The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-12-03

ulOTe Ol d I'LL Ill Uiduy PLATES lulS
had crumbled away pitching the
houses perched there from 100 to zoe
feet down to the level below and al
the same time crushing and buryine
the houses on the lower level.
Along the water front. which was
not destroyed by fire and quake, was
taken by the tidal wave, which sunk
nearly all small crafts, up~turned
barges and even sunk several tug
boats at their mornings. Along the
canals are the remains of hundreds of
motor boats and small tug boats
burned to the water line. What used
to be a beautiful park is now almost
a scar on the earth, the foliage burn
ed from it's trees and the little lake
or lagoon where a fountain played so
beautiful is now filled with mud and
filth and in all available space are
erected the huts of refugees-huts
made from the tin n tenders of burn
ed automobile bodies, scraps of wood
and corrugated iron roofing, all of
which have been salvaged from the
ruins. In fact nearly all the people
who are remaining here are living in
that were not destroyed seems to be
sAAooS OA t1S oloIS liz hll1O Wuele
the flames did not reach them.
MANY of the streets have been
cleared or partially cleared and all
property is marked by little wooden
slabs giving the owners name and
temporary address. Most of the
street cars, or as they call them,
tram cars, have had the bodies burn
ed off and now have a large, open
box-like body built on the running
gear and they are operating. we
took a ride on one of them going to
the end of the line-but everywhere
the situation is the same, only a few
houses intact.
"The average person who has new
er visited Japan will wonder how a
fire could get so hot and be so des-
tructive. But I will tell you that
most of the residential and a large
part of the business buildings are
built of wood and were close together
on narrow streets. The wood or
mostly used in their construc-
ton were implanted and only about
one-half and inch in thickness-the
partitions inside were made Of oiled
paper or grass mating. In a fire
with a strong breeze and water mains
broken SO that there was no quench-
ng with water, these houses melted
everything before them. Even the
'oofs OF many Of the houses were
made of a thatch of grass or rice
which was very dry and I'M
lamable at the cas- os inc year
the fire occurred.
Every where you look it is all the
anne. Stretching away almost as
as the eye can see are the many
quare miles of levelled ruins. Here
nd there among the tin huts are food
marching by, each individual
'resenting their tickets and receiv-
ng a few small cakes, some rice and
ONE unsteeped tea. Many merchants
re making a pitiful endeavor to re-
stablish themselves and you see
under tin shelters or in little
taked-off plots surrounded by their
GODS on display, which may be a few
airs of shoes, cloggs (wooden san
Isl, dress goods, fish or groceries,.
[ere and there among the ruins you
ee some posts covered with Japanese
haracters and with food and drink
ltting around and a few floral reefs
DO, while close beside stands one or
Jananese burning punk( such as
e use in lighting firecrackers) in a
OGDEN or earthenware bowls. This
a burial shrine at which they are
erforming the last rites for some
elative who died there or whose re-
lains are supposed to be buried be-
cath the debris there. These people
erforming these rites belong to the
hinto religion, which means that ,
ley are ancestor worshipers.
Just how many people were actu-
ly killed in the disaster is not
newn, or at least is not made public.
all We can get is rumors. They say
$1,000 in Yokohama and about {
0 1000 in Tokyo, though 1 think that {
is rather high for Tokyo. I
nyway 10000 persisted in one small
irk alone in Tokyo and about So, 900
ore were herded into a large So G
He'd fire proof building, where they
ought that they would be safe; but r
e heat of the fire was so intense t
at it melted the windows and the
ames swept through to the people g
into the as much as
or IL feet deep, the ones on top c
ing burned and those on the bottom 4
ere crushed. After, the fire was r
er and the building was opened up n
a few were found between the a
p and the bottom o 1.-THE mass Who'll =
IRE not yet dead and a few survived
r more Japanese were killed by ,
e fire than by the earthquake, this =
ing due to the pecularities of the
and to their thriftyness, which
ows that thriftyness may often be
i~asterous. If this had occurred in ~
.1erican, everybody would have Il
gathered up their money, b
very, perhaps an extra coat or two to
few heirlOOms or keepsakes, taken BY
,ir children and got out into the tn
1ntry by the nearest and safest B,
lite, when they saw that their a