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1
OME. ITALY—For 10
years 1 have been an
American correspondent
i:i this city, bat until the
disaster which befell Cala
bria and Sicily, when, on
the morning of December
-'K, 1 K!8, the worst earthquake or other
ii,ast<. which the world has ever
t.nown hilled scores of thousands, it
,nl never been my lot to even shudder
THERE were scenes of indescribable horror
' ■ ‘f a raianiity. Hardened as I was to catastro
phes. ' <• piceous sights which met my gar.e at
,.i ss\ i Reggio and other cities more than once
drew tears to my eyes.
t. a .3 mv good fortune to be one of the mem
Ji. is vt the party of King Victor Emmanuel and
.••Men Helena, when the ruler visited the stricken
b.frict and many times both the monarch and
Jo-, "in-.,::! broke down completely upon viewing
the a ■! sights which followed the earthquakes,
fires a I *idal wave.
_ .Survivors were raving maniacs and they roved
the b; i.di-strewn streets, in many instances nude.
ftm stories told by unfortunate refugees who
r-o -ti*' ‘ I their senses were almost unbelievable.
A or named Emilio do Castro was in the
military hospital. He was awakened by a tre
mendous rearing sound. He fell himself falling
and th. :ght he was in the grip of a nightmare.
It seemed to him that he had awakened in hell,
for t' ■ air was filled with terrifying shrieks. He
soon realised, however, what was happening. His
bed st ruck the floor below, and he war still on it.
I! paused a moment and was again precipitated.
He struck the nest floor but this gave way at
once, a; d thus the man and bed came down from
the fifth floor cf the hospital to the ground. The
soldisr was not injured.
A dr;.-gist named Pulco relates that at 25
riinut. ■ r est five Monday morning he was on a
ferry!/ it in the port of Messina going to Reggio.
Sudd": v a gale cf wind arcs -, bringing a heavy
s/-a v ‘h it. Tl:ea a great chasm seemed to open
in the ... ter and the boat went down and struck
the bottom. But the waters closed in again and
too f i "boat floated safely on top of the suc
ceeding wave. Most of the people on board,
howe- v-, were swept off and drowned. The boat
was badly wrecked but it floated ashore. Pulco
was s':,i oii nuaru. Aiier lilt' nisi panic uc lauusu
and found Reggio like a city of the dead. No
body is moving in the streets, and the silence
whs b: ’ken only by the moans and groans and
shrieks of the wounded. Pulco and several com
panions tried to extricate some wounded from the
wreckage, but this was almost impossible be
c wise of the crumbling ruins. In one of the
square ; Pulco found a group of people all com
pletely naked. One old man1 was carrying a little
girl in i is arms. The child was covered with
l.lood. "is that your child?” he was asked. “So,"
be replied. ‘ Yesterday I found her on the pave
ment in Messina. I picked her up and cared for
Per. No one claimed her and I could not abandon
her l l ave had her in my arms ever since."
With ties touching explanation the old man be
came oblivious to his questioner and everything
around him.
The S 'rapin brought into the port of Naples rec
ords of numberless tragedies. Families separated;
mothers moaning and crying for their dead chil
dren; husbands and wives lost to each other, or
a sole survivor wishing that he had not been
spared 'H^re was one girl on board the steamer,
, tier clothing tattered and torn, who had saved a
! canary bird. She was a music hall singer, and
’ had thing to her pet throughout the terrible
1 scone., of devastation. The bird was the only
happy thing on board the vessel.
One of the Messina doctors was sleeping in a
room on the third floor when the first shock came,
and saved himself by gripping the roof of a
neighboring house.
\ ferryboat moored at one of the docks seemed
suddenly to be thrown high into the air. It landed
on top of the dock safely.
