visiting the scene of the catastrophe, received a great ovation on landing at Reggio yesterday. AUCKLAND SYMPATHY. SUBSCRIPTION LISTS OPENED. Yesterday the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. A. M. Myers, called upon Mr. R. H. Carr, Consular Agent for Italy, and expressed the deep sympathy of the people of Auckland with the people of Southern Italy and Sicily in the terrible catastrophe that has befallen them. In view of the appalling loss of life by the earthquakes, and the sufferings entailed upon so many who have escaped with little more than their live*, the Mayor of Auckland has opened subscription lists for the benefit of the sufferers, and has expressed the hope that the people of Auckland will, in a practical way, show their sympathy. The subscription lists have been placed in the City Council offices and in the offices of the newspapers, and, as it is desirable to cable an instalment as early as possible tc assist in the relief of immediate cases, the Mayor hopes that subscribers will come forward as quickly as possible. In order to allow patrons of the iurl an opportunity of subscribing, the chairman of the Auckland Racing Club (tht Hon. E. Mitchelson) has consented to collecting boxes being placed about the El lerslie racecouise to-day. FUNDS OPENED IN AUSTRALIA. By Telegraph.— Association.—Copyright (Received January 2, 1.10 a.m.) Sydney, January 1. The civic heads of the various cities o the Commonwealth have opened funds foi the Italian sufferers.