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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1908)
ii You Vvan! to Send a IXTcyv Vcar IVZecoaac to a Friend at a Distance Buy a Copy of IVert Ttiurc- journal, . ppicc ucnio, mcmamg 3 cento tor Postage, in .wrapp Wrappers Ready for TVIaillnn TO GET THE r.:03T . v FOR YOUII MONEY .Advertise In The ,. Daily Joaraal. Journal, ads bring jthe best results. . The weather Fair and colder' to night and Wednesday.: -'. VOL. VII. NO. 257. . PORTLAND, -OREGON - TUESDAY, EVENING, DECEMBER - 29, 1908. FOURTEEN. PAGES.) PRICE TWO CENTS. , Ityfm"c"n! n nH n ISmg: : . ,r 30,693 m mmm mm CITY TIDAL VAVE "Volcano of Etna HUNDREDS Smoke and Italian Government Fears That Eruption. Will Follow-Rescue Parties Hurry to Scene. ' (United Press' Catania, Sicily, Dec. 29. ticed at Mount Etna, and an tonations, indicating an unusual disturbance, can be heard plainly a few miles from the volcano, and are noticeable in this tity. V v; ; .y ; -:--:'" ; " (United Press' Leased Wire.1 Naples, Dec. 29. Estimates number of persons Killed in the earthauake devastated regions ,ot Sicily and southern Italy at 50,000. There is rio means of obtain ing accurate figures, as there aire many outlying districts to be heard from which are' cut off from communication.; At Messina it is said .that about 12,000 persons lost their ..lives,' and rrtariy more were injured. The loss apparently, falls heaviest on this district, which extends along the coast to Catahta, where the logs' of life ' mar reach '2000; ...tt-, Great Tidal Wave. ' The tidal wave at Messina ' overwhelmed many injured per sons who were pinned down by Wreckage: Steep -hills are back of the town,- and before the- inhabitants could reach these the water rushed in in a mighty wave 30 feet! high ,and swept all the lower streets of the town. - : -Y ' ' ' ' ' "..' Telegraph communication has been restored tonight as far south as Palmi, and each new. stretch of wire that is put in opera tion brings the story of new horrors, v . Deposits of Slime. . i When the sea rose in a tremendous wave, and swept in upon the town, inundating it, it left a deposit of over two feet of mud and slime. As soon as the water subsided, the fire broke .out, and spread rapidly until the flames swept over the ruins in a solid mass. Four thousand wounded have been accounted for by the res cuers. .--'' : . - v: All the seismic apparatus in Italy was broken' by the' shocks. The soldiers are doing good work in the sections visited by the dis aster. In ne'atly all cities orders have been given to .shoot down looters, and these orders have been carried out in many-cases. ; Few reports have come from Reggio, , but , they indicate that the city was shaken terrifically and that the loss of life was heavy. It is the capital of the province of Reggio di Calabria and is a city of about 50,000 inhabitants. ' . .; ; ; ' . : . ... ...... : V. DESCRIPTION OF v DISTRICT TILAT WAS RUINED BY' QUAKE Th ,Pelorltan -range ; over against Calabria occupies thV- northeastern corner of the Island of , Sicily, ywhere one earthquake was moat severe. This range forms an upland country wnn a steep descent to the Straits of-Messina and Is deeply seared by - numerous river beds. It ends in a low, sandy formation which sweeps eastward and forms the harbor er Messina, on which Is the city of that name, which has been destroyed. The harbor Is formed by a sickle shaped peninsula. The locality has always en joyed a brisk trade in oranges,-wine and oil.- it was the seat or a famous old POWDER lli SILVER CITY . .. - in it" ' ' Five v? Buildings in Idaho Jlmlng'Town Burned ' .Three Dynamited. . ' . " .v - (United Press Leased- Wire. I ' Boise, Idaho, Dec; 29. Sliver City; the big mining camp In- Owyhee county, CO miles south of this city, suffered a severe loss by Are early this morning, when eight" .Buildings In the business section were .destroyed and the . entire town was - threatened. Dynamite was used to. check -the progress of the flames, and this was all that saved the big Wsr Kagle hotel. - .- - The general store of Charles Caldwell and two adjoining buildings were dyna ' mited. ' - - The fire originated In a Chinese res taurant, from an unknown spurct-. rHree hundred miners worked for four "hours to check the flames. ' An armed guard was placed about the good removed from the stores and Chinamen who were caught looting were driven liack with etxsbooters, , , Four of the destroyed building were owned by Mike Rook, sheriff of owyhee county, who is the principal loner.) The loss 1s estimated at $50,000, with littlo Insurance. : I ... 