Vinita Daily Chieftain. (Vinita, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 227, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1909 Page: 4 of 4
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GREATEST TRAGEDY THAT HAS SINCE BEGINNING OF HISTORY STRICKEN MESSINA A PE
RFFAM FN CHRISTIAN IVDRI.n f Al ARRIA HAS RFRN SmilRfiFn OF GREAT NAlURAL BEAUTY
Magnitude of Calamity in Calabria and Sicily I. Unpre- No Part of the Earth That Has Suffered So Severely from Said to Have Been Founded in the Eighth Century B. C.
cedented Entire Region Completely Destroyed-
Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions Contrast
Mas Been rrequenuy vicuraw wc in.iajnuu
of War Wa Flourishing Town in
Middle Ages.
Whole Face of Country and the Coast
Line Altered.
Between Ancient and Modern Times in
Treatment of Disaster.
The earthquake which has devastat
ed the Italian department of Calabria
and Sicily has wrought the greatest
tragedy which over has befallen the
Christian world.
Jt is colossal without precedent.
Nothing previously known In Euro
pean history can be compared with it.
A whole region has been destroyed.
That corner of Italy on which nature
eemed to smile Messina and Reggio
re heaps of ruins under which He
buried thousands of corpses.
All the country along the Straits of
Messina has suffered. Lower down the
coast the sea rushed with terrific vio-
lence into Oiarre Riposto Borgon and
Giovanni sweeping away houscit
hips fishing boats and human beings.
All the fishing boats at sea have dis-
appeared. At Palma and Bagnara the dead are
counted by hundreds and the Injured
of the strait must have been more vio-
lent for scarcely one stone remains
on another in that flourishing city of
only two days ago.
Where a few days ago stood the
homes and works of nien and busy
streets there is nothing but chaotic
rocks and earth.
The city had vanished ns complete-
ly as Aladdin's palace under the ma-
gician's spell.
Country of Many Languages.
Calabria has one and one-third mil-
lion Inhabitants. The Inhabitants
speak Grecian or Albanian dialects or
an antique Italian.
Visit Stricken Subjects.
As King Humbert won the admira
tion of his loyal peoplo by his visit to
the hospitals of Naples during the
cholera epidemic so has Victor Em-
manuel through his emulation of his
father's act of bravery In 1905 Vic-
CATHEDRAL AT MESSINA.
I Jv
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. iff
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"it i-
ITALIAN CITIES WHERE LOSS
OF LIFE WAS HEAVIEST.
Cities in which loss of life was
heaviest were as follows:
Messina population 100000;
wrecked by shock and swept by
tidal wave.
Reggio population 50000; de
stroyed.
Catania population 140000; in
ruins.
Cassano population 6700; in
ruins.
Cosenza population 21000; nearly
all dead.
Seminars small village de
stroyed.
'. Scilla population 7800; in ruins.
Paterno population 24000; in
ruins.
Vittorla population 32000; badly
wrecked.
Naro population 12800; half de
stroyed.
Riposto population 7000; in ruins.
Ali Mineo Patti and Castroreal
Sicilian towns; all badlv dam-K
aged with heavy loss of life.
Palml Bagnara San Giovanni and X
Cannitello Calabrlan villages; O
all in ruins. S
The portion of Iialy affected by the
recent earthquake is in the most convulsion-smitten
region of the globe.
The main area ol disturbance was in
Calabria though cities on the island
of Sicily were shaken anil a tidal wave
Inundated that Island's sea coast.
Notwithstanding the fact that since
the beginning of history the ground of
Calabria has been known to have the
habit of opening as if to swallow up
Its inhabitants the region has always
been well populated. Nearly a million
The calamity In Calabria gives fresh
Interest to the elaborate catalogue of
earthquakes to which Maj. de Mon-
tessus de Balore has devoted years of
labor and which he completed a few
months ago. It Includes no fewer than
130000 distinct shocks of which trust-
worthy details have been preserved
and Indicates with some approach to
scientific accuracy how the manifes-
tations of seismic activity are dis-
tributed over the earth's surface. The
table goes back as far as authentic
records are obtainable but the prepon
derance of the records refers to shocks
which have occurred within the past
50 years. Here is the summary of
Maj. de Balore's statistics:
Area. Earthquakes.
