TYPHOON IN JAPAN.

ENORMOUS LOSSES, 4

Details have reached England through Reuter's Agency of the terrible typhoon which ravaged Japan on September 22 and 23. Damage amounting to £4,000,000 was done to property, and there was much loss of life. At Osaka the observatory registered the velocity of the wind at 82 miles an hour, the highest figure ever recorded. In Yokohama the French cruiser Dupleix dragged her anchors and . grounded < n the sand, but she was rescued the following day by the Kleber, her sister ship. Masts were broken off the Satsura and the Marashu, which were engaged m exercises m the Bay of Ise. Two torpedo destroj'ers, the Fubuki and Tachibana, and two torpedo boats went ashore m the Bay of Toba. At Mikuni Bay, on the north, a squadron of four torpedo boats ran for shelter, but before this could be attained the commodore's vessel foundered' with all on board. The other vessels of the detachment proceeded to her assistance, but on September 28 were reported' missing. The Dutch cruiser Holland ran into the centre of the typhoon, stood out to sea, and weathered the storm, but lost every boat on board and all the fittings on deck. Of the merchant marine the loss is reported of the Umegaka Maru, a vessel of some 8,000 tons, of the Shimonoseki Fusan line. The water entered her whilst she was anchored outside Shimonoseki. She was insured for about £100,000 with Lloyd's. The Yedo Maru foundered at sea, and 36 persons were reported lost. The Keiko Maru foundered off Nagoya, with 38 men on board, and the Bansai Maru sank off Hokkaido, and the Yamata Maru off Osaka. A number of other vessels were driven ashore all round the coast, and a report from Osaka stated 1 that eight steamers were ashore m Aichi prefecture. — 400 Fishermen Drowned. — In Formosa the loss of the Dacre Castle has to be recorded. Of the fishing fleet of Sapporro, consisting of 60 vessels, no fewer than 38 foundered, carrying down 400 men with them. For several days Tokio was telegraphically and telephonically isolated from the north and west. At Takaoka <i passenger train was blown off the line, and, although no one was killed, every person m the train was more or less seriously injured. At Nagoj'a and m Aichi prefecture 10,243 houses and 4,000 other buildings were wrecked, and the damage m that prefecture alone is estimated at £1,500,000. At Gifu the East Hongwanji Temple was ruined, the great nail of the West Hongwanji collapsed, the museum fell, and the Renshoji Temple was destroj'ed. In addition 6,896 houses and 3,772 other buildings were wrecked, 103 bodies were recovered, and 269 persons were reported missing. At Wakamaya 10,000 houses were ruined' by the wind and tidal waves, and fleets of boats and sampans were thrown far up on the land. In the Kagawa prefecture the village of Marugame was carried out to sea, and that of Uenishi Maru was overwhelmed by a landslide and floods. The military saved 3,000 persons m boats. In Toba the damage is estimated at £150,000. The great bronze bell hung on the summit of Mount Inaba was carried away by the tempest, and the Kasuga Shrine at Nara, a famous building, m part over 1,000 years old, was wrecked. At Nara 35 persons were killed outright, and there were nearly 200 missing and wounded. The marine insurance losses on vessels which are known to have gone down total between £175,000 and £200,000.