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Show ? ELEVEN THOUSAND BURIED BENEATH I I THE RUINS OE CITY OF AVEZZANO I I MAGNITUDE OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER 1 GROWS; SURVIVORS CAMP IN SNOW lie V . I , I: THOUSANDS STILL BURIED ALIVE 1 IN THE WRECKAGE OF THEIR HOMES N b, Rescuers From Every Walk of Life Struggle Desperately to Dig Earthquake Victims From the Debris Avezzano and lg Sora Are Destroyed and Population Virtually Wiped Out Nearly Every One Killed Destruction r- of Aqueduct Shuts Off Water Supply. ie UNITED STATES EMBASSY STAFF ASSISTING g T Secretaries and Attaches Carry Supplies of Clothing, Blankets and Provisions for the sufferers Switzerland Reports Quake Was Felt Among the Alps Causing Destructive Destruc-tive Avalanches Weeks May Elapse Before Losses Can Be Accurately Compiled Bodies Being Recovered Slowly. London Jan. 15, 4.32 p ru. The Exchange Telegraph company boa received a message from its Rome correspondent who says thai the magnitude mag-nitude of the disaster grows as fin ther news from the devastated area f is received. The casualties at Mag-liauo-Di-Marsi are estimated at 1300 out of a population of 1500. At Peso-inl Peso-inl 4000 persons are reported killed and the number of dead at Sua Bene detto ie given as 3000. All the people of the village of Ca-pelle Ca-pelle are believed to be buried in the ruins of their homes The entire population of Albafuccnses also is ' believed to have perished, and out of 500 inhabitants in the village of Leso, 450 are said to be dead. Every town in the Livi valley is reported today to have been 'ither totally destroyed or very seriously 1 damaged. The work of rescue at Sora Is being pushed with all Kssible expedition. rl here is, however, little hope of saving sav-ing any of the people alive. King Victor Emmanuel is going to Sora today. Eleven Thousand Beneath Ruins. Paris. Jan. 15, 3 in p m - A dispatch dis-patch to the Havas agency from Rome quotes the Meesaggero as saying that the number of dead at Avezzano is larger than has been believed. According Ac-cording to this paper 11.000 persons lie buried beneath the ruins of the city. The Mesaargero says that at Can-padocio Can-padocio all the houses are uninhabitable uninhabit-able and the people are camping o:i the snow. Twenty bodies have been recovered from the ruins there and It is estimated that thirty more are still beneath the debris. The town of Sourcola is now nothing noth-ing but a pile of ruins beneath which are burled hundreds of bodies. Of the popuhitlon of !K0 only thirty escaped es-caped death. At Mugllano dl Mural, 1300 were killed. Oapelle was destroyed with the loss of more than 1200 lives. Nearly Near-ly the entire population of San Benedetto, Bene-detto, numbering 3000, met death The towns of Ortucchio. with 2400 inhabit ants, and Giosamarei with 3500, an-in an-in ruins. At Pesclna the number of deaths Is about 4000. which is ap-proxrmateJy ap-proxrmateJy one-half of the population, popula-tion, Rome. Jan. 15. Constantly shifting estimates. based on reports that continue con-tinue to trickle in now place the death toll from Wednesday's earthquake at 20,000 and the injured at a number in excess of 35.000. Hundreds, possibly thousands of victims, vic-tims, still are buried alive in the wreckage of their homes, while rescuers res-cuers from every walk of life struggle strug-gle desperately to dip: them out. The principal loss of life and probably prob-ably the chief property damage appears ap-pears to have been in Avezzano. and Sora fifteen miles away. Both of these municipalities were destroyed and their populations virtually wiped out. Sixty Towns Devastated. Latest reports place the number of dead in Avezzano at 10,000 aud in Sora at 4000. In at least sixty other towns, more than 6000 have been killed Erom these towns come the majority of the injured. In Avezzano and Sora almost everyone every-one was killed. The situation in Avezzano Is increasingly in-creasingly grave because of the destruction des-truction of the aqueduct aud the consequent con-sequent shutting off of the water supply. Communication Being Restored. Communication slowly is being reestablished re-established and two nastily improvised impro-vised hospItaJs and one retuge camp have been set up. The rescue forces