1 it . : ';... " . " ' . ". i ". . OF-WESSmfc-.SlClLY. GREAT FIRE - DROWNS OF INJURED Belching Volumes of Leased Wire.) Volcanic v activity . was eruption is imminent. no-De- by the authorities here place the I university and the see of an archbishop. The cathedral of Messina has been one of the sights worth seeing In Sicily. ' The town,, said Deeoke In his book of travels, is dirty and noisy. ' Most of its streets were steep and narrow. The narrowness of the strip of coast caused the city, to stretch out for miles. Aside from the cathedral there are no very. remarkable buildings to be men- iionea, as me caiaDrian earthquakes, of reauent-occurrence, have wtoed. out all that was beautiful architecturally. Goethe described with most dramatio fervor the devastation ,the great earth quakes of 178J caused, and Houel pic tures the struggling thousands, pinned beneath the wreckage drowned ilka rats when the strait's waters inundated the narrow shelf-of -land. , " - . ,South of Messina the range with its brush-grown precipices and rivulets set (Continued on Page Five.) D1JCE Gioyartni Xoce of Thia ! City Has' .Relatives in Earth : qualce Ravaged Province Tells of Temblor ' ' , of Three Years Ago. Giovanni Kor nf th firm nf Vnrnnl Noce, this city, was born in the city of Ragllano. Calabria, and visited there nout five years ago after having lived several years In Portland. He says the last quake in the vtcinlty of his home occurred about three years-ago, when his family residence was destroyed. The family escaped death in the ruins by a miraculously close margin, the quake occurring, early in the morning while the occupants were -asleep. . They rushed into the streets and fields in their night robes and dared liot return for several hours . for fear a aecnnrf shock would bury them under tottering wails left standing after the first shock. Mr. Nocis home was a two storv brick structure and it had to practically be rebuilt Fearful that eventually they would bef burled alive under burninar lava or be crushed to death in a hoa raiist worse than the one thev had just escaped, the senior Noce decided to leave for America. He was in Portland with his son until quite recently, when he left for Des Moines. Iowa. t'nable to sell the ruins of ills former home, he had it rebuilt, and the son now fears it SWEPT BY HAS NO Top picture, the harbor of Catania; ...;:,:.' -.. .v LOCAL CONSUL : J DESCRIBES THE ;'STRICKENlliANl) , "Something like 8000 square 4 miles 'of the ' Italian;.. mainland 4 ! was af f eoted by, , "yesterday's ., earthquake" -said s Charles F.:; 4 Candiani Italian' consul 'In; Port-' 0 . land, ; "and , on ; the Island of ; 4 ' Sicily ' the. temblor damaged an 4 area' fully as large." - 'The 'dam 4 aged' mainland doe?: not' extend , further north han the " northern , boundary of, the province 'of 4 Calabria and, involves, about tle 4 same territory that was damaged . three years ago..:,. .!. ..... . 4 "The damaged Sicilian terrt- tory embraces a " strip on the 4 eastern .shore ,125, miles Jong and . extending Into tne Interljor from " SO to .40'Vnliea. 'The damaged portions of Sicily, contain some : of the fairest cities on "the ' island, among the number belig Messina,. asMautitful. place ocou- -pylng a point on the northeast- era- corner of the Island." -V-- V " A If Is again a smouldering heap of brick and mortar. . "Until thei earthquake of about three years ago," said iMr. Noce, "the people of , Ragllano .and -vicinity did not worry much . over the close proximity of Mount Vesuvius, but after that terrible experience no one felt secure. A. rep etition, was feared any time, ' so my father told me. but the people had to re build and make the best of it as their all was there. Many of those ,who could afford left. 1 still have several, rela tives there but it will probably be some time before I will, learn their rate,. - - "ITndoubtedly everything is in a State of chaos and it will be some time before rdfcr will be restored. The people are very superstitious and that- will -undoubtedly delay, the task of restoration. "Calabria is a mountainous country, a firactlcally continuous chain paralleling ts shores. , The towns mentioned in tlje dispatches are located ' on the side's -of these mountains, so t hat One can see a number of them at one time, -They av-. erage a population of about 10,000. peo. pie each.. Front -a scenic point of view, the pounUy s considered ideal,",' 1 y"! i j li :". 