Scandinavia 64G
British Isles 11.19
France 2793
Hpain and Portugal 2656
Switzerland 3.SD5
I'uly 27672
Holland and North Germany 23:!6
Sicily 4ri
(Jreeca 10306
Russia 258
Asia Minor 4451
India (13
Japan 275iK
Africa 179
Atlantic Island 3701
United Suites Pacific Coast 4.4C7
Atlantic Coast ; 9:17
Mexico n5Si!
Central America 27:19
West Indies 25ill
South America S.0S1
Java 2155
Australia and Tasmania S3
New Zealand 1923
It will he noticed (hat Sicily for
which the records go back 3000 years
has been shaken very little compared
with its neighbor Italy.
Seismic Convulsions.
The most shaken countries of lite
world are Italy Japan Greece South
America (the Pacific coast) Java
Sicily and Asia Minor. The lands most
free from seismic convulsions -are Af-
CHURCH OF ST. GREGERIO MESSINA.
Messina viih a etly of 1.'iihkj Inhab-
itants. Mini is said to have hceil founded
under Iho name of ancle In UM II. C.
It is an important seaport of Sicily and
capital nf Hi. province. Anions tin- pub-
lic ediriecs are about 50 churches many
of tliem of iii-.nl beauty. The cathedral.
by thousands. Throughout Hie prov-
ince of Calabria the ravages were
frightful.
All Completely Destroyed.
Messina anil Keggio are In ruins.
The towns of Naro. Scilla. Male! to
Belhoso Riposto and lingua ro have
been destroyed as has the town of
Gazarl In Cnltilirla Cuntlllo has been
Wiped off the niup. Nearly every
town along the coast of Sicily for
relies south of Messina was engulfed
by the sea.
The earthquake's titanic might
transformed the face of Sicily; rivers
were dried up or their course changed;
hills disappeared; vast crevices are
yawning in the earth; the country Is
desolated.
The destruction of property cannot
be as great as at San Francisco for
Messina and Iteggio. the two principal
cities destroyed were not rich or mag-
nificent from the metropolitan point
of Iev. As a great cataclysm of na-
ture however this disaster Is on a
far vaster scale than the California
phenomenon.
Face of Country Altered.
The whole face of the country and
1he coast line have been altered. Kven
Scylla and Charjhdis have chnnged
the positions they have occupied since
Apneas' legendary voyage.
The three provinces where the
ireatest damage was done were Mes-
lna and Catania in Sicily and Reg-
do dl Calabria on the mainland. They
comprise about 4.400 square miles. The
rock of Charybdis now blocks the en-
trance to the strait of Messina.
Several hundred persons perished
tad much damage w as done outside of
these provinces but within them the
devastation was so complete that
scarcely human habitation remains.
All accounts now agree that the
time occnpled by nature's gigantic
spasms was but 32 seconds.
Some minutes later great wave
completed the havoc in the ill fated
i coast towns.
Shock a Fearful One.
The violence of the shock seems to
(have been unprecedented except by
volcanic eruptions within a limited
. Hit's.
which Is one of the show places of th
city is of (iothlc iirch.iiccture with
sumewhat heavy exici-ior. hut supported
within by vast pillars of Kianite supposed
have helonucd to a temple of Neptune.
The
.III
Col'so l.-j tin'
w in s.
most I'ashlnniible uf th
tor I'.innianuel despite the protests of
Ms ministry hastened to Calabria
personally to console the survivors of
I lie earl hiiiake. As sunn as the mas
nltude nl the present disaster became
apparent the king and queen made
arrangements to Kn at once to the
scene of the calamity.
tjueen Helena tel'useil to allow her
husband the king to o alone to the
scene of I he disaster said she
4 V
e"'ix " s V
I The buildings of Messina were not
merely shaken down their founda-
tions literally were ranked from be-
.neath them to one fide or to the
other until they toppled from the per-
r radicular and fell la rulr.s along-
side their original sites.
That was tho experience of Messina.
That of Reggio rn the opposite side
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' '
T CALAMITIES WHICH HAVE
I HAPPENED TO MESSINA.
B. C. J
493 Captured by fugitives from
Samos and Miletus.
472 Surrendered to Athenians.
396 Entirely destroyed by Carta- J
ginians.
270 Seized by Hannibal.
A. D.
1189 Attacked by Richard Coeur
de Lion.
1282 Besieged by Charles duke
of Anjou.
1672-78 Scene of a great revolu-
tion between Democrats and ad-
herents of Don Juan of Austria.
1678 Abandoned by the French.
Population reduced from 120000
to 12000.
1740 Visited by fearful plague;
40000 people died.
1783 Almost wiped out by earth-
quake. 1854 Cholera carried away 16000
inhabitants.
