THE EARTHQUAKE DISASTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 19

THE EARTHQUAKE DISASTER.

FURTHER SHOCKS. MORE LIVES LOST. HEROIC RESCUE WORK. 2300 PEOPLE RESCUED. MESSINA AND REGGIO TO BE REBUILT. ROME, January 4. Mr Doresa describes the daring rescues I that were mad« amid the earthquake and flames by the Afonwen's second mate (Mr Read), an able seaman named Smith, and Captain Owens. While distributing feed ashore the captain entrusted Mr Doresa with a boat, ■which was his only means of ret re ait. Five soldiers attempted to seize the boat in order to escape to the mainland, but Mr Doresa producing his revolver, put them to flight. Other rescuers report similar experiences at the outset of the panic. All the municipal doctors of Italy and all the young doctors in this cdty have volunteered for service within the earthquake zone. The uublest competition to help is shown everywhere. Sigcor Santoliquido, Director-general of - Hygiene, thinks that there is little fear of an epidemic. Enormous quantities of disinfectants are being forwarded, including hundreds of tons .of quicklime and chloride of lime. January 5. Some people were Tescued alive from the ruins of Reggio yesterday. An- entire family were released at ■ Messina yesterday almost uninjured, al-'j though th>ty had been buiitd for a week. • Many of the ruins are being flooded j ■with carbolic acid to overcome the stench, j King Emmanuel and the Government ! axe determined that Messina shall be rebuilt. The Government is lending money on very favourable ternis. It expeois to raise 180,000,000 lire (£7.200,000) for this purpose by increasing the tax on land and incomes. Messina will be exempted from the property tax. for a quarter of a century. After a fharp shook at Messina yesterday the British battleship Exmouth got caught in the current and snapped her anchor chains. ■ She drifted two miles before control was recovered. • At the instance of Signer Naithan, the Jewish Mayor of Rome, the Vatican gladly received a Uatch of suffering survivors, who were placed in a hospital outside the Pope's property. The Pope passed over an archway to tlie bospdtal ajid comforted tlie sufferers. Signer Nathan also visited the hospital, and later exchanged cordial greetings with Cardinal Merry del Val. January 6. Four days elapsed before the Exmouth •was able to go to Gallico, a town of 5000 inhabitants, five miles^ north of Reggio, to establish a hospital of 250 beds and nurses. This was a veritable Gcdeend, because it was the only place of ■relief in 'the vicinity, and the vyounded from -Catena, where out of 3500 people 2000 were killed, wei"e conveyed to Gallico on stretchers, a distance of several miles. There are still shocks around Eeggio at intervals of 28 minutes. H.M.S. Duncan has now established a field hospital at Catona. Oth ea- British ships landed 70 men and four doctors at Scylla, and 50 men and three doctors at CannatelloThe latter is the most sanitary camp of any. H.M.S. Minerva's men, amid recurring shocks and heavy groans, worked heroically among the ruins. A .British- chaplain- in Mr Huleatt's house in ' Mesaina discovered Mr Htileatt and his child •in bed, both crashed to | death. The search continues, as the , wife and three other children are under j "tl>3 ruins. | The Archbishop of Messina, who was • •reported among the dead, was' rescued ■ from the ruins. j He mounted the roof of a building, and gave his benediction to tlie dying and the dead who are still tinder the ruin?. : The Prince and Princess "of Catelhcci. svho were buried in the ruinr- of Medina, ere still alive. 1