1 1 1 -jgrasra WATER TO SAVE IT u ' lower, "La Cal," at Palermo. .. of . the shock. : ':.! Both ITU BARE Adoljtii A. Dekum Cliases J"BjirglarFroni His rRoom j -Ladder Breaks t as In-- trader Plaices1 Escape From Second Story Window.' Adolph A. Dekum. the hardware, mer chant of 131 First street, Jeaped out of bed early this morning and-chased, out of the house a burglar whom he found bending over his bureau. Entirely unarmed, Mr. Dekum seized the man as he was about to climb down the ladder by which he had entered the house, and struck him several blows. The burglar concentrated his efforts in trying to escape. When Mr. Dekum's last blow landed the ladder bruke and the burglar and the ladder fell to the ground. .The intruder's . electric flash' light, fell, out of his pocket and wan found this morning by the side of the house. 415 " Twenty-flrsti street, Port land Heights. ' i The same man attempted to enter the residence of George W. Collins; manager of the mill of George Ainslle & Co., next door.' but he was unsuccessful. rjy- , - WansA by a Drsam. - Impelled by a dream-?prenomltlon that he '. would be - robbed. : Mr. Dekum last evening for the first time put his gold watch, a gift of his father, under the bed instead of upon a table by his bedside, where it would have been in plain sight of the burglar. ... . "It was 3:45 this morning that my wife and I woke at -the same time.'" said Mr.' Dekum this morning.-- "I noticed a light shining on a picture on' the wall, and so Itumed on- the 'electric light hanging over the bed.- Then I saw the burglar i standing by - the bureau - and though ; I had nothing -but .my bare hands I Jumped out of bed In 'my night shirt and ' yelled "Oet out of . here, ;, I suppose I Jwasnt awake enough to I know what a dangerous thing I was do frog. -. . - .,-.- !.-'. ' . .' '; - j "The man ran into an adjoining room, which we-call the -den, and which was darker than the bedroom., - He made for the window, which -was open, and Jum (Continued on Page 'Five.K , BEATS 1 FISTS : ' of these places felt the full force 2000 DJilD AND INJURED IX ONE ITALIAN CITY , ! (Celled Frets teased Wire.) ' Cantansaro,, Italy, 'Dec. -29. Reports, late this afternoon In- . dlcate that 2000 of the city's tfS.Y 000 ! people are either dead or wounded as ' the result of -the' 4 earthquake. Martial law pre- vails and everything possible is being done to relieve the suffer-- ing, though "comparatively little can be done. . Food is in great demand. All supplies have been seized by the soldiers and are being given out to the sufferers ' in the best . manner possible. Most of the survivors are camp- ing In the open country about town and hundreds of persons ; severely wounded have received 4 . no medical attention, whatever. 0 t " ' r ' v.. i' ; s ' j V-" - . .. A ' f '" 4 i f ' - . v- , i v . ; 1 , - ' . - , s " " . III; - " ' f Is li I ; i U S9S - '( ' - . 0. ' t' I . J - - . TTZT V f . '- : i " V v . -'i-m mvaij'Mnin nmn " T- -.-w... .. 737 Famous calMMlraI ml square at McsNina. IB- FIERCE FLAMES After Quake, Then Tidal Wave Followed by Confla grationDetails of De struction of City Battle- ships Go to Rescue. (United Prp Leased Wlre.t Rome, Dec. 29. Messina, the beautiful city of 150.000 population, ne of the principal harboraof Sicily and a port of importance bb arshlp- ; ping center, is in ruins. The water Bupply' has been Bhut off by the earthquakes, whliih laid waste this 'and. many other cities and towns in . Calabria, Italy and Sicily, and Mes sina is in flames. There is little hope that a vestige of it, will be left, The loss of life in Messina alone i mayireach J2.000 and as many more '.are Injure., ..'':,.' i-- I The dispatch expresses the fear that-Reggio, across the Straits of Messina;, has been annihilated and that most of the towns on the straits have been destroyed. . Railroad KKtablished. , Railway communication Into the etrlcken towns has been established. The transportation is confined, to the bringing In of supplies and govern ment troops and the taking out of refugees. The flames are spreading rapidly over the ruined city. ' The wrecked and shattered build ings are fopd for the fire and there is . no means of checking the 'con flagration. Even if means were pro vided there is no organization of any kind to carry on the work. ' A squadron of. battleships left here today for Messina, where the ships will be divided and 'will patrol the coast in the devastated sections. Messina is the second city in Sicily, ranking next to Palermo. It la an ancIeTTt city, said to have been estab lished by pirates from Cumae in the eighth century B. C. T1e destruction of Messina was moreMhe result of the tidal -wave than of the earthquake, according to the testimony of a tralnload of refu gees who have arrived at Catania from Messina. They say the dead officially re ported at Messina numbered 1800, but asserted that this would fall far below the correct estimate, which they said should be at least 12,000. The Hotel ,Trinaeria, in which were 90 guests, was ..destroyed by the quake and later burned. If one of the occupants are believed to have escaped. The telegraph office, the postof- (Continued on Page Five.) I'he cathedral mui Uslroyt'd, ilLE Lawyer Lord Makes Eccen tric Plea for Life of Mur derer Finch Attempts to -wv '' V II 1 i . . urag in .Newspaper Kuiinr ials and Rebuked by Court Judge Bronaugh and the Jury that is trying James A. Finch for the murder of Ralph B. Fisher were treated to alternations of the tragic and the burlesque this morning dur ing the address of Charles F. Lord, who was making the final plea for the life of the suspended attorney who killed the bar association prosed cutor. "'.'