St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-02-01
TERRIBLE

The following letter may be OF in
terest to the readers of the CALEDo.
MAN, especially to those who listened
to Miss Danforth's recent talk at
Grace Methodist church, in which
she recalled so wildly the terrible or
deal through which shepassed during
the recent earthquake. The writer
NAV be remembered as the one who
married Miss Clark of Peacham,
daughter of Mr.. and Mrs. C,J.Clark.
NnGATA, Dec. II, 1894.
DEAR FRIENDs:-The earthquake
which occurred in Yamagata Ken. ,on
Oct. 22d, has been the cause of a
good deal of extra work for the mem
bers of our Station, and perhaps you
nav like to hear something about
it. The centre of the shock was
some 140 miles to the northeast of
Niigata, in the city of Sakata, and
the circumference of the destruction
was identical with the limits of three
adjacent counties. Sakata is a city
of some $4,000 and the havoc
wrought there was simply awful.
Out OF 5000 houses not one-third
were left standing; 10000 people
were rendered homeless, and OF these,
1000 became at once dependent up
on the local government for daily
bread. In the county of which Sa-
kata is the capital, out of 10000
houses, 1000 were burnt, crushed,
half demolished, or badly cracked,
and the dead and injured numbered
4S2 and Gel, respectively. In n Of
the other two counties, seven
eighths of the houses were destroyed
or damaged, while 60 persons were
killed and 103 injured. In the other,
$500 houses were wrecked, and ISL
persons killed and 213 injured, com
pletes the sorrowfultaIe. Thus in all
we have a total of OF persons in
iured, 726 killed, and over 5000
houses, temples, schools, etc, rem
dered almost unfit Tor use, The bare
figures are in themselves Strikingly
suggestive, but we who have been
in touch with eye-witnesses of the
scene, have had abundant material
with which to feed our imaginations
and arouse our sympathies. The suf-
fering naturally arising from such a
shaking has been doubled and trebled
bv the increasing cold weather, and
now that the snow has come with
the lowering of the thermometer
some 20 degrees, the misery must in
many cases be beyond description.
What has been done in the way oil
relief; In the first place, the local
government at once furnished food
sufficient to keep the people from
starvation. Then by printing and
circulating tabulated statements o
the results of the calamity they have
} tried to enlist the sympathy Of out
siders. Newspaper editors in thi!
district have announced their readi
ness to receive and forward sub
scriptions, and in this way quite
5 little has gone in. One small town
$ eight miles from here, sent 200 yen
the Christians of the cities OF Seudi;
. and Tokyo sent another 200, and i
u looks now as if the central govern
t ment will appropriate a sun for re
lief. The foreigners, too, have IT
ennuAe1 thor. interpS+ ha viuu hee
k aroused chiefly through the visit {
n Dr., Greene and Mr.. Newell to tn
scene of the earthquake, and som
IS letters and kilograms sent out b
Niigata station in consultation wit
=, DR.. Greene. Our missionaries i
Scuba, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka an
al Koba(?) did their duty nobly, an
50 earned and no doubt received til