The nerves of the unfortunates were in such a
condition that at the least noise they were prone
to rush screaming from their rooms, seeking the
' ojen streets. Signor Birot. the mayor of Brescia,
in Lombardy, was stop
ping at th.> Hotel Trir.a
cria. in Messina, rind .
was buried under the
ruins ct tfc? bail ling for
five hears. Finally sev
eral persons approached
the piace where he lay,
hut at that, moment a
fresh shock put them to
nigh'. Kvent a body
of sailors extricated him
unconscious and took
Lira aboard a ship.
A young doctor named
Ros:~a at Messina, gives
a vivid account of his
experiences. "Suddenly
the profound silence was
broken by an extraordi
nary noise like the burst
ing of a thousand
bombs,” he says. "This
was followed by a rush
ing and torrential rain.
Then 1 heard a sinister
whistling sound that, I
can liken to a thousand
red hot iron rods hiss
ing in water. Suddenly
there came violent rh} th
mic movements of the
< artli and the crashing
down of nearby walls
mad11 me realize the aw
ful fact of the earth
quake. Failing glass,
bursting rcofs and a
thick cloud of dust add
ed to the horror of the
situation, while the ex
traordVnary donbl» move
7/T MAN LAY /A 77//.S POS17/OF FOP FJVF HOUPS
“J FELL /NTO THE APARTMENT UHDER ME?'
at the same time, crumbled walls and imperiled
my life. I rushed into the room where my moth
er and sister were and with a rope, which for
tunately I had with me, I succeeded in rescuing
them. I was also successful in getting out of the
house a number of other persons who had given
themselves up for lost. Then some soldiers came
and helped me, and together we dragged forth
several women and children from the toitering
walls of a half destroyed palace near by. A few
seconds later this building was entirely destroyed.
There were scenes of indescribable horror in
the streets and squares through which iny party
made its way. We finally gained the open
country.”
Another survivor of Messina said:
‘‘The first thing I knew I was thrown out of
bed. Then the floor of my room collapsed and
I fell into the apartment under me. Here I
found a distracted woman searching for her sis
ter and son, whom she found dead. We remained
in tile ruins for 24 hours, entirely alone, without
food or drink. We made a rough shelter of boards
to keep the rain off. Our ears were assailed with
the cries and means of the wounded. These
sounds abated somewhat during Monday night.
Still no one came to our assistance. We were
as in a tomb, with the dead bodies of our chil
dren beside us. We could see no one, but every
time sounds were heard from the street there
would come an outburst of piercing cries for help
from the injured hidden and pinned down in the
wreckage.”
This refugee lost his two children. He arrived
in Rome half clad and covered with dust and
burns. His wife was clothed in little else than
an old counterpane.
The station master at Reggio says that imme
diately after the first shock a chasm 80 feet wide
was opened in the earth. From this there gushed
forth a flood of boiling water, some jets rising
to the height of an ordinary house. Many injured
persons who were in this vicinity were horribly
scalded by the flowing stream.
Paolo Rizo, the mayor of Capriolo, was in Messi
na on a pleasure trip that fateful Monday morn
ing. He was awakened by the fearful roar of the
first shock. The floor of his room fell, and, half
unconscious, he was precipitated into a mass of
rubbish. His body lodged in a niche in a wall,
and he was pinned down by a heavy beam, liia
face being covered by a carpet that threatened to
suffocate him. He managed to move the carpet
with his teeth until' he made an opening in the
folds through which he could breathe. The man
lay in this position for five hours, expecting death
at any moment. Had it been possible, he says, he
would have committed suicide.
The Marquis Vincenzo Genoese of Palmi was
awakened by a tremendous roar and a severe
shock. It seemed as though the house was whirling
round, like the wings of a windmill.
At Messina a frightful scene occurred amid the
ruins of the customs house. The first of the search
ers who were successful were attacked by others
with revolvers and knives, and were obliged to
defend their finds literally with their lives. The
struggle was fierce. The famished men threw
themselves upon each other like wolves and several
fell disemboweled in defending a handful of dry
beans or a few ounces of flour. One of the unfor
tunates was pinned to a plank by a knife, while
clinging to his hand was his little child, for whom
he had sought food.
