Evening star., 1923-09-03
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MARYLAND and Virginia
All Other States.
Member of the Associated Press.
Cataclysm.

Such q disaster as that which has
Just occurred in Japan is not to be
readily measured by Americans. who
have no standards of comparison.
Great catastrophes have been suffered
In this country, but none approac ching
in any degree the cataciysmic horror
that has befallen the land Of the ris-
ing sun.
Earthquake, fire, food and volcanic
eruptions have taken perhaps the
heaviest toll ever exacted in modern
history. The estimates of the, loss of.
life range into six figures. Two hun
dred thousand is the latest guess-the
reckoning cannot be better at present
than Observation-Disclosures some re-
ports suggest a higher number. Per-
haps the total of casualties will never
be known. Only by subtraction. in
some places, can the count be made.
{ Thus. in the city Of Hakone. for ex-
ample, it is stated that it is easier to
count the living than the dead"
The loss in property will reach
? staggering total, likewise perhaps
; never to be known with any exactness.
Immense areas have been swept by
flames, or enguifed by tidal waves, or
pulverized by shaking earth. or over
whelmed by volcanic emissions. Many
notable historic structures have been
destroyed. Owing to the wide area
! covered by the shocks and their at
. tendant consequences the losses to in
dustry will be beyond reckoning. Rail
ways are wrecked. and the shock to
the productive work of the japanese
will be severe beyond any previous
experience even in that land of fire..
quent seismic visitations.
In this emergency the world stands
ready to help the people Of the stricken
:. island. Every possible means Of succor
: will be rendered. But, unfortunately,
there is little that can be done quick
ly, owing to the great distances be-
; tween Japan and the countries from
. which the supplies of relief must pro-
ceed. Yet with the system of interna-
tional credits ii may be that material
. aid can be placed within reach in sea
result of the almost total loss of all
that the survivors OF the horror have
. possessed. If instant sympathy and
organization and action can work re-
suits that relief will be given.
Those who witnessed the scenes in
San Francisco in 1906, when that city
was first shaken by violent convuI-
sion of the crust and then, in conse
quence Of broken water mains, was
subjected to a sweeping confla grafton
: of terrific magnitude and extent, will
have. some measure Of the ghastly
!, ruin wrought by the japanese cata-
ciysm. But there is a difference. In
Japan the greater part of the con-
.struction is fiimsy, little more than
wood and paper, and fire once start
ed RACES without check until virtually
everything is destroyed. 1t spreads al
most with explosive swiftness. Thus
in the accounts are reports of the COM
plete vanishment of entire towns and
even cities. leaving scarcely any traces
Of their previous prosperous existence.
Nothing of that sort has ever occurred
in America, even though it has been
visited by some enormously destruc-
tive conflagrations.
Probably not for days will the full
extent of the disas ster be known The
cables are broken by the shocks and
tidal waves, and by radio chiefly are
the reports now coming. The mere
gathering of the facts is attended with
the greatest difficulty, although the
area of the terror is comparatively
restricted But soon enough will come
the facts. Sufficient is already known
to mark this as one of the most gigan-
tic and hideous ealamities ever suf-
fered by people.