1908 Earthquake again felt; great
damage. 4
Unfortunate Messina the victim of
the recent frightful catastrophe is
thus described by a traveler:
Messina Sicily population 150000
is next to Palermo the most impor-
tant city In Sicily. It is situated In
the northwest corner of the island on
the Strait of Messina.
Among the leading buildings are the
Municipal palace the convent of San
Gregorio which contains a museum of
valuable relies buildings of the uni-
the Saracens and in 10C1 was coi-
quered by the Normans. The town be-
came a flourishing seat of trade In thu
middle ages and received Important
privileges from Charles I. of Spaia
which added greatly to Its prosperity.
During the struggle between the aris-
tocratic faction or Merit and the dem-
ocratic faction or Mavizzl the senate.
In 1674 appealed for aid to the Frenci
who occupied the city but boon abai-
doned it after having defeated the
combined fleets of Spain and Holland.
Left in the hands of tho Spaniards
the city was deprived of its political
liberties and soon lost Its commercial
importance. The plague of 1743 ani
the earthquake of 1783 carried off a
considerable part of its population. I
1860 the place was occupied by Gari-
baldi and in 1861 it became a part ef
united Italy.
Catania Third City in Sicily.
Catania is the capital of the prov-
ince of Catania and the third largest
city in Sicily being outranked la
population by Palermo and Messina. It
has 145000 Inhabitants. In front of
the cathedral is a fountain with an an-
cient statue of an elephant made of
lava bearing an Egyptian granite ob-
lisk. The chief attraction is Mount Etna
which may be seen to good advantage
from the tower of San Nicola and from
the Villa Belliul.
The iTenedictine monastery of Sao.
Nicola formerly one of the most beau-
tiful in Europe was destroyed by an
earthquake in 1603 and rebuilt by 1735.
The institution was suppressed io
1SCC.
Its grand baroque church contains a
famous organ by Donato del Piano
wilh five keyboards 72 stops and 2916
RUIN IN A CALABRIAN CITY.
t
Kir. X'i'tor Knimanucl Succorina:
Urns id fulabrian Karthijuako of
would not give up her pn.Vge of
sharing her husband's dangers. The
queen explained to a membi r of her
enotirage that she considered it her
dut to do all in her power to comfort
aud h l;i her afflicted subjects.
and a half of cheerful reckless people
lived there. The Appenine mountains
run through the region for a distance
uf 160 miles considerably reducing
the area amenable to tillage but the
valleys and plains nre among the most
fertile anywhere in the world yielding
in abundance a variety of crops. The
neighboring fisheries are important.
In respect of the property damage
inflicted and the number of lives ex
tinguished as well as in respect of the
extent of the disturbance the earth
quake far eclipses the great disasters
of its type such as that which de
stroyed Lisbon in 175a and that which
visited the western coast of South
America in August 1906.
Region Always in Turmoil.
Probably no part of the earth of
equal fertility population and historic
note has suffered more severely from
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
than this part of the Mediterranean
basin. From the beginnings of record
ed history Stromboll has seldom been
quiet. Vesuvius has been frequently in
eruption and Etna is always growling
and periodically is In violent action
With or without eruptions from
these volcanoes the region has felt
disastrous earthquakes in almost
every century since history began to
be written. The eruption of Vesuvius
which overwhelmed Pompeii and Her-
culaneum in 79 A. D. is most spoken
of because of the relics of antiquity
which It so strangely preserved but
within the last eight centuries there
have been many earthquakes there
abouts which caused great loss of life
and property.
For instance Catania w hich is again
visited Is said to have lost 15000 peo-
ple by earthquake In 1137 and to have
been wholly destroyed with a loss of
IS.OOO lives in September 1C93. By
I this earthquake 54 Sicilian cities and
I towns and S00 villages were reported
wrecked w ith a total loss of 100 000
lives.
rica Australia Russia Siberia Scan-
dinavia and Canada. As a rule where
earthquakes are most frequent they
are most severe. Hut to this general
statement there are exceptions In-
dian shocks though less numerous be-
ing often very disastrous. Loss of
life In many cases depends however
on the intensity of the earth movement.
Numerically also France has regis
tered more seismic tremcrs than Spain
and Portugal but France in historic
times has experienced no earthquake
disaster approaching the havoc
wrought by the one calamity at Lisbon.
.
4
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1
I)isastroii8
Almost
I'ptienval.
ltesults of a Prior Karthciuake In Itulv When I-Vrr a..n
Almost Total Destruction and Many of lis Inhabitants i.-ni.i.