All the members of the Huleath family p&rishsd. Temporary expedients aia being employed to replace t'h-s lighthouses ard signal stations along tha Strait of Messina. I The shocks continue. i January 7. Ten people were rescued at Messina on Tuesday. , Several business firms have recovered their securities and monejs from th' 9 ruins, j Ths public services are improving, and . ths people are calmer Up till Tuesday night 2300 peTtons had beeu recovered alive from the ruins of ' Messina. ) The Italian Deputies met on the ruins of Messina and unanimously reeved upon | the resunection of the city. j A further shock of earthquake destroyed i the beautiful cemetery at Messina, with its famous orange groves. Visiting journalists describe the city as J an uninhabitable charnel- house, where "it is impossible to buy a piece of bread without military sanction. The British sailers were a week without a mouthful of hot focd. Everything warm was given to the- wounded. The; former worked at the rescues until late into thei night, at their own request. The Russians also worked magnificeiuly. The British and Russian warsb/ps, being neair the scene of disaster, were the first i to provide food far the survivors and the ! first to extricate the wounded. i "The Italian authorities gladly recognis-.e • that had it not been for their promptitude many more would have perished. The Camorra practised a heartless hoax on the inhabitants in the suburbs of Naples. Early in the morning a number of alarmists rushed thiougih the streets, shouting "The earthquake ! " while others clari;.-"J tho church bells. The residents were seized with panic, and rushed half-nak-ed into the' streets, seeking the open, while criminal gangs looted their deserted shops and dwellings. January 8. The British warships have left cnor- , roous stores at Villa San. Giovanni. ! The Admiral before his Jeparture re- I ceived a frantic ovation, the population j crediting the British sailors wi A h having rescued all the psople from the ruins. ' There were cries of " Long live England ! I Long live our saviours ! " ! The director of Etna Observatory visited Messina and found enormous fissures in the mountains behind the town. Several alarmin-g f-hoclc* were experi- J ©need at Reggio, Monteleone, Pahni, and j Catania yesterday. Nobody is allowed to enter Messina • without a permit, a.nd the troops fire on • all people who are detected stooping over j the rains. j Italy has thanked America for generously offering to send warships to the gtraits, adding that at present Uieir | assistance is not required. j All the foieign warships will have left by to day. i "Besides", his previous donation, King ' Victor Emmanuel has given £20,000 to the Red Cross Society and £20,000 to the National Relief Committee. TJiree people were rescued in Mes°ina yesterday". January 9. The Chimber of Deputies cheered M. Gioli'tti's statement that Messina and Reggio would be rebuilt. | The Chamber granted £1,250,000 from the Budget surplus to provide for the urgent need* and to reconstruct the • public buildings. It also imposed a surtax j on certain sources of revenue for two ' years. - - j January 10. There a.r-e 11,500 troops at Messina, and 7000 at Regg:o, where the public moneys and documants aro being recovered from the ruins. Stores aro bair.g withheld from the refugees in. order to compel them to quit the devastated atea. • It is probable that Italy Avill tail all the poor orphans of the earthquake " th* i children of lh.s nation," and that they will bo provided for until they come of a^e. , January 11. I General Niizza (Gcueial Commissary at Messina) admits that the rescue work ;<t first suffered from confusion. Irat the soldiers and sailor* doseived the greatest praise. I Tho most severe task confronting the

authorities now is to prevent an epidemic from putrefaction. Forty thousand corpses are still undsr , the ruins. j j Six more people were rescued afc Mesi sina. A butcher was extricated comparatively wall, though he had bs«n focdle^s ' fox 14 days. He was compelled to see his wife and children die in slow agony with- ! out help. ! The troops have recovered valuables worth £200,000. j Signor Felice, deputy for Catania, de--1 clared in the Italian C'nambsr that if the j assistance sent had been placed under more intelligent direction than the mi 1 !- . tary it would have been possible to save another 20,000 victims. I The Sicilian deputy confirmed the statement, j | The Premier 4 Si|gnor Giolitti) replied j ' that martial law" was applied at the pre- ' 1 feet's request in order to prevent pillaging on a la.rge scale. ! Signor Giolitti proposes to apply all unclaimed property found in the earthquake , zone to the creation of a fund few* the needy, especially orphans. LONDON, January 5. Renter's Washington correspondent states that the first division of Admiral Sperry's fleet has been ordered to Naples j to assist in the relief work. No otheo? ' Italian, ports will be visited. j The Mansion House fuiid amounts to ■ £40,000. * I It is understood thaib the Government will make a direct grant. j The Mansion House fund now amotmls to £70,000. A requiem service was held in the Westminster Cathedral in ths presence of the Lord Mayor of London, the Lady Mayoress, and the Italian Ambassador. I A collection in aid of the relief fund amounted to £150. January 6. An alarming shock has been expeaienfCed at Teneriffie. The Mansion House fund now amounts to £50,000 / January 7. The Mansion Houee fund amounts to £65,000. The American fund is £500,000, including New York, where £80,000 was subscribed by the citizens. Tokio has sent £8000. The Messina correspondent of the London Times says that many villagers from a distance obtained supplies by pretending that they w^re refugee?. Such ' offenders are now being weeded out and punished. Tlie correspondent adds : "It is regrettable to 6tate that 50 of them j were shot." The American Committee has chartered the North German Lloyd S.S. Company's j Bayern, which is starting for Cavita Vecchia and Rsggio to-day Beside* quantities of ?tor-es, she carries £40,000 j in monej-. tlnee doctor?, and 20 nurses, | with an American naval attache and the Committee of Distribution. Mr Lloyd C. Griscome, the Un'ted States Ambassador at Rome, accompanies the- Bayern as f?r ps Medina, where he will to-morrow welcome Admiral Spprry and the United States fleet. January 9. The Mansion House furd now amounts to £80,000. The Hon. •W. P. Reeves (Higr Commissioner for New Zealand) and Mr Coghlan (Agent-General for New South Wales) ■' have received the Italian Government*? warmest thanks for the generous donations _ from the colonies mentioned. | BERLIN, Jamiary 10. It is officially stated here that _ho Strait of Messina U again safe for th* 1 Noiddeutscher Lloyd's steameis, which lately were ordered to steam m e-st of Sicily. j NEW YORK, January 5. j President Roosevelt, in a special Mes- | sage to Congress, declared that the pro- j posed relief was prompted by obligations of humanity, and the fact tha:t many good American citizens were formerly Italian immigrants, also by gratitude for the abundance wherewith God had blessed the Americans in safety. Besides hailf a million <lolkis, both Houses voted SOOjOOOdoI, representing the j steamers Celtic and Culgoa's supplies. j Th" African Red Cross Society tele,^vaphed 590,00-Mol to the American Committee at Rome to charter a steamer with j supplier ar.d to fetch the survivors to saUy . ! Thcie were frantic soenes among the 2CO Calabrians and Sicilians before land- t

