Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-10-20
PERSONAL ACCOUNT
TERRIBLE DESTRUCTION IN
JAPANESE QUAKE

Especial to the Kennebec JournaD
Fairfield, Me-, Oct. 1S-The follow
ing letter was received by Mrs. J. c.
Holmes of Claremont, Cal, formerly
Miss Jennie H. Edwards of Madison,
from her husband, Jerry c. Holmes,
who for the past ten years has served
as a missionary under the American
Board of Missions for the Congrega-
tional church in Japan and director
of the Japanese Language School in
Toxic.
The letter was sent here to her
aunt. Mrs. Fred o. Savage, who is
passing it on for the benefit of her
former friends.
"Kamakura, September 5.
Dear Ones at Home:
1T is four full days since the
earthquake. Tomorrow I hope to be
able to send a letter off to Hackett
(our business agent at kobe) by
messenger to Yokosuka, thence by
boat to NumaZu. From Namazu the
trains are running. l am asking
him to cable you and trust you will
have received a cable long before
this reaches you. (Mr. Holmes was
not heard from for some time and it
was feared that the worst might have
happened until the cablegram bear
ing the one word safe" was re-
ceived.) 1 am dreadfully sorry you
have had to go through the suspense
that has been inevitable but there
is no post Office nor anything else.
Last Saturday morning at about
! 10 o'clock Kamei San (the Japanese
/ boy who lives with us) said: Lets
MT 70 IL
our feet want. We went. Had we
not gone we should not now beralive.
We called on Mrs. Shimizu Ca Jap
anese friend) to tell her how to make
fig pickles. Then we went to the
photographers to get some pictures
had left. Then we went to see Miss
Hall Cher home is in Perris, CALI
who had just returned from Gotemba.
We were standing at her door talking
when the quake began. We made
her jump down and run into her
yard. Sugihara San and Mrs. Ukai
and her small boy were with us. We
sat on the ground but even then we
were thrown about and could not
stay in the same spot. The trees
and houses danced. In less than 80
seconds the Methodist church
! tumbled over toward us and we could
hear one grand crash as houses in
| our vicinity caved in.
1T was quick, it was terrible, 1t
was complete.
| when we got onto our feet in a
minute the whole face of the earth
, was changed. Then a second severe
shock threw us down to the earth
| again. Miss Bassett's house was a
wreck but had not fallen. Mrs.
| Halls house was standing. (The two
houses were close together connect
| ed by a wooden walk which could
be raised and lowered at WILLY The
! big Methodist kindergarten was only
a heap of ruins. From the houses
| ir front of us rose cries. We went
down and helped open the roof. Five
people we're buried but not injured.
Inside &, five minutes fire broke out
| at the Sour corners near the drug
store. From there it swept on the
| left side Of the road clear up to
| Hachiman Ca famous military
shrine). Practically everything was
burned fiat, although it was fat be-
| fore it was burned. From that cor
ner halfway to the Hase (the next
section of kamakura) everything
burned fat. The new Presbyterian
church burned too.
The primary school is fiat as q
| pancake, the girls school too. School
began that day but the children had
just gone home and so were saved
THE great toril Gan immense
granite gateway over the road
leading to the military shrine)
is a fearful wreck. In all Kama
kuri there are only two or three
houses standing in which people car
live with any degree of safety.
I'VE ran back to the Shimizu's
Mrs. Shimizu was in the house but
the place where she was, was fairly
safe although the house is a com.
plete wreck. When l say that,
mean nothing is standing. 1t Is
all shaken down. Mrs. Shimizu broke
hole in the (Japanese) ceiling and
came out with the children and one
maid. The other maid was buried In
I another place. Kanui San and two
others went in and dug her out. She
was not especially injured. But. oh
it was terrible. Many people were
penned in and burned to death. II
is so terrible that fortunately we
cannot grasp it all.
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