The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-08
JAPANESE CATACLYsM-
Extent of the humiliation Following
the Great Earthquake.

Extent of the InundatiOn Following
the Great Earthquake.
Misfortunes in Japan do not come as
single spies. Hardly had we time to
recover from the shock Of the tidal
wave disaster, when business was par
allied by floods. Trains ceased to run,
telegrapnic communication was inter
rupted, and for over G. week we were
4 Practically cut on from the world. 1t
is now five days since any kilograms
came through from London, and those
had been much delayed.
/ The early part of July was very I'M
/ settled, and much rain fell. BY the 18th
IL was raining in torrents day and
night, and the deluge continued for
several days in succession. In eonse-
Z Quence bridges were washed away, rice
{ fields converted into fresh water lakes,
and many tOvSzs were laid completely
under water. Japanese authorities as
! serL that the floods were the worst
known for centuries, as they prevailed
all over the mainland from ACmOri,
in the north, almost to Hiroshima.
To appreciate the extent of the mum
datiOn il Is necessary to remember that
in Japan, for purposes of irrigation, the
river beds have been allowed to silt up
far above the level of the surrounding
Country. In winter these river beds are
almost destitute OF water, but in May
and June, during the rainy season,
/ they become torrents. To protect the
rice fields huge entertainments are
raised, but they are in many cases
clumsily built, and, owing TO the fire.
quency of earthquakes, are rarely firm.
OF the height of the river beds in some
instances a good illustration is fur
nished by the Kcbe-Osaka railway,
which at one point runs through a
tunnel under a river At Gffu, Nugala
and KakOgawa the tops of the houses
close to the water are lower than the
normal water level Every year during
the rainy season some towns are
deluged.
The popularity of this years foodg
is that they were common TO the whole
island, and not confined 20 a few local
tiles. Nugata, on the west coast; Gifu,
in the center; Iwate and Mirayi, in the
north, alike suffered, the two latter pre-
lectures being the more TO be pitied
that The relief works for the survivors
Of the tidal wave disaster were thus
interrupted.
The number of lives lost it is impos-
sible to estimate, and the returns viii
not be to hand for some weeks. 50 far
600 deaths have been reported, and the
death role will probably reach 1000.
Yet Japan is not in despair. So ac-
cuStOmed are the people to these ma
tur2l calamities that after the first
shock they quickly recover their light
heartedneSs and resume their occuDa-
tons with cheerfulness. New houses
spring I'D on the sites Of those de-
strOyed, the embankments are patched,
and the farmers hope that next year
their locality will escape devastation.
This resignation to the inevitable is
particularly noticeable at Gifu, which
ever since 1891, when earthquake and
fire destroyed the town so that only
few houses remained, has each year
suffered catastrophe.
At NagaOka q sight was Witnessed
similar to that which several years ago
vas observable on the Exc, when the
oil stores at Exeter exploded. Ma
gaoka is the center Of the Oil trade in
japan, the crude oil being mostly stored
there. " hen the river swept away a
portion of the town, it demolished the
oil stores. The oil floating on the water
by some means got alight, and the
whole river seemed d sheet Of fame.
the debris of the houses adding fuel to
the conhagration.
At Koike the people had been work
ing two days to strengthen the em-
bankments, and, thinking their labors
had made them secure, retired to rest.
But the enbankment collapsed in four
places, sweeping away the houses, the
victims screaming piteously from the
windows Of the upper rooms as they
were swept down the torrent. In that
one village it is estimated 100 lives
were lost.
At Kurozu the inhabitants were
driven 70 take refuge on the roofs Of
the houses which were not submerged,
and there, without food, were exposed
for three days to the heat of the sun,
which. after the rain, was intense.
Without means Of escape. the poor
vretches chung to the roofs, afraid to
sleep lest they should fall into the
water, and almost dying of hunger.
They were finally assisted from Ma
gaoka, three miles off, the police COM
ing to their rescue in boats.-Corres-
pondence London News.
Ambguity-(Seene, a Highland ferry.)-
Tcurist-"But we paid you a sixpence
each IS we came over, and you said the