St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1892-01-21

Cndn 0OOO WCllS dIS lONoiy
The condition of Kasacka-cho IS too
appalling to describe. From the fall
OF the houses to the outburst of the
flames there was an interval of only
20 minutes.
The most terrible incident in Ogaki
is said to have been the collapse of
the temple. More than $50 persons
were congregated, and the preacher
had Just begun his sermon when the
temple fell with a crash, its heavy
roof crushing the whole congrega-
ton. Two men only escaped and
they were seriously injured. Before
any effective steps could be taken to
discover whether any of the unfOr-
tunate worshippers survived, fire
came and settled the question. Out
of 700 temples in the prefecture,
more than a third have been wholly
DESTROYED.
Although quite a number of foreign
missionaries live in Nagoya none
were seriously injured. The Metho-
dist Christians had a meeting, it
seems. at 6 a. m. In escaping from
the building II were struck by fall
ing brick and tiles. Two Japanese,
man and wife, were killed almost in
stantly. Mr.. McAlpine and Miss
Wimhish. who were just in front of
this couple, escaped without a bruise.
Mr.. and Mrs. Van Dyke were both
cut, but both are doing well.
A train of cars was just entering
the town of Gifu at the time of the
shock. 1t was so violent that the
passengers slipped from their seats,
and were throwninto a state of great
alarm, ~conceiving a collision had
taken place. On looking out of the
windows, however, they say the
station in ruins, and the water in a
neighboring pond was Gashing from
side to side. The movement con-
tinued for some time with such Sc
verify that it was impossible to
leave the carriage. Meanwhile large
cracks, from two to three feet wide,
were observed opening and closing
in all directions, volcanic mud and
ashes being thrown from some
of them. The terror that attends an
earthquake cannot be conceived by
those who have lot experienced 1t.
The thought that at any moment the
earth may open and swallow one,
and Immediately close, is a living re-
atty at such times, and not simply
a conception in the mind. The de-
struction of $4,000 houses means
that over 100000 people are house
less, and penniless several thousands
are suffering from severe wounds
that need surgical treatment, while
tens Of thousands have lesser wounds
that still are by no NEAR painless.
We hear of many who have had to
undergo a~mputat1on. Add to all
this the fact that the houses that
still remain are much weakened and
manv of them are in a dangerous
state, SO that their owners fear to
occupy them, and to this the fact
that cold weather is now coming on
and the people are unprotected even
by their ordinary clothing, and we
gain some slight conception of the
extent and horribleness of this catas-
trophe. The river banks have been
ruined it is said that over $50 miles
has beer utterly destroyed. What
this signifies can only be understood
by those who realize that a large
part of these rivers are kept in their
DldSCS Nv lllCSC OallhS. AS SOOI a.
the rains come, a flood is certain.
In addition to all this, costly rail
road bridges and tunnels have been
destroyed. Altogether, 1 suppose
the actual money loss to the coun-
try will never be computed; it will
amount to many millions, to say
nothing of the entire cessation of
trade and all the ordinary forms of
business for some time to come.
Nov. 23d. 1S91.-Since writing the
above, much additional news has
come to hand, some of which should
be added to what 1 have written to
convey a truthful account of the re-
suits of the earthquake. The Stats
tics are now pretty full, and consid-
erably exceed the reports of even a
week ago. The killed number 1866;
the severely wounded number TO-
121; the buildings wholly destroyed
number 5000; and those partly de-
stroyed number 28,626 more. Peo-
pie who saw many dead bodies ex-
humed say that in the majority of
cases no signs of fatal injury were
visible. Death had been caused by
sufocation. The wounded are for
the most part women and children.
The total area through which the
shock was felt is stated to have been
39,375 square miles. Death by fall
ing into assures is reported of but
four persons. The terrible sequel is
that although the hair of the unfor-
tunates was visible from above, it
was found impossible to rescue them.
Among the strange freaks reported
is the shifting of a bamboo grove
about 200 yards from its original
position.
In the neighborhood of Ogaki,