have been augmented aug-mented by the staff of the United States embassy at Rome, dispatched to Avezzano in automobiles by Ambassador Am-bassador Thomas Nelson Page. The secretaries and attaches carried bup-pliea bup-pliea of clothing and provision? tor the sufferer. Reports from Switzerland show thai the quake was felt among the Alps, and caused destructive avalanches avalanch-es there. As in the Messina catastrophe, it is believed that it will be weeks before be-fore the loss of life can be known or the property loss accurately compiled." com-piled." The work of recovering bodies is proceedingly slowly. Exact Figures Not Available. Rome, Jan. 15. News from the earthquake stricken districts of Italy still comes in slowly but enough is known to show that the disaster closely close-ly approaches that which befell Messina Mes-sina six years ago. Estimates of the, killed and injured vary from L'5,i0n to 50,000 and it probably will bp davs before exact figures are available. avail-able. Avezzano, sixty miles east of Rome, and Sora, fifteen miles south of Avez zano, were the worst sufferers, so far as loss of life is concerned, but about sixty towns and villages suffered ither total demolition or serious damage dam-age Reports today from the north say the shock was felt as far as the Swi.s.s frontier and that In the Alps In that region there were numerous avalanches, ava-lanches, the result of the earthquake. This would make it appear that the earthquake extended throughout the entire length of Italy with the exception excep-tion of the extreme southern end. Quick Response to Call for Aid. The Italian government and people have quickly responded to the call for help from the stricken people. Thousands of troops have been sent to the scene and the work of rescue and relief is going on night and day. Supplies of lood, clothing, blankets and medicines have been dispatched by train, where possible, and by motor mo-tor cars where the railroads are blocked. The central committee of the Red Cross was quick to act, having ordered or-dered all of its members to join in the relief work at the scene of the disaster dis-aster Troops have been sent by the government wherever needed and the are ordered to assit in excavating excavat-ing the ruins, ro build wooden huts for survhors, transport the injured aud guard property. King Victor Tireless Worker. King Victor Emmanuel, according to advices received here is tireless In' his endeavors to spur on the rescue1 work and in encouraging the surviv-j ors. Messages reaching here from along the line from Rome to Tivoli. "ar- coll and Avezzano say that every- where the king passes the people rush to greet him to express their gratitude The king it is stated, asks all to abandon unnect Mary formalities formali-ties and tn desist from inappropriate demonstrations. Mis only wish, he says, is to visit the wounded and express ex-press to them his sympathy and to ascertain what is possible to be done to relieve so much misery. All Autos Ordered Out. Having hea-id tha means of transportation trans-portation arc 3till lacking the king Inis ordered that all ihe automobiles at the Royal Palace be immediately dispatched for ut c in the stricken districts. dis-tricts. In bis travels, whenever be reaches a telegraph station, the king sends messages to Queen Helena w tip wishes to hear all details of the disaster. dis-aster. Pope Benedict is deeply grieved over the misfortune which has befallen be-fallen the Italian people, lie showed his deep interest mid sympathy yesterday yes-terday by an unusual visit to the Santa Marta hospital where forty-one persona, injured during the earthquake, earth-quake, are receiving treatment. His holiness spoke to each one of the patients asking for particulars of the disaster and Inquiring about their families, He consoled them by saying that he would entrust to the clergy the task of seeking their relations and b Imparting to all the apostolic benediction. bene-diction. American Sympathy Offe-red. The American amoassador, Thomas Nelson Page, called at the ministry oi the interior yesterday to express the ymp'thy ot America over the dis-tistei dis-tistei wh.eh lias r ; a 1 1 - n Italy He intimated . de;-inj to send members of the embassy to the earthquake district dis-trict to give such aid as