16 JANUARY 1909, Page 2

The Times of Tuesday publishes a deeply interesting narrative of

the experiences of Signor de Filippi, who was continuously engaged in ambulance work in Messina from January let to the 5th. Signor de Filippi, who gives a vivid picture of the devastation of the town, cordially recognises the admirable unity of the relief work in the absence of any general plan of direction. Of the foreigners, he saw most of the Russians, Whose ship's were the first to arrive, and who showed remarkable se,if.sacrifiee and pluck ; but all were

united by a common zeal, and he specially mentions the splendid relief work of the British warships on the Calabrian coast. But the most striking part of the narrative relates to the successful rescue of individuals and families who had been buried for many days deep under the ruins, many of them persons of advanced age. Thus on the eighth day he helped to extricate a man, his wife, and an infant, whose cries had not been audible at the surface, but who were located by rapping on the walls deep down in the ruins. Two walls had to be pierced before they could get at the survivors and pass them water through the aperture. " Invariably the first cry of the victims was acqua ' !