ing, when, they learned for the fiist tine of the disaster. , MELBOURNE, January 6. J Mr Fisher has reconsidered the portion taben up -by, leim regaidicg -th-2 question ' of contributing to the Italian earthquake relief fund. The Cabinet will meet tomorrow, and it is balieved thai £10,000 j will be- voted. • Mr Wade, who is at present in Melbourne, intimated that in view of the Commonwealth's nVi, decision ha inter, fed to send £5000 from New South Wales. January 7. The Federal Government has granted £10,000 in aid of the Italian earthquake : fund. f January 8. The Consul -genei^l of Italy, in acknowI ledgiu.g tbo Commonwealth's contribution ;to the earthquake fund, says: " Tho ' Commonwealth Government bas given the most generous sanction to that most noble I principle which ignores tim.e and distance, |is above rac<j discriminations and pre- ! judice of every kind, and' is true to the i [ basis of civilisation. The Government j has earned tho everlasting gratitude of the j warm-hearted Italian wople." SYDNEY, January 6. j The State - Government has cabled;! £5000 on' behalf of the earthquake fund. The Lord Mayor presided over a meeting at the Town Hall to inaugurate a j public fund, and £875 was subscribed in the room. January 8. The earthquake Relief Committee has cabled £1000 to Italy. ADELAIDE, January 5. The first £ICO3 on account of the local relief fund has been cabled to the Lord , Mayor of London. - - • BRISBANE, Ja-nuary'7. j The Government ' lias cabled £1000 to , the earthquake fund. NEW ZEALAND'S RESPONSE. GOVERNMENT FORWARDS £5000. AUCKLAND, January 6. The local Italian disaster relief fund totals nearly £500. GISBORNE, Jamiary 11. The Mayor has opened a list for the Italian Relief Fund." HAWERA, January 11. A sacred concert, held last night in add of the sufferers by the Italian earthquake realised £20. WELLINGTON, January 5. The Government/ has sent - £5000 to Italy as a contribution to the fund for the relief of sufferers by the recent earthquakes. In an interview with a New Zealand Times reporter, the Prime Ministe* stated that any funds collected! by private effort would, on application being made to the Government, ba remitted free to the authorities in Italy. January 7. New Zealand's contribution of £5000 to tho relief fund in connection with the Italian earthquake has been acknowledged in the following terms by the Italian Government in a' cable to the High Commissioner : — " In the name of the Italian Government and the nation I convey our lively thanks to the Government of New Zealand for its prompt sympathy in the calamity of Italy and for its conspicuous bounty on behalf of the victims of the disaster. — Giolitti, President ot the Council of Ministers, Rome." Mr John Rofcort6, acting consular agent, for Italy, requests us lo notify that he -vjill be pleas ?d in bis official capacity to receive any subscriptions towards the Earthquake Fund which any of our subscribers would 1 caro to send. He adds: "I need not make any l«Mig-then«d remarks about tho urgency, of such an appeal, as the whole position ia wall known to you and your readera. and I fehalj be only too pleased if the public of , Ota^o would respond to the appeal which is made."' Mr Roberts also J desires to acknowledge receipt of the following sub^-riprione : — Mr John JMitcheU, £5 5.*; Mr E. E. C. -Quick, £5 ss; Dr Colquhoun, £2.