.;' v h:: 'h---.. l-l: - The tragedy' came , in a .pitiful plea for tlie aged mother ofV'Poor Jim,", as the lawyer referred to his client. The burlesque was furnished when Lord unveiled a pair of apothecaries' scales with the dramatic announcement, "Here 1 have the ' scaK-s tf Juatloe." Then he pluced in ooe end: of the scales the names of all the witnesses called by the itate.t written on narrow slips of cardboard. Ixing likewise with tho names of witnesses called by the le fense,..he,liowfit that the defense hud the greater number, and the "scales of Justice" tipped ever to the defense as the names,, of several jail birds . were dropped Into the pan.' ; ,,;' ,. .. Absurdity Is Intensified. v' . The' absurdity of this performance was heightened by the fact that among the names balanced up for the defense were District Attorney Cameron, 'Dep uty District Attorney Fitzgerald and Judge Bronaugh. Members of the Jury Joined in (he' laugli that swept over the courtroom, and lxrd turned fiercely on the' smiling faces of the . prosecuting lawyers. . '...- - 'Laugh," he fairly hissed. "Laugli, do you? Ah, you will laugh "while a man's life- is to be dealt with. Tills shows the merciless -character of the . prosecution. l.auph again will 'you ? Either this demonstrates that the pre ponderance of evidence is' on our sida, or the statute means nothing. - .j..; .. Ijord had not finished when the court adjourned for the nooa recess. Y He ex pected to speak, he said, s two or' three ' hours this afternoon, and this prohablv means another night session, as Judgu Bronaugh wants to give the case to the Jury not later than tonight. If Lord does not finish in time to give Deputy District Attorney , Fitzgerald an oppor tunity for the state this afternoon, the prosecutor will say the last word to night. '," -.-' - , rinon nor Serious. . Finch seemed in-more serious mood this rooming as he listened to the f inn l effort of. his counsel to' plant, the seeds of doubt in the minds of the -Jurv. Wllii thA ivrja .A 1,.., 1 - ft .it. jurors, as u tryinff to read their minds. Occasionally he used a pencil and p.i - fer. making notes for the use of his awyers. Now and then he was seen to glance toward his mother,- who sat .some distance from him, . . ' Lawyer Lord this morning argued lit tle on the testimony. He devoted al most an hour to an allegory denting with the art of printing. The purpowe of this did not at first develop, - but the object was; gradually developed, al though Lord carefulkyi worded his re marks to tell of an ''imaginary news paper" that hounded the men who were hungry. it, . He said the head of this Imaginary newspaper was driven Into a tower hv a Cojtey army and . ha telephoned for help. .The scene of ; the- allegory r. pic tured by Lord, was In ancient KityjH but his purpose was disclosed when lie picked up a copy of a Portland; morn ing newspaper and said that "for illus-" tratfon" he would read some of the ex- (Continued on Page Five. 1 OTHER TOWNS 1(1 Giovanni and lSaiiara buf fer Seveivly Fire- iJuiiis AVrecketl Building. (United Press tested -Wtr. '' "i- RotriM, !('. 29. It is feared ih( ("JJn vsnnl has suffered- a fate-similar ) that of Messina, though t!iro i a yut no way of determining. The meagwr "re ports tlmt have drifted through ev Palm! ' Ihdlcate that the town wholly wrecked and that the U nf life could not .be estimated. 8in a . inclined to divredtt these . reports n acemtnt of the wild state of ever-ftn,i In the southern part of 'Italy, when, for manv nours''"tley have fi'e,1 Ihm . ror upon hcrror on all sides, hnvg Im l practically no f'wnl and have not !;.; at all. Bagnsra was raied by fire folhj in-; the auake and the town Is naM in i a been pracUcslly wlfx-d out. 1 U- ' i list mere unxunteiiv win i.m r A dispatch 10 tllB Jl'lVe; liO'i i t . ( heie says that out r,f i .... Son ar dead and 6oO i" , jured. . Ijiie diB' -h's (., i i,. . i to IncreaK tii'" fi'-it .r-i f damatre and i.'ei m? 'i. -i.-. i ; -. ttul? the if DIRE DISTRESS ' ' ' ' " "y.v-.'Jt ': :''' J ' "
