Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1889-09-26
WOE In JAPAN.
The Details Of Frightful Flood In
That Country
Fifteen Thousand Lives Lost and Prov
thces and Towns Wiped from the Face
OF the Earth by nd-Siides aud
Raging Waters.
A JAPAN HORROR.

A JAPAN HORROR
San Francisco, Sept. 49, Province Xii
In the southwestern part OF Japan. has
been visited by one OF the greatest dSsas-
ters in the history OF the country Prob
ably more than 5000 people have been
killed, several towns have been wiped
completely off the face OF the earth
and Others have been nearly demol-
ished- The catastrophe was occasioned
by floods in the western part of the
province and by the crumbling of mount
ain, which buried six villages under huge
mass Of rocks and earth in the eastern dis
tricts The early part OF August was re-
markable for its rains, and the rapid rise Of
rivers soon became alarming. The banks
OF the Kinogawa river, q stream over 100
miles in length, broke near the town OF
Yokohama on the 18th, and q mountain
OF water like that which swept
through the Conemaugh valley rushed
out upon fields and towns, wrecking
houses, bridges fences and temples and all
things in its path, In this district 200
houses were carried away and 1000 ruined
by water leaving 5000 people dependent
upon local officials for food. Lower down
the embankments OF the Hidakagown
were also destroyed, flooding the cultivated
fields and adjacent towns. Ont of. six
ty houses at Wakanomura but two
remained standing, and more than fifty
people lost their lives An official OF the
Nishimura district who arrived at Wakay-
anna on the evening of August % reports
that at about p. IN. on the 10th an inroad
OF water took place at Tanabemachi, and
in few moments the floors of buildings in
the vicinity were covered Many houses in
the district were carried away, and about
800 persons are said to have lost their
lives. All the villages within an ex-
tent OF ten miles are more or less sob
merged In (horaihomura several hum
dred houses were washed away leaving
only eleven buildings standing Many per-
sons are reported to have lost their lives
in this district also The volume of the
River EKinokuni, an adjacent stream,
swelled TO an extraordinary extent, the
rise being in some places as much as
thirteen to eighteen 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 over
flow its embankments. and about four
miles from the city of Wakayama its banks
at the village of Iwahashi were washed
away. Immediately the village and its
whole neighborhood, including forty -eight
other hamlets, were covered by the raging
waters The depth Of the flood is stated to
have been from five to fifteen feet
The neighborhood of Osaka has also suf-
fered very severely. The embankments on
Yodogawn and Inkedapaigawn were
broken at several places on the 2lst, and
considerable damage was caused to farm
ers, while many houses were swept away
or otherwise injured In Hongumura $50
houses were washed away and thirty per-
sons were drowned In Higashipmurogori
and Neship Marogori several hundred
houses were demolished and considerable
loss of life is reported In Hidakagori $50
houses were carried away and seventy
others were more or less damaged while
100 persons lost their lives and fifty others
received more or less severe injuries
About 5000 persons narrowly escaped
death. Other villages suffered much
by the floods and the number of dead
cap not be accurately determined;
but for the province Of Xii 1t will
not fall below 10000. Bloated bodies and
wreckage of all description cover the
fields for miles around and 1t will be
months before the survivors can proceed
with their work The loss in money Is
roughly estimated at &c, 0OO, 600 Relief has
been sent to the ruined district, but made
quate facilities for collecting and distrib-
uting provisions will make the suffering
intense, and in the outlying districts many
will die of starvation.