Ancient and Modern Times.
Perhaps the most striking difference
between the antique and the modern
worlds appears in their differences of
social and governmental attitude to-
ward such disasters. We really know
more thanks to the Younger Pliny's
account of his uncle's death about the
destruction of Pompeii and Hercula-
neum and what was done about it
than we know of any similar disaster
for 1000 years afterwards.
The elder Pliny was a man of
science who hEppened to be in com-
mand of the naval station near Naples.
Ha got out a vessel and went as near
as he could to the lava flow to observe
it so near that he was suffocated by
the fumes. Incidentally he picked up
some fugitives from the water and
along the beach. His nephew records
that as an evidence of his humanity.
But he does not appear to have
thought of exerting his large official
powers for relief of suffering. He
went to bis death not to aid dist ress
but to add to his own knowledge.
To-day any public official who d;d
not exert himself to the utmost to re
lieve distress would be forever diq-
raced. That is the difference between
Chrstian civilization with all
its faults and one which with all
its merits was not Christian.
versity which is attended by 600 stu
dents and a municipal hospital.
The outskirts and environs are de-
lightful affording magnificent views
of the sea as well as of Mount Etna.
On the west rises the former fort of
Castellaccio and not far away to the
south is Fort Gonzaga on a historic
spot. The new Campo Santo is beauti
ful with its graceful Greek colonnades
and wonderful views. The Telegrafo
the summit of ft pass near Messina
is much visited for Its scenery. Here
was supposed to be Charybdis of the
familiar legend opposite Scilla on the
Calabrlan coast.
Founded 800 B. C.
Messina is a town of great antiquity
its foundation being ascribed to pi
rates from Cumae In the eighth cen-
tury B. C when it was known as Zan-
clo (a sickle) In allusion to the shape
of its harbor.
At the end of the fifth century B. C.
the town was occupied by fugitives
from Samos and Miletus and it soon
after passed to Anaxilas the tyrant of
Rheglum who Introduced there Mes-
senlans from the Peloponnesus by
whom the name of the city was
changed to Messana.
After the death of Anaxilas Messana
became a republic and maintained that
status until Its destruction by the Car-
thaginians during their wars with
Dionysius of Syracuse at the begin-
ning of the fourth century H. C. It
w as rebuilt by Dionysius but soon fell
again into the hands of the Carthagin
ians who were f nally expelled by Tim-
olron in B. C. 343.
Once Belonged to Rome.
r..ring the war between Acathoties
of Syracuse and Carthage Messana
sided with the Carthaginians. The
rst Punic war left Messana in the
ossession of Rome and the town sub-
eqmntly attained considerable com
mercial importance.
In A. I). S31 the town was taken bv
pipes; the museum contains antiqui-
ties in pottery bronze and marble
medieval armor and natural history
specimens; the library contains 2o 000
volumes and 300 MSS.; and the 'ob-
servatory is associated with that oa
Mount Etna.
Foundation Ascribed to Greeke.
The classic Catania was founded by
Greeks from Chalcis about B. C. 729
and soon became prosperous. Here in
the sixth century B. C died Stesicho-
rus who created the chorus tt the
Greek drama and the situation of
whose tomb is said to have givaa
name to the Piazza Stesicorea.
Reggio across the strait of Messia
from the city of Messina Is the cap-
ital of Calabria. The city suffered se
verely in the earthquake of three year
ago and appears to get the full fore
or every tremor that shake th re
gion of Calabria.
I AMERICAN EARTHQUAKES Oft
THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. J
.
December 1862 Guatemala; 150 t
buildings and 14 churches de- f
stroyed.
Nov. 20 1870 Quebec; slight dam-
t a
March 26-27 1872-Californla; 30
4 lives lost.
Aug. 10-11 1884 Distinct tremor
Washington to New York.
November 1893-Montreal ; slight 1
damage. J
March 7 1893-New York city; $
distinct tremor.
Sept. 3-17 1899 Landslide and
earthquake in Yakutat Alaskk. t
J Nov. 13-14 1901-Utah; slioht
daman
B
4 April
18 1902 Guatemala: einht
towns destroyed: 900 liv it Z.
Feb. 5 1933 Slight shock West
Jamaica. 5
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Marrs, D. M. Vinita Daily Chieftain. (Vinita, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 227, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1909, newspaper, January 2, 1909; Vinita, Okla.. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc774362/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.