The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-08-08
NEWS FROM THE ORIENT.
DEATHS FROM CHOLERA IN
YOKOHAMA
Thousands OF ps,1le Drowned and Three
Hundred aud sixty Villages Wiped
Out by Floods

% llNI-N ND. dlIN I'Nh llhIH NNIE a'
Annoy 1000 cases Of kerosene having
been taken ON board at Hougtong
which were slowed in the tween decks
forward the writer proceeds,
1--WE arrived at Annoy on the morn
ing of the Ist inst and left on the even
ing Of the first dly having taken on
board a large amount Of general cargo
aud 2S7 Chinese passengers. The sea
was as smooth as a lake of oil aud the
voyage was most agreeable, The same
weather was continued on the I'd and
cd AT a quarter past seven on the
evening Of the sd a crowd Of Cinnamon
rushed aft, where the captain and
officers off duty were, crying that fire
had broken out in the tween decks on
the port side, where the kerosene was,
and at the same time a mass Of flames
shot up. We, with the exception of the
Chinese, rushed to the scene of the
disaster, which, in the FIRST moments,
assumed colossal proportions, due to
the fact Of the fire having broken out
amongst the kerosene. 70 eNtlngulsh
the flames was impossible, and it was
useless to think Of it. No human
force could have COPIED with such a
conhagratiun. This the captain reCog.
nized, and after a short consultation
with the first and second officers, the
third being on the bridge, he called
out the terrible order, 'SdlVeSe el que
bHeda.' From this moment, seeing
that it was impossible t. save
the ship, no one thought OF
anything but his own safety, the dan
ger of death being imminent. Fate
offered us the alternative of death by
two elements, fire and water, which it
was necessary to evade at any cost.
The Chinese were paniC-striCksn and
many of them threw themselves into
the water at the first alarm; others
climbed up the masts and rigging, bul
the greater number of them crowded
aft, which at that time was the safesl
place. Their despairing cries were
horrible. Some wept, others cursed
but all fled from the fire as far as pos
sible, a provdental Circumstance, t.
which undoubtedly we owe our safety
since it allowed the launching of the
boat, which was near the seat of the
fire, to be conducted with relative
quietneSs, the rush which usually takes
place in such cases, a horrible anC
deadly rush in which only the stronges
succeed, being thus avoided. The
captain, officers, engineer, doctor, thC
frst.class passengers and some of the
crew, nearly all fremen, were able
safely to climb down the Don Jua"
with much preCaution, as 1t was neces
sary to avoid the gangway which was
jambed with Chinese, who would have
sprung into our boat, in which case al
would have persisted. Some, thougt
very few, made a spring for the boat
They could not reach it and fell in tn;
water.
Before abandoning the vessel tn,
captain saved the register, ordered tht
engines to be stopped and the safet,
valve to be opened SO that no explosion
might take place, threw into the waite
various objects that would float and ST
serve to support any who might seiz,
them, and distributed fifty life belts
all this being done in less time tran i
takes to write it. One of these lif
belts was fastened round the writer b,
a humble but heroic boy in the servic
Of the captain, who, on hearing tn,
order Let everyone look out for him
self, said 'Senor, save yourself there
90 the officers and captain save your
self for Gods sake " and you, Ciria
COP Presently said he, and Goo
grant he may not have been a victim o
his generosity.
"When we got few metres from tht
ship, which was now on fire in severa
places, we remained long time spell
bound contemplating the dreadful
spectacle in which there were heart
Irending details, such as the falling int,
the water or on to the deck Of thu
Chinese who had taken refuge in tn,
Iforemast, the fire now having caugh
the rigging"
Here the interest in the aCcoun
ends, the remainder and much tn
longer portion, being devoted to tn
passage of the boat to the shore and t,
a description Of how those saved farce
when they got there. 1t seems tn
boat was overCrowded and had to b.
baled out all the time. Subsequent
they heard that two other boats hal
reached shore with len of the crew ant
three Chinese passengers, making wit
the twenty-one in the first boat a tota
Of forty-two The San AHtonio, a
already reported, reached the wreck i
time to take off number Of those Sti
on board, and as far as was known
total Of I43 had been saved out of tn
288 persons on board.
Dysentery is very prevalent just now
At IseharamaChi and two villages i
Osumi-gun, of this prefecture, twent!
four persons were laid up with the di:
order suddenly on the cad inst, fou
of the cases ending fatally. Osaka an
other prefectures are also suffering fror
an epidemic Of dysentery,
The 494 japanese merchants Ell
gagged in foreign trade in lokoham
have signed a declaration by whlC
they bind themselves to abide by til
Judgment of Mr. Kawada, the Pres
| dent of the Nippon GinkO, in the dis