NEWS IN TURKEY
The Turkish papers have published5
liioir version of the tragic death of
Horn Carlos of Portugal. In the Levant
Herald we -sad that the king and the
< roivii pr:nre “died on their way hack
to the palace after an excursion." The
.Slrtmboul says: “Dom Carlos is dead.
Mis son, Manuel, has succeeded In the
.throne. There is therefore no change
in the destinies of the country." And
this, of course, is in accordance with
the tradition;! of the Ottoman press,
which is never allowed by the censor
to admit that any chief of any state
or any member of ar.y royal family
has died a violent death. It stated
that Alexander of Servia and Queen
Draga “died of indigestion at the dead
of night," that President Carnet suc
cumbed to a. “chill," and that the
Empress Elizabeth of Austria “had a
sudden attack o< apoplexy on one of
the steamboats on tlie Lake of
Geneva.”
First Pest Office.
The first letter post. In the modern
acceptation of the word, seems to have
been established in the Hanse towns
In the early part of the thirteenth cen
tury. A line of letter-posts, connect
ing Austria with certain towns in Lom
bardy, followed in the reign of Em
peror Maximum. In 1431, when Ed
ward IV. was at war with Scotland, a
system of relays of horses was estab
lished in the north in order to provide
the king with the latest news from the
seat of war. The first regular post
route between England and Scotland
was established by Charles I., in 1635.
—New York American.
Lands of Almost Fabulous Value.
Do you know the average value of
a square mile of land on Manhattan
island ?*Accordir.g to the consensus of
opinion of nine of the best informed
real estate agents dcing business on
the island, it is ?2D0,2:.."\
I
BOIL ‘LIVE’ GHOST
SEEN II ENGLAND
VISION OF VICAR IS PROJECTED
ALL THE WAY FROM ALGERIA
TO NORFOLKSHIRE.
ALLEGED PSYCHIC PHENOMENA
Disembodied Spirit in Bodily Shape
Sesn by Preacher, Aged Woman
and Maid—Man Unconscious
at the Time.
London.—One of the chief topics in
London recently has been the Astley
■ host story, which front the state
n.-ents made by persons concerned, the
ci/cumstances of the alleged appari
tion, and the effort made at prompt
investigation, deserves a special place
in the chronicles of alleged psychic
phenomena.
As a rule, spook stories rest upon
second-hand evidence. In this in
stance three persons have made affi
davits of what they saw. One is Rev.
Robert Brock, who is acting as locum
tenens for Rev. Dr. Hugh Astley, vicar
of East Rudham, who is wintering in
Algeria and whose disembodied spirit
is stated to have made its appearance
in bodily shape at his Xorfolkshire
vicarage.
The first news of the alleged ap
parition was published in the London
Times in a letter from Rav. Robert
Brock. The Times assigned a well
qualified correspondent to investigate
and while this correspondent has been
unable to see the apparition himself
his circumstantial reports have been
a plausible contribution to the case.
Rev. Mr. Brock's story folipws:
“Owing to the fact that his wife
was not in good health. Dr. Astley,
vicar of East Rudham, decided to win
ter in a warmer climate, obtaining a
chaplaincy at Biskera, Algeria, and
left England with Mrs. Astley on De
cember 10. It was arranged that 1
should act as locum tenens.
"I met Dr. Astley for the first time
in London on December 9 and spent
not more than half an hour with him
The Apparition Stood Begide the Ga*
den Wall.
prior to coming on hero: and I heard
nothing more of him until December
26, when I received a letter front Rev.
Herbert Muril. the English chaplain
at Algiers, announcing that Dr. and
Mr3. Astley had sustained injuries in
a railway accident on December 16.
On the same evening I got the let
ter 1 was seated in the dining-room
when Mrs. Hartley, the housekeeper,
came to me and said: ‘Como and see
Dr. Astley,' and led me in’o the study.