they could, ii there was no objection He was Informed that the Itallau government would much appreciate such sympathetic initiative and soon thereafter the ambassador dispatched an automobile with Second Secretary Norval Richardson, Lieutenant Com mander Charles Train, the naval attache at-tache and Private Secretaries John Harrison and Marion Sims Wyeth They started for the Avezzano district dis-trict with supplies, especially blankets, blan-kets, which they will distribute. The party expects to return to Rome by Friday nlsht. Ambassador Page is ready to appoint ap-point a committee of ladies, if neces- sary, to aid iu the Italian work of relief. Avezzano, Chief Sufferer. Avezzano, the chief sufferer from the earthquake, presents a scene of wreck and desolation, according to advices ad-vices received from that place. Practical Prac-tical every building In the town is In ruins and nearly all its people are dead or injured. Many are still alive, buried under the debris, and the rescuers res-cuers aro working night and day In an endeavor to reach them. Late advices say that about 500 bodies have been decevered and that hundreds ot injured have been taken from the ruins Nearly all the civil officials of Avezzano, including tho mayor, lost their lives. Similar conditions exl6t in the towns and villages around Avezzano. Magllano, to the north, and Pesclna. to the east, are practically in ruins. Among the missing in the last named place is Monslgnor Bagnoli. Lhe bishop of Pesciua Cold and Snow Adds to Misery. Cold and snow are adding to the sufferings of the survivors. The lamentations la-mentations of the people, according to correspondents who have passed through the district, are pitiful and they are begging to he taken to places where it is possible to care for them Message from Rome-Washington. Rome-Washington. Ian ir. Dispatches from Rome from Ambassador Thomas Nelson Page, place the dead between 12,000 and 15,000 and the seriously injured at about the same number. The ambassador said he had In- quired of the Italian government if aid were needed, but was told that Italy was not accepting assistance from any foreign country. No Americans have been reported among the killed or injured. Quakes at Swiss Frontier Genoa, via Paris, Jan. ID. 1 . a. in. News which has reached here from Como and Chlasso Indicates that the earthquake was felt in the Italian valley val-ley clear to the Swiss frontier Telegraph Tele-graph and telephone lines are generally gener-ally down in that district but It has been ascertained thai no loss of life is reported there. The little news that has come through from the frontier reports that the Alps trembled during the shocks and detached numorous avalanches tt the snow on the summits was very deep. From Courmayeur. Italv, through teleropes. an avalanche was seen falling fall-ing from Mont Blanc. A party of Italian troops who returned to losta, rcjKirt that they felt the shock and saw avalanches (all from Mount Rose A message from Innsbruck states that in the Alps, near the Italian frontier, fron-tier, twenty-seven soldiers were overwhelmed over-whelmed by an avalanche caused by the earthquake and that three of the men were seriously hurt. Estimates of Killed. London Ian 15. The Chronicle's Rome correspondent estimates the total to-tal killed and injured in the Italian earthquake at between On. nun and 100,000. Central News dispatch from Rome estimates the number of victims vic-tims at 2Q-.0P0 distnbufd ;i follow vez7an0, lo.Oun; Sora. 4.nn.r, and elsewhere. 6,000. Sora, ItaTy, via Paris. Jan. 15, 12 05 a. m Numerous detachments of In-i.intrymen. In-i.intrymen. engineers. artillerymen and carabineers have arrived here to assist in the rescue work and guard proper! y The houses In the town have not all been destroyed, but most of those still standing threaten to fall. The occupants have been turned out by i he authorities because of the dang i ous condition of their homes. Up to the present time more than 450 bodies have been taken from the ruins and large numbers of injured persons have also been rescued. The injured are being cared for in booths and tenLs rigged up outside the town Bread and other provisions are being be-ing served liberally to the survivors The military and communal authorities authori-ties are directing