The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-09-25
$4,000 LIVES LOST.
THE GREATEST DISASTER KNOWN
INTHE HISTOTY OF JAPAN.
Whole Villages Buried Under Avalanches
from the Mountain-Enormous Rains
Cause an Unprecedented Rise in the
Southwest Rivers.

regular mail steamer Gaelic has Just ar
rived from Yokohama, bringing details
of the overwhelming disaster in Japan.
The province of Xii, in the Southwest
ern part of Japan, has been visited
by the greatest tragedy in the history
of the country. Probably more than
$4,000 people nave been Killed, severa
towns have been wiped completely Of
the face of the earth, and others have
been nearly demolished. The catas
trophe was occasioned by floods in the
Western part of the province and by
the crumbling of mountain which
buried six villages under huge mass OF
rocks and earth.
The early part Of August was remark.
able for its rains, and the rapid rise OF
the rivers soon became alarming. The
banks of the Kinogawa River, a stream
over 100 miles IN length, broke near the
city of Wakayamo on August 10Th, and
mountain of water, like that which
swept through the Conemaugh valley
when the dam above JohnstoWn broke,
rushed out upon the fields and towns,
wrecIlng houses, bridges, fences, tenn
pies, and all things in lis path. In this
district 200 houses were carried away
and 5000 were ruined by the Water,
leaving 10000 people dependent upon
the local officials for food.
Lower down the embankments of Hi
daka.own were also destroyed, flooding
the cultivated fields and adjacent towns.
Out Of sixty houses at Wakanomura but
two remain standing, and more than 80
people lost their lives.
An official of the NiShimura district
office, who arrived at Wakayamo on the
evening of August 2sd, reports that at
about 1 p. m. on August 10th an inroad
of water took place at Sanabemachi,
and in few moments the floors of
buildings in the vicinity were covered.
Many houses in the district were carried
away, and about 300 persons are said to
have lost their lives All villages within
an extent of ten miles are more or less
submerged. In Choraihomure several
hundred houses were washed away,
leaving only eleven buildings standing.
Many persons are reported to have lost
their lives in this district also.
The volume of the River Kinokuni,
an adjacent stream, swelled.to an extra
ordinary extent, the rise being in some
places as much as 13 TO IS feet above
the normal level. No bridge over the
stream could withstand the force of the
flood. The river steadily rose from
about o'clock in the evening until at
last near midnight it began to overfew
its embankments, and about four miles
from the city of Wakayama the banks
at the village Of Iwahashi were washed
away. Immediately the village and its
whole neighborhood, including about
forty-eight other hamletS, were covered
by the raging waters. The depth of the
flood is said to have been from to
Is feet.
The ncighborhood of Osaka has also
suffered very severely. From telegram
received by the home office from the
Governor of Osaka it appears that in
the districts under his authority relief
Is being given to several thousands of
people. The embankments on the Yodo-
GAVIN and Ihkedapaigawn Rivers were
broken at several places on August 21,
and considerable damage was caused to
farms, while many houses were swept
away or otherwise injured. In Hongu-
mura $50 houses were washed away and
thirty persons drowned. In HigaShipo,
Murogori and Neship Marogori several
hundred houses were demolished and
considerable loss of life is reported. In
Hidakagori $50 houses were carried
away and seventy houses were more or
less damaged, while 120 persons lost
their lives and fifty others received more
or less severe injuries. About 5000
persons. narrowly escaped death.
A telegram from Wakayamo dated
August 25 says that many houses in
Tschigawara and Shikiya, which are sit
uatcd close to kumanagawa, were car
ried away and many lives lost. The
buildings of the kumanO Shrine, except
one or two small temples. were all swept
away, but the Sacred Image was saved
According to the report from Jeninu, in
uigashi Murogari, about one-fourth of
the buildings there (over. 500 and 100
persons were swept away. The Hikawga
River rose twenty eight feet above the
ordinary level and villages close to the
river flooded, in consequence of which
about $50 houses were washed away,
many persons being drowned. Seventy
eight houses and the Miwake police sta
ton at Shusan were also carried away.
Owing to several landslides which oc-
Cured close to the source of the Hida-
kagawa vast numbers of trees, some of
which were very large, were uprooted
and swept on to the fields, where several
thousands are now lying.
Inquiries as to the condition of vari-
Gus villages along the river have not yet
been completed. In Goto there are still
two feet of muddy water. About 1900
houses Of the villages close to the Toni
tagawa were swers away and over 500
persons are reported to have lost their
lives.
Another telegram from Wakayama,
dated August 26, announces that ac-
cording to the Investigations made up
to that date the total uumber of houses
carried away in Nishi Murogori was
/ ,0g3, while sos others were demolished
and 44O houses were more or less dam
aged. The number Of deaths there
was S63.
Other villages suffered much loss by
the floods and the number of dead can
not be accurately determined, but for
the province of Xii it will not fall below
10000. Bloated bodies and wreckage
of all description covered fields fol
miles around, and it will be months be
fore the survivors can proceed Will
work. The loss in money is roughly
estimated at S6, 100000.
Relief has been sent to the ruined
district, but inadequate facilities for
collecting and distributing provisions
will make the suffering intense, and in
the outlying districts many will die
from starvation.
The same rain which ruined the West
crn part of the province of Xii by flood