“Looking through the glass window
on the lawn, 1 myself distinctly saw
the figure of Dr. Astley in clerical at
tire standing against the wall which
adjoins the dining-room. It certainly
was not a reflection of nty own face,
for I am clean shaven, and the lace
of the figure I saw wore a beard and
mustache. It was distinctly Dr. Ast
ley as I saw him in Loudon. I
rubbed my eyes and looked again. 1
was not dreaming. The figure was
not looking at me.
“Mrs. Hartley had a candle in her
hand, and 1 told her to take it away.
1 still saw the figure most clearly. A
housemaid who had joined us also
could see the figure.
“ ‘I will go and have a look in the
garden,' I said, and 1 did go. There
was nothing to be seen there: and
when I returned the vision had gone.”
On the following Tuesday, Decem
ber 29. Mrs. Hartley again saw the
apparition.
“As on the previous occasion," con
tinued Mr. Brock, "Mrs. Hartley went
to close the shutters of the study,
and came running in to me, saying:
Come quickly! Here it is again!’ I
went rapidly to the study. Looking
through the window 1 again saw
distinctly the vision on the lawn, al
beit it was not so distinctly visual
ized as before, probably because of
the strong moon shining.”
After the first apparition telegrams
were sent to Algiers inquiring about
the Astleys. The response came that
both Dr. and Mrs. Astley were prog
ressing comfortably, but, curiously
enough, a letter written December 26,
which arrived in England later, re
vealed the interesting fact that Dr.
Astley was suffering from concussion
Df the brain, and presumably was un
conscious at the time of the appari
ttou.
I
GIRL IS SALOME MAD;
GAH'T RESIST DU6INIS
CIRCLES AROUND BEFORE DOC
TOR UNTIL HE HAS HER SENT
TO HOSPITAL.
New York.—Dr. A. W. Newfield sat
reading in his study in his apartment
on West One Hundred and Forty-first
street. His wife, his daughter and
the latter’s husband had gone to a
theater. Soon the doctor dozed, he
doesn't know how long, but. suddenly
hi; was awakened by a low, wailing
cry right in the room. The doctor
looked up with a jerk, adjusted his
glasses on his nose and then fell
back limp in his chair.
In front of him, swaying and pirou
etting, with her hands chasing each
other in snakelike fashion, stood his
housemaid, Margaret Kelly, with her
“I’m Salome,” Chanted Margaret,
Twirling on One Tee.
hair in a braid and doing a Salome
dance, appropriately ciad.
“B-bless my soul!” exclaimed the
doctor when he got bis breath.
“W-what does this extraordinary con
duct mean, young woman?”
But Margaret answered not. She
just kept tji^ dancing, sliding her arms
sinuously about, singing the queer, wail
ing tune, with tier eyes fixed on the
doctor's as if to her he represented
John the Baptist. Around his chair
she'circled slowly and the doctor's un
easiness grew every second.
"Go way!” he cried. "Are you
crazy? Suppose some one should
come. Go ’way!"
“I’m Salome." chanted Margaret,
twirling on one toe. "I saw Eva Tan
guay do it at the - i don't care!
i don't care!"
Then the doctor telephoned police
headquarters, aud when two police
men came they had their hands full
with Margaret Kelly. She refused to
put on any more clothes, and when
Dr. Tompkins came he found the two
policemen holding a blanket about
her.
“Too much Eighth avenue whisky,”
the doctor said, aud he bundled Mar
garet, still protesting that she was |
Salome, off to a hospital.
Mrs. Newfieid engaged Margaret
a few days ago from an employment
agency, ’J’ire girl is young and pretty
and had excellent references. When
she sent her trunk to the Newfieid
apartment it was so big that it had to
be put in the attic.
"But it didn't hold much.” Mrs. New
fieid said. “One of the other servants
saw her unpack it and told me that all
it contained was a lot of fancy gauze
stuff that must have been the Salome
costume she was practicing in.”
