The record-union., 1896-07-13


ing the Corpses of Their Wives
and Children Floating on the
Waves.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 12.-The To-
kio correspondent of the United Press,
writing under date of June 10Th, thus
graphically describes the devastation
wrought by the seismic wave which re-
Gently visited the northeast coast OF
Japan:
Japan has been visited by calamity
of almost unprecedented magnitude. On
the 18th of June, at half-paSt ; IN the
evening a seismic wave struck the north
east coast of the main island, through
out a distance of about 200 miles and
in five minutes 10000 people were killed
and 1900 houses destroyed That Is
the whole story.
Anyone can identify the locality of the
disaster by a glance at the map of Jap
an. From the island of Kinka- San, on
the south (north latitude 3S.15 east,
longitude 141.3O to Hachinoye, on the
north north latitude 40.30, east longf-
tude 131 800, the coast of RikuZen and
Rikushu Provinces assumes a distinctly
convex shape. Throughout the whole of
this bow-like arc, nearly every town and
village was visited by the wave, the
portion between Motoyoshi (north lat
itude 3S.40, east longitude HIPS and
Yamada (north latitude 39.2S, east
longitude 142) suffered most severely.
The general direction of the wave APP
pears to have been north by east, for
after carrying devastation to the shore
of the main island it left Yezo on the
west, touching that island at Yerimo
Cape only.
In the case of foundations, cyclones or
even earthquakes there is a record Of
more or less continuous mischief and Of
more or less successful struggle against
the forces of destruction. But in the
case of a seismic wave one stupendous
blow accomplislles the whole calamity
in an instant. At half-past the inhab-
itants of numerous towns and hamlets
along the coast were celebrating the
boys festivaav ON the firth day u the
fifth month, according to the old cal
endar; at twenty-five minutes before 9
o'clock 10000 of them had been swept
out to sea or thrown dead upon the
shore and 5000 of their homes had dis
appeared or lay wrecked.
aster From IL in the forenoon until
half-past in the afternoon heavy rain
fell. 1t was followed by a fine evening
and dark, calm night There is much
difficulty in obtaining perfectly accurate
statements as to the times of phenom-
ena that preceded the final catastrophe;
they were too insignificant to seem
worth recording. Several accounts
agree, however, that at about half-paSt
{ three or four shocks of earthquake
were felt, not violent shocks. though of
the vertical kind that folks in Japan
have learned to dread.
The barometer gave at the time no in
dication of anything unusual. Some
twenty or twenty-five minutes later a
booming sound became audible from the
direction of the sea 1t appears to have
been variously interpreted. Some con-
strued it as the noise Of a coming gale;
others supposed that a huge school Of
sardines had reached the offing, and
others thought that there was a ques-
ton of whales. Only a very few sus-
pected the real significance of the sound
and fed inland at the top of their speed.
Rapidly the noise increased until it as
sumed the volume and deafening din
Of a great park of artillery and then, in
a moment, waves from twenty to thirty
feet high were laundering against the
shore.
The places where the actual totals of
deaths reached the highest figures were
not always those that suffered most In
proportion to their population. OF the
three procedures visited by the wave
Iwate, Miyagi and Aomori-Iwate had
by far the largest aggregate of disasters,
itS list Of dead amounting to $4,000.
Some of the details. however. convey a
more graphic idea of the facts than any
general statement can suggest.
Kamaishi is a little seaside town, sit
uated at the head of a rocky inlet two
miles deep and directly facing the Pa
cific Ocean. Behind it is a precipitous
= hiii.-Tne inhabitants seem to have re-
manned until the last wholly uncon-
scious of what was pending. AT little
after o'clock in the evening a noun
tain sea was observed piling itself up
at the mouth of the inlet and In mo-
ment. with a thunderous roar, waves
thirty feet high swept over the town.
Three times this avalanche of water
rushed forward, the first incomparably
the most terrible, and in less than two
minutes the town was virtually annihi-
ASAtSu- Gut OF 1t--o dwellings, Only LTD
remained standing, and out of a popula-
ton of 6,5oI death had overtaken 4,I00
and 300 lay wounded. In completeness
of destruction this record heads the list
Scarcely less appalling was the work OF
the wave in a bay some five miles far
ther north. There, in the village OF
Futaishi, only 100 persons escaped death
out of population of 190 and only
two houses out of as many hundreds
remained standing.
At Yamada, 700 houses out of 900 wers
i destroyed and 5000 persons were killed
out of 200
At Toni, go houses were swept away
out Of 269, and JOB persons We're killed
and 81 wounded out of total of 1,206
s In the Kissen district one town ant
eleven villages attacked by the wavs
had $3.50 persons killed and 1,56t
houses washed away or wrecked.
At Hongo, the whole hamlet of IN
houses was annihila.ed and the sole
SURVIVORS We're a party of men tha'
happened to be playing Go" in a tenn
plc situated on high ground.
Such are the tales OF death and ruiz