New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-14
AFTER THE CATASTROPHE.
A VISIT TO MOUNT BANDAL
ON An OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRrBUNEl

t"h WIN hS1Ny Icdu ana II llEDt purse. %
gaudily attred woman, lansuid and weary; a
bright apprentice boy opening the sh, ,ers of his
masters shop; policeman with half-closed eyes,
bat watchful enough-virtue and folly and the
law in close juxtapositon-this is practically all
we zee OF Japan's eastern capital about TO open
its myriad eyes Our far too early arrival at the
Cyeno station affords an opportunity to watch
tie slow gathering Of busy throng bound Tor
the northern parts Of japan Entering the tram,
we find ourselves, after traversing the fertile
1onegawa Valley and the less fertile regions be-
yond, at Motomiya, lac miles north OF Toxic
We take up quarters at the Mntoya. the best inn
OF the little town; show our passports, and
find on the register of the inn that there have
been here before US tie Toxic correspondent Of
The London Times. and the Editor of The
Japan Mail" and other newspaper writers-a fact
suggestive Of much, suggestive especially of ia
pans progress and growing importance.
From our train we lad glimpse at the steam
ing peak of the Bandai volcano here at Motomiys
we have glimpse of the effects of its eruption.
The temporary hospital at Inawashro has been
dissolved, and its former inmates being
transported to the permanent hospital at Fuker-
shima populous city north of Motomiya. One
little boy with crushed arm and banda ged
head, watching us foreigners with look Of min
glcd sadness, surprise and curiosity, especially
attracts our sympathetic attention. Some Of the
other sufferers, carried on Itters, scarcely
able TO move their heads
On the next day we start for Atami-where,
together with the bathing facilities of the hot
springs japanese board and lodging can be
had for about thirteen cents in American money
per day-thence to Yamagata, and thence past the
surprisingly beautiful Inawashro Lake TO the lit
tie town Of the name At the foot of the
mountain now, we at once visit the afflicted
gon. The rain that had fallen had transformed
the volcanic dust into glay and pulpy mass.
lnawashiro itself, though directly south Of the
mountain and nearer to the crater than some Of
the places destroyed, had suffered nothing what
ever. propitious wind having driven away the
very dust Of the eruption. The south, then, and
the west comparatively free from damage
not the east and the north. TO which much
afflicted districts turn our steps Shot
forth from the smaller peak of Mount Bandai,
the elected matter had covered and entirely or in
part destroyed no less than thirteen hamlets.
Leaving the partly covered Mine village at some
distance to our left and passing nOrthward along
the east side of the mountain, the steep banks OF
the Nagase River TO our right and Mount Bandai
itself to our left, upon the chief
scene of the volcanoes hideous activity of July g.
On that fatal day the volcanic mud-stream came
down, in mighty mpetuous swell, but
dividing and sub-dividing as ii rushed on at the
rate of thirty to forty miles an hour, comparable,
in measure. TO giant hand suddenly gliding
down the eastern slope Of the mountain, the
wrist representing the crater the thumb the
southeastern stream at the Mine village, and the
other fingers the smaller streams that
overwhelmed the regions between the crater and
Shibutani and NaGasaka. At our feet there is the
gray mass of wetted, and hence coherent, volcanic
oltp ff,,v - ba in boar luyar On Tho
day of the catastrophe this dust, now cold, in
nocuous and inert, was whirled about wildly and
people were sufocated by it at distance of five
miles from the crater. For several hours after
the eruption the dust was still so hot as to make
walking upon it impossible 1t is
question whether fine or a somewhat rainy day
is better for a visit TO the mountain in other
words, whether it is best to get the dust into
your lungs to carry it along with you on
your shoes. Beneath this gray and pulpy mass
we discover, on raising our feet yellow, clay
like spots, and reach Gke-colored
volcanic mud-stream Of varying thickness, oc-
casionally only few feet deep, especially on
high ground, but thirty fifty and 100 feet deep in
the hollows.
According to our guide about forty little ponds
were once here, but all are now covered Higher
up the hot springs emit steam and vapors, as do
also the two craters formed at and shortly after
the eruption. At the hot spring nearest to the
crater all the people who fed were killed and the
five who were too weak 90 run ESCAPED with slight
injuries; the force Of the eruption sent the mass
flying over their heads. 1t was the same way
at Nagasaka, where, in the sudden darkness caused
by the eruption. ninety-eght young and active
people rushed right into the Jaws of deatli-nto
the muds,ream and the seething water, while the
old and weak hiding in their houses, were saved
OF Kawakami. one Of the spas, only the matched
roofs ara visible The crushed skeletons OF
several horses noticed as We pass along. Upon
one Of these skeletons the saddle is still lying;
the poor horses verify died in the harness"
Their masters are buried beneath the elected
masses-twenty-thre farmers from Inawashiro
alone THAI had gone out to cut fodder. Whether
walking over the destroyed fields. the blasted
heath, the huge mudstreams. or the gray dust
everywhere, see the signs OF an awful and
sudden destruction; and what we cannot see, be
cause covered by the vast winding sheet at cur
feet. is more CHASTITY than all else The odors
ascending at certain places between the cracks
Of the ground sickening and tell hideous
tale few bodies only have been recovered,
and these with every shred of clothing torn from
their backs and almost all mutilated beyond recog-
milton, as shown by the rough wooden tablets
that mark their graves. near the Nagase River
Down the volcanic mud rush streamlets OF
yellow water. The surface Of the mud presents
frequent cracks. long, deep and narrow, caused
by the gradual cooling OF the elected masses,
or, more probably, by the combined influence
Of heat, cold and sunshine Beneath these
cracks running water is occasionally visible, and
sometimes audible In northerly direction we
have before us a natural ridge, 400 feet high,
that suddenly rose that fatal day and damned
up the waters of the largest branch Of the Nagasc
River The smaller branch Of the nyer, remain
ing unobstructed, sends It's waters into the old
river-bed with empty, shallow brawl As this
water is not sufficient TO carry On the rice culture
of the neighborhood the poor survivors Of the
catastrophe have come 10 blows about It's d-