• TERRIFIED BY WILD 'VIAN.
Taunton Citizens. Fearing Mysterious
Person, Appeal to Police.
Taunton, N. J.—A wild man is
haunting the vicinity of Prospect Hill
in the north end of the city, and scores
of residents, frightened at his peculiar
actions, have appealed to the police to
investigate his case. Reaming about
on the* outskirts of the woods and
often appearing near the edge of the
reads, he has spread such a reign of
terror in the locality that mothers will
not let their children run about as be
fore.
He was sighted on tlje summit of
the hill, wildly waving his hands
toward the sky and singing as if in
prayer, but before anything could be
done to effect his capture he disap
peared. Other reports say that he has
been seen running like a hunted deer
through the underbrush and tearing
down bushes and small shrubbery in
what appears to be a maniacal desire
to destroy.
He is described as very poorly
dressed and his unshaven face and un
kempt hair give him every appearance
of a wild man. Residents of the neigh
borhood are planning a concerted ac
tion to effect his capture the next time
he makes his appearance upon the
summit of the hill. Some believe that
he may have escaped from the insane
hospital which is located nearby.
Premonition Saves Woman’s Life.
Altoona, Pa.—Premonition of danger
saved Miss Lillian Jeffries, assistant
postmistress of Bellwood, from seri
ous injury while returning from Pitts
burg over the Pennsylvania. “Change
your seat.” something seemed to tell
her. She did. and a short time later
a stone was hurled through the win
dow, striking and perhaps fatally in
juring a child that had taken her
nl ace.
Have Little Patronage.
The highest public house in England
is said to be the Tan Hill, In York
shire (1,7-17 feet). The second nighest
is the Cat and Fiddle, in Cheshire
(1,690 feet), and there is also the
Traveler's Rest, in Westmoreland
(1.47G feet). The Tan Hill house is
so lonely that an 18-gallon cask of
beer has been known to last three
months. One winter no stranger
crossed the threshold for 11 weeks.
War of Extermination on Rats.
A Paris journal suggests that in
order to rid the world of rats the vari
ous governments should offer a re
ward of one penny for each rat killed.
Denmark, it appears, has already set
the example. There, since a aw was
passed giving a halfpenny a head for
dead rats, the schoolboys of Copen
hagen devote their playtime to hunt
ing the rodent. The bodies are taken
to the fire brigade station, where the
tails are cut,off in order that the re
ward may not be claimed a second
time. The bodies are burned the same
night in a furnace at the gas works.
NEBRASKA III BRIEF
NEWS NOTES OF INTEREST FROM
VARIOUS SECTIONS.
ALL SUBJECTS TOUGHED UPON
Religious, Social, Agricultural, Polit
ical and Other Matters Given
Due Consideration.
Grand Island postoffice receipts for
11*08 show a substantial increare over
the previous year.
Judson Brown, a deaf mute of Te
cumseh, was run down and seriously
injured by a Burlington train one
mile from the city.
If you are in need of old line life
insurance, or wish an agency to write
life insurance, correspond with The
Midwest Life of Lincoln.
Governor Shallenberger has accepted
the invitation of the senior class to
deliver the commencement address
at the Normal in Peru, June 2.
The city council of Fairbury has de
cided to purchase a combination
chemical fire engine and hose wagon
as a preliminary step towards organ
izing a paid fire department.
Farmers should all have telephones.
Write to us and learn how to get the
best service for the least money
Nebraska Telephone Company, 181:.
and Douglas streets. Omaha. “Use
the Bell.”
Crawford is anxious to secure th‘
sext encampment of the National
guard of the state and a committee
of its citizens called niton Governor
Shallenberger to extend the invita
tion of the ccity.
Dr. Wells of West Point announces
that he will accept the appointm ir
or assistant physician at the >roi rolk
Insane hospital. He was appointed
by Shallenberger and wanted the su
perintendency of the institution.
