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      The Olympic Games of 1908 were held in London from April until October. The Marathon – the first run over what became the official distance of 26 miles 385 yards (42.2 kilometres) – was staged on an unusually hot day in July.

      The field set off from Windsor Castle. By the time it neared the Olympic stadium at White City, in west London, the diminutive Italian Dorando Pietri had overtaken the favourites to open a substantial lead. However, exhausted and dehydrated, he first ran the wrong way around the track before falling to the ground.

      Implored by the 75,000 spectators, officials helped him to his feet four times as he struggled to reach the finish line, eventually staggering across it 10 minutes later, a little ahead of the American, Johnny Hayes.

      Pietri had allegedly been given a reviving injection of strychnine by his trainer during the race and after it lay near death in hospital for several hours; the newspapers recalled the fate of the first runner from Marathon, Pheidippides.

      However, Pietri became a popular hero and was presented with a commemorative cup by Queen Alexandra. Pietri retired at 26 and invested the vast sum he had made from appearance money in a hotel, only for it to fail.

       THE MESSINA EARTHQUAKE

      30 December 1908

      The panic of the inhabitants in Calabria is indescribable, but quite justifiable, Palmi and Bagnara being practically destroyed, while in the region around Monteleone, which is most affected, the dead may be counted by thousands. People abandoned their homes by thousands and remained in the torrential rain, half-naked, not daring to return into their tottering dwellings, and filling the air with their lamentations, prayers, and, in many cases, imprecations. At some places the people had the courage to enter the half-wrecked churches and take the statues of the Saints, which they carried in procession, to the open country, in a downpour of rain, invoking the mercy of God. In the mountainous regions of the interior, the population have taken refuge in grottoes, caves, and subterranean cavities, which are safe against earthquake, and are there living in common, peasants, priests, soldiers, and gentlefolk, all sleeping together, on the ground, with a fire in the centre for heat.

      Refugees from Messina who are arriving at Catania and Palermo say that yesterday morning, before the sun had risen, the town was almost uprooted, and those who were not killed, descended to find the streets blocked by fallen houses. Everywhere were streams of injured people, half-mad with excitement and fear, most of them in scanty night attire, shivering in the torrential rain, while the lower portion of the town was inundated by a huge wave, the water reaching the hips of the fugitives.

      A CAPTAIN’S NARRATIVE.

      PALERMO, DEC. 29.*

      The captain of the Italian steamer Washington, which went to Messina yesterday morning, says that at 20 minutes past 5, when near the Straits, the ship quivered as though she had lost her screw. The captain thought that his ship had run aground. At the same time a thick fog enveloped the vessel, blotting out the Messina lighthouse and the Calabrian coast. Between 5.25 and 6.45 five separate shocks were felt. At a quarter past 8 a barque approached the steamer and the men shouted out that disaster had overwhelmed the town and appealed for help. At the entrance of the Straits the water was strewn with wreckage, broken furniture, and debris of all descriptions. Everywhere there were appalling scenes of destruction. The steamer was met by sailing vessels all along the coast appealing for help. Near Ganzirri a delegate of the Mayor put out and stated that at that place there were 1,000 killed and 500 injured.

      Railway communication between Catania and Messina has been re-established. A train bringing refugees and injured from Messina to Catania has arrived. The refugees, who are almost mad with terror, assert that the Hotel Trinacria with its staff and 90 visitors has been destroyed, as well as the Town-hall, the Bourse, the post and telegraph office, and the barracks. The report of terrible damage having been done by the movement of the sea is confirmed. A gigantic wave overwhelmed Messina.

      Troops are leaving here for Messina with doctors and medical appliances. The doctors here have formed a relief committee which will take upon itself the task of organizing a hospital ship to succour the victims.

      Heartrending scenes took place on the departure of the steamer Regina Margherita for Messina this morning. The vessel is crowded with weeping men and women going to Messina to search for relatives and friends.