the work of rescue. Paris Correspondent's Estimate. Paris. Jan 15, 3 15 a. m. The Petit Parisien's Rome correspondent says that the number of earthquake victim-exceeds victim-exceeds 30,000 and that this list would have been greater since the earthquake earth-quake was more violent than that of Messina, had it not been for the fact that no large cities were aft' i ted The center of the disturbance, according accord-ing to this correspondent, was situated situ-ated in the dry and ancient Lake Ku cino. which wns drained In 1875 by Prince Alexander Torlonla at a cost of about $8,000,000. Expert's Hypotheses. As to the cause of the disaster, the Petit Parlsien correspondent quotes an eminent meteorologist as ftayinR: "The most likely hypothesis Is that continuous heavy rains resulted in nitrations ni-trations which formed gTeat bodfes of steam by contact with incandescent matter. This hypothesis seems confirmed con-firmed by the fact that the spring at San Giuliano has almost doubled the volume of Its flow since yesterday ' King Confirms Grave Situation King Victor Emmanuel returned lo Rome last night. To Premier Salan-dra Salan-dra he confirmed the gravity of the disaster and expressed admiration for the efficient work of the Italian soldiers sol-diers More troops have been ordered or-dered Into the earthquake zone. Mln ister of Public Works Cluffelll Is at Avezzano, where he has organized the work of rescue Me spent last night In a railroad ear at the station Today he began a tour of investigation to ascertain actual conditions in the country around Avezzano. The king, at Avezzano yesterday, was indefatigable In his efforts to encourage en-courage and help his people. lie climbed over the ruins and spoke words of praise to the rescuers Me witnessed the extrication of a young girl still alive and gave direction- for her succor Some of the survivors of Avezzano have not oven yet sufficiently recovered recov-ered from the shock of iheir experiences experi-ences to tell a connected story of the visitation. One man who was taken yesterday from a ruin said. Survivor's Strange Sensations,. "I had a sensation as though some one waa forcing me to dance. Then I was thrown lo the ground and tie-roof tie-roof and the walls fell upon my head Even after 1 was half burled, tho earth seemed to heave and' grow hot." A priest was saying mass in a church when he felt the first shock Me rushed under an arch of the build ing and this saved his life. His acolytes were struck down and killed. The shocks destroyed the aqueduct system of Avezzano. and there is today to-day no water in the town. It is reported that a statue of the virgin, forty feet high, which stood on the shore of Lake Fucino, has been thrown into the water. There is considerable danger that the drained drain-ed land In this vicinity will be flooded. Boy Gives First News. A wagoner s apprentice, a boy of 13 years, was the first person to give the news of Avezzano. to the outside world He succeeded in getting back into the town a few moments after the first shock Me found a railroad employe and persuaded this man with his he.'p, to rig up a telegraph Instrument Instru-ment in a freight car, and connect it with a wire that was still intact. On the Instrument the railroad man. who Is an operator, soon jrot Rome The two together then sent the first news of the disaster. Pope Offers Hospital. The pope offered to the mayor ol Rome the use of the hospital of Santa Marta with .".00 beds The mayor accepted this offer at once There has been organized in Rome a private expedition to send out automobiles automo-biles loaded with relief. Over 300 in ichines already have lot t for Avezzano. Avez-zano. They carried blankets, medicines, medi-cines, lood and cordials. Among the members of the Italian nobility active in relief work are Prince Borghose, Prince Colonna. Prince Altieri, and Prince Potenslani. Bishop of Sora Missing. The pope 1 9 anxious about the fate oi Uouslgnoi Jannotta, bishop of Sora from whom nothing has been heard. Recent reports of casualties set forth that there were seventy Victims Vic-tims of the eaithipjake ;,t Castelliri, 37 dead and 170 wounded at Isola. and ten dead at fapolacrocs. At this I last mentioned place the casualties I were almost all among the relatives of j the local priest tin |
