Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-11-01
HIOGO AND OSAKA,
rHB JAPANESE TOWNS DEVASTATED 81
An EARTHQUAKE
Ell Consul John 4. Birch Chats ls,us
These Par-Of Cities Of the
Jays

Earthquakes are not at oil unusual
in JAPAN" said ex-Consul John M.
! Birch, yesterday, to reporter. "ln
fact, tremblings of the earth are OF al
most daily occurrence, but it is unusual
for them to be attended with such
serious loss OF life as is chronicled
from Hiogo and Osaka. Persons
| sitting In room over there often
notice the lamps swaying or orna-
ments rafting about, caused by
seismic disturbances, but no par
ticular anxiety or alarm Is mani
tested, especially among the natives,
whose low and small wooden houses are
not at all liable to tumble down about
their ears, and they would do no partlc-
ular harm nor cause any considerable
loss of life II they did. except in the
event that the ruins took fire, as
I see they did at !Nagoya
and Gifu. As illustrating the
frequency of earthquakes, may
say that one accustomed to reading
in bed must be very careful about his
lamp, and place it in a safe place, else
1t is liable to be upset during the night,
and set fire to the building. The dis
turbances happen at any time, and al
though not usually panied by seri-
Gus loss OF life, there have been number
ofgreat disasters arising from this cause.
Hiogo and Osaka are about twenty-five
miles apart, on the island Of Hondo.
The loss of life credited as occurring at
Hiogo, was, suppose at Kobe, which Is
the new town, built by the foreign resi-
dents, across the river from Hiogo. That
city Is not adapted to Europeans,
who are not allowed to live 10 it, and
they have built a fine city, with wide
streets and many large buildings of
brick and stone at Kobe, where the
Consul to Hiogo and Osaka
resides. 1t is large ship
ping port. 1t is these brick
buildings which I suppose were
thrown down, for the houses
in Hiogo are low, thatched affairs
spread out over low plain. From
this town comes large number of
wares and small articles, such as fans
exported through Kobe. The same
thing is true Of Osaka. That is q city
OF half million people, living in the
characteristic wooden houses of the coun
try, and imagine the loss of life occurred
about the old castle, whose massive
walls, however, would scarcely yield to
even an earthquake. In those walls. built
hundreds OF years ago, are to be seon
stones as long as flfty-two feet, brought
long distances from quarries and erect
ed into walls by at present unknown
means. 1t is probably that Kioto, the |
ancient western capital, forty miles
from Hiogo, has also suffered, but of
that the kilograms say nothing. An
like a fire, can do little
real damage to q Japanese city, built
according to native methods. You
sometimes read of fire there burning
thousand houses, but the loss would
probably not exceed that csnsed by the
There are no cellars beneath the houses
and when they burn, the ground Is
merely cleared of the ashes. and in
week all traces of the fire have been
effaced. There is no insurance, because
even If such risks were desirable, the
building guilds would not permit 1t. 1t
would tend to interfere with the house
building business, and that would lead
to trouble"
"Gi-fu, mentioned as being destroyed,
but enormously spelled Gifee. Is the
capital OF Mino, province which pro-
duces large quantities OF silver, lead
copper, melons, porcelain and ciotn.
Nagoya, another city mentioned as being
damaged, is one of the five great cities
of japan, and is noted for magnificent
castle, which was formerly adorned
with two great fishes, plated with gold,
and which could be seen from great
distance. This castle is three hundred
and fifty feet high. The city Ia built
on gently rising ground, sloping down
TO Dwarf bay, and is the centre OF large
porcelain and other industries. Ogakl,
also included in the number OF devas-
tated places, do not recall. 1t Is prob
ably small place"
"Isn't 1t likely that the whole OF the
western portion Of Nippon Island has
been affccted?"
eyes, should judge so. These cities
are we'll scattered, and cover a region
populated by several million people.
There are about twenty million on the |
entire Island"
"What is the nature Of the country"
at Is rough and mountainous. The
whole Island may be set down as sue
cession of mountains and valleys, maxi
ing travel difficult. except by railroad.
There is a good telegraph system
through the region, but see the wires
are down. Probably the story will be
more fully told when communication Is
restored