The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1914-01-23
SAKURA-JIMA VOLCANO IN JAPAN
CONTINUES TO THROW
FORTH LAVA.
WHOLE VILLAGES WIPED OUT
Earthquake RunbIlngs Continue, and
Land and Sea Are Covered With Vol
eanic Ashes and pun1|ce Stone
Hundreds Have Perished.

are elected, making breathing diff
cult. The emperor's envoy has found
it impossible to make the trip around
Sakura-Jima, There has been lOoting
at Kagoshima.
Two further violent eruptions Of
the volcano Sakura-Jima, accompanied
by severe earthquake, occurred
Monday night, causing the collapse of
many more buildings. Ashes are fall
ing thickly and floating pumice stone
is so great that it prevents navigation.
Lava is still floating steadily down
the sides of tL9 volcano to the sea, in
! creaSing the area Of the island as it
sOlidifies on reaching the water 1t Is
impossible to give anything like an
approximate estimate of the number
Of victims OF, earthquakes and tidal
waves.
Professor Fusakichi Omori, the ssis-
mologist, pointing Monday to the vii
lage Of Yokohama on Sakura, where
400 houses lie buried in lava, said:
Are the people buried there as in
Pompeti?" And answered himself:
Only the future can reply"
Many refugees are reported to have
been driven insane as result of ter
ror and exposure. Over a million let
ters and eight thousand kilograms are
lying in Kagoshima awaiting delivery.
Toxic, Japan-Many hundreds are
dead in the Sakura Jima volcano dis
aster, according to dispatches Tues
day from Mitoyoshi. With the first
eruption of the volcano the island of
Sakura Jima, in the bay, was en-
yeloped In masses of flame. It's vii
lagos were entirely wiped out and it
is believed that most of its $4,000
people persisted.
Thousands Of fleeing people, who
escaped the burning city and villages,
were trapped in the blazing forest to
the north, set ablaze by the white hot
rocks belched forth by the volcano,
and were burned to death.
Kagoshfma had population of 64,-
600, most Of whom were employed in
the manufacture of the famous Sat-
suma pottery. Il Is believed at Toxic
that many thousands az the msu, wom-
en- and children of the city persisted.
The entire countryside was devas-
tated. The telegraph operator who
sent the last message out of the doom
ed city said that he was the only liv-
ing persoA remaining in the town. Be-
cause his message was cut off in the
middle of an unfinished sentence it
was presumed that he died at his pest.
Terror-stricken fugitives reaching
the mainland of Kiushiu Island from
Sakura Jima Tuesday said that fully
five thousand men, women and chill
dren must have persisted as the result
OF the continued eruption of the vol
cano on the small island. They said
that more than ten thousand persons
remained on the island in the harbor
after the $50 earthquakes gave warn
ing of danger, and of these about half
are supposed Il have persisted.
Sakura Jima volcano has been aor-
mant for 1870 years.
Enormous rocks, white hot, were
hurled twenty miles and more into the
interior and set the forests on fire.
For distance of eight miles north of
kagoshima the railway lines we're
blocked by volcanic rocks and de-
stroyed by fire.
Early Monday the ancient volcano
began to rumble and small streams
of lava dubbed up slowly in the crater
and poured down the sides. The peo-
pie were panic stricken and as many
as could fled to the mainland. MANY
were unable to go to places Of safety,
but some of them thought that when
yhe volcano had erupted for a day
without serious results the worst was
ger. ~
Suddenly, without warning, the vol
cano literally blew its head off and
the molten lava almost submerged the
island. Thousands of helpless people
were caught in thGsf homes and given
no tire to escape.
The heavy ash fall extends far to
the north and had already enveloped
the Important cities of NagasaIi and
kumuato, as we'll as many small cities
and towns. Of these Nagasaki alone
has any considerable foreign popula-
ton. There are about 200 Europeans
and Americans there, with British in
the largest number.
Sakura Jima occupies almost the ex-
act center of small round island in
the Gulf of Kagoshima and directly in
front of the city of Kagoshima, CAPT.
tai of the province of SatsupRa.
( The coasts and the country sur.
rounding Sakura Jima are heavily pop
ulated and the number in the danger
zone is hundreds of thousands. The
chtSG city in danger is Kagoshima.
which lies almost in the shadow of the
volcano AID is separated from it by
narrow strait. -
Sakura Jima had its last general
eruption in 1779. N