The citizens of Cambridge held an
enthusiastic meeting to effect immedi
ate arrangements in support cf a hill
pending in the legislature, providing
for an appropriation of $75,000 for ■
state agricultural school at Cam
bridge.
One of the biggest land deals made
in Gage county for some time was
closed, when C. H. Calkins or nos.
tiee sold his 480-acres farm northwest
! of Filiey to Henry Kelle of Logan
township for $40,800.
A meeting of the resident members
was held in Falrbury and an organiza
tion formed which is known as the
Fairbury Knights Templar assoc i j
tion. R. D. Russell was named a.
president.
The juity in the oas- or Henry
Brown, accused of robbing the bank
at De Weese, Clay county, brough
in a verdict of guilty. Hall and Brown
were cauglr in St. Joseph, Mo., tJi
demanded separate trials and Ha
was tried first and found guilty.
When Frank Jcr.nsnn started out t
burglarize the town of Clarks hN
plans for securing his booty and
making his escape were poorly laid,
for within three or four hours he was
in the Merrick county ia;t and th ■
loot he secured was locker, in Sheriff
ller's strong box. Johnson evsnowl
edges his transgression.
The Farmers’ bank of Ma lar, a vil
lage In Pierce county, fn > mil ’ - north
of Norfolk, was robbed f § 1 .OH* in
cash. The robbers dug a hot*'
through a twc-foot vault wail with
pick-axes, dynamited the rare nr both
ends, got $1,903. dropped $10 on thir
way out and escaped without creat
ing the slightest disturbance in th
town.
According to his system or compu
tation the food commissioner or Ne
braska finds that the people -if Ne
braska pay $54,000 a year for water
which they buy at oyster prices, the
same. which he declares to be an
adulteration and liable tor prosecu
tion. He has sent out a statement to
oyster dealers in the state, giving
his objections to the water cure for
oysters and forbidding th-m to ecn
tinue this “cunning trickery."
A Valentine dispatch says: Leo
Phillips of Rosebud, S. D.. was round
ip a snow drift frozen to death. He
started from Crookston Wednes iay
with a load of coal and feed. His
horses showed up at Rosebud, with
check reins up. A searching parti
started out at cnce, and found his
wagon broken down and the supposi
tion is that he started to lead his
team to Rosebud and was lost.
At a recent meeting of the slate
board of agriculture in Lincoln.
Secretary W. R Mellor submitted a
long report dealing with everything
of interest to the board, receiving the
progress made in agriculture in the
state, agricultural education, progress
of the board in its work, and show
ins irw-iins aim expenuitures from
warrants drawn by the secretary. The
total receipts were $81,616.77; expend
otures, $16,500.78. The report of the
board of managers showed that there
had been available last year a surplus
of $20,000 for construction purposes.
To this- was added $2,000 firm the re
sources of the society. Buildings un
der way were completed in time for
the use of the fair.
Howard Archer, the 4-year-old son
of Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Archer, former
Beatrice residents was killed at Kan
sas City by falling f(om the sevent.i
floor of the Lorraine building. Mr.
Archer served in the Philippines with
the First Nebraska.
Wesley Travis, a theatrical man
from Chicago, has just organized a lo
cal company of art'sts at Tekamah.
and gone on the road is, a musical
comedy called “The Poor Mr. Rich."
He prompted a home talent play re
cently given in that place and found
what he considered good inater.al for
a company.
A man giving his name as James
H. Davis walked into the office of
Sheriff Her at Central City, and said
he desired to give himself up as he
was a deserter from the United States
army. The sheriff commun cated with
the officers and is holding the soldier
mentioned.
It was announced to memoers of
the legislature at. the state farm dur
ing their trip to that institution, that
the North Platte experiment station
had taken the prize at the Denver
stock show on a carload of hogs, fed *
from the products r-ised on the farm
and reare-*
