Here, heather briar pipes were produced and refined. The products of the factory went into final processing in northern Italy (especially Milan), France, England, Germany and the United States. At its peak the Dei factory gave employment to about fifty workers, as well as the lumberjacks and truck drivers who transported the wood, which came mainly from Aspromonte, but also from Sicily, Sardinia and Greece. The factory was active until the early eighties, when it was forced to close due to decreased demand and increased production requirements. In the same period, another pipe factory was opened in Villa, the Tripepi factory, located near the Via Fontana Vecchia, this also disappearing at the beginning of the early eighties. The construction of the railway line and the beginning of a steam ferry In 1884 the stations were inaugurated Villa and Cannitello, along with the stretch of railroad that joined with Reggio Calabria. In the early years of the twentieth century, completed the construction of the port and began racing modern ferry boats to steam for Messina. In fact, Villa was increasingly preferred as the main point in Reggio ferry to Sicily, being much closer to the city than the capital of Messina. On 1 March 1905 the station Villa was connected to the airport of ferry boats with a railway junction, thus laying the foundations for the ferry service railway rolling stock. The importance of Villa San Giovanni gradually increased to the detriment of Reggio Calabria, as the Tyrrhenian railway route, which is shorter than the Ionic, led to the displacement of the rail traffic by sea on Villesi cradles, which were increased and strengthened. Contemporary Age At the beginning of the 20th century, the city was described as an industrious and avant-garde town, so that already in 1906 the city streets were illuminated by electrical street lamps. The 1908 earthquake and the reconstruction The area of Villa had already been affected by seismic events since the last decade of the nineteenth century. On 16 November 1894 there was a first earthquake, with no casualties, that damaged most of the buildings, so that Villa became one of the countries affected by earthquakes and was able to take advantage of the law nº535 8 August 1895. In the following two decades, there were three other earthquakes, the earthquakes of 8 September 1905 and 23 October 1907, but the real disaster was the earthquake