SCENES IN THE STRICKEN AREA OF JAPAN.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 213, 8 September 1923, Page 17

SCENES IN THE STRICKEN AREA OF JAPAN.

Theatre Street (Isezakicho), situated in the heart of Yokohama, and one of the most picturesque streets in Japan, is almost certain, because of its position and the flimsiness of the structures that border it, to have been completely destroyed in the recent disaster. It wai

No one who tour* Japan fails to visit the bronze Buddha at Kamekura, fourteen miles south west of Yokohama, a small town of some 8000 inhabitants, which would appear to have been practically wiped out by earthquake and fire. The statue it the most majestic among Japanese sacred effigies in bronze, and an extraordinary relic of the great past. It was cast in 1252 A.D. in plates about one inch thick, joined with" such skill that a few only of the seams have been bared by exposure to the elements,. although the last building that enclosed it was destroyed by a tidal wave at far back as 1494. It is impossible to give any idea of the remarkable sense of repose and serenity that this masterpiece conveys. The impression is one of profound raedita-

began to add cargo boats to their fleet, the first being the Otararaa, Tckoa and the Waikato. With tile building of the first Ruahine a new type was introduced into the company's fleet t,h e central citadel Tor accommodating saloon passengers—and this type is now adopted by all passenger lines. CONTROL FROM LONDON. The company's present fleet is thoroughly up-to-date. The principal passenger steamers are fitted for burning oil fuel, and the cargo boats with tur- , bines of different types. The fleet has | been increased from time to time until | now, with its subsidiary company (the i Federal Company) there are 08 vessels 1 of 357,213 tons gross under its control, ! besides which it acts as agents for a j number of other linfes. j When the company started its line of i steamers the financial control to a great | extent drifted to London, and under the | amalgamation scheme with the P. and | 0 Company, the whole of the ordinary j shares in the Shipping Company were j tliken over by the 1 , , and O. in exchange j for an equivalent amount of P. and O. i The first shipment of frozen meat from j Auckland was taken by the company's i barque Mataura in 1883, and as there | were no shore freezing works in those I (lavs, the fresh killed meat had to be taken down to the ship and frozen on board. As ma .V be imagined, this was | a very slow process. The condition of j the h"r=t shipment on arrival at London was not satisfactory, and many were the difficulties that had to be got over before the meat trade was brought up to its present state of efficiency. On examining the old documents of the Freight Company one cannot help noticing how things have changed duriii2 the last 50 years 111 Auckland, one instance of it being that out of 67 names j appearing on the original list of shareholders in the Nov.- Zealand Freight Company only seven of the firms are now j in existence: A- Clark and Rons, E. Porter and Co., W. C. Wilson, H. Brett, X Buckland and Sons, Kempthorne, 7- -■ ---- γ-v ■:"■ ■-■ '"■';':' ■'■■. ■ Vv ■■;. :

Prosser and Co. (N T .Z. Drug Co.) and H. B. Morton. It is interesting to note that from 1872 to 1922 the Freight Company and the New Zealand Shipping Company had only two managers in AucklandMr. John Hatger, who was secretary of the Freight Company, and afterwards local manager of the Shipping Company, serving from .1872 to ISSti; and his successor, Mr. C. V. Hnugliton, who retired last year, after having managed the Auckland branch for over 30 years.

attractive to visitors to Yokohama became of the seething life and colour of the myriad small shops and harlequin theatres lining the thoroughfare. The street was generally hung across with numerous strings of bright bunting and the various shows advertised their attractions with garish posters.

tion; the serene majesty of the calm, beautiful, pure Hindu type ot face combines wonderful peace, with complete detachment from its environment. The statue appears to 611 the entire end of the narrow valley with it* immense bulk. It sits on a lotus flower raised on a crude masonry base about five feet high. Some of the most interesting measurements of this famous Buddha are: Height 49ft 7in, circumference 97ft Zin, length of face Bft sin, of eye 3ft 11 in, of ear 6ft 6in, of nose 3ft 9in, width of mouth 3ft 2in, from ear to ear 17ft 9in. It is said that the eyes are of pure gold, and that the bos* of the forehead (which is lft 3in diameter, and represents the jewel which sheds a radiance over the universe) contains 301b of pure silver.