Two thousand tents are on the way for the relief of two thousand families.[1]
With respect to the lesser disasters of the Basilicata, we have learned that in Melfi a child perished under the ruins of a stable; the half-dilapidated tower of the Church of S. Augustin was thrown down; the Casa Communale, and the house of the Sub-intendant, with almost all the buildings, were injured; one house and a great many walls fell, and the Agrarian Institute and the Meteorological Observatory were disfigured.
In Bariele many houses were shaken, and two deaths and two wounded men are reported; in Atella the greater number of the houses are shattered; and in Venosa, the roof of the Church of S. Francesco, and one of the castle towers were destroyed. As to the Principato Citeriore, the lesser injuries are those of Vallo, where the small belfiry of S. Catherine fell, and many buildings were disfigured, and a physician and his wife injured by the fall of a wall. The prison at Matera was slightly injured, and many houses greatly disfigured. No deaths ascertained in Majori and Minori. In the latter, many buildings were destroyed and a house fell. In Tramonti, a man and his daughter were found dead under the ruins of an old house, notwithstanding the rapidity with which they were dug out. Official reports have arrived from the province of Terra di Bari relative to the damage occasioned by the recent shocks of earthquake. The districts of Barletti and of Altamura have only suffered from the terror occasioned by the earthquake; in the former, the oratory of the Arciconfraternita del S. S., erected in S. Pietro, and in the latter, some more ancient edifices fell. The most deplorable disasters occurred in Canosa, where five persons were excavated from the ruins after life was extinct; but thanks to the activity of the local authorities, many others were saved. Several churches have sustained slight injuries.
The Province of Principato Ulteriore has not suffered positive damage, except the injuries to the buildings in the different commumes. In Serino a lady, escaping from her house, had her leg broken by the fall of an old ruinous wall: the belfry of a church was also thrown down. In Solofra and S. Michael the greater
- ↑ It is impossible to avoid saying that by far the greater part of these statements are absolute and audacious figments.—R. M.
