Evening Post. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1925. A SHAKEN WORLD

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 4 September 1923, Page 6

Evening Post. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1925. A SHAKEN WORLD

For a parallel -with the disasters and threats of disaster recorded in yesterday's paper one must search far afield j beyond the records of fact, or even the liveliest fiction, to the prophetical record of the Book of Kevelation. It is difficult indeed to comprehend a disaster such as that which has overwhelmed great and populous cities in Japan. Beside the havoc there wrought by' earthquake, tidal waves, and fire, the Maitland Mine disaster appears small, yet it has. taken a toll of' lives and has been the occasion for wonderful displays of heroism. Then, far afield, in the Northern Hemisphere, a hurricane has brought ruin in one of the productive, districts of industrious, 'Denmark. And while the unseen hand was slowly shaping these terrible events, men who had isolated themselves in the cause of science were fighting" the last stages of a losing battle with, the forces of Nature on Wrangel Island. The battle fought by the scientists was a small affair, with DO applauding crowds to cheer the men who sought to wrest victory from the Arctic enemy, but it illustrated the constant struggle of man with the forces which he cannot control and is Only beginning to understand.

The struggle has been proceed-1 ing for untold ages, and man at j various timeß has thought to gain the mastery over Nature. He has j built ships to weather the wildest : storms, and has won the contest till some new and unforeseen force —an iceberg, perhaps—has again given the victory to natural forces. He has traced the earth with lines of earthquake faults, and sought to predict the times of disaster, or to erect buildings which would,i stand the severest shocks. But in ' spite of these advances in knowlege and construction methods, the great earthquake in Japan appears to have been as destructive as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. In human life alone the loss is now calculated at half a million— almost half the total population of New Zealand. One thing science has done is to cause us to realise more vividly the nature and extent of the disasters. If New Zealand had been inhabited 'by white men when the Lisbon earthquake happened, the news would have come here at the earliest two months after the event. Even when the San Francisco shock and firs occurred, seventeen years ago, tlie 'interrupted c.ommuniofttio.ni

around the city delayed the passage of news.' The Chilian earthquake last year isolated the suffering districts; but Japan, well equipped with wireless, can send the news'from ships within sight of the ruined areas. Simultaneously the reports reach us of the 1 other catastrophes which complete the dreadful record of destruction.

Improved communications serve a more useful purpose, however, than to provide the material for startling headlines in the newspapers: They enable the world which has not been stricken to send aid speedily to the sufferers. The day on which we received news of the ruin in Japan we were informed also that British and American ships were proceeding to the scene to help in the rescue work. Thus other nations are enabled to share in bearing the burden of calamity. It is at such times that the humanity of man is best displayed. When the forces of Nature are quiescent, the nations quarrel; but when destruction descends from unknown regions the wars • and quarrels are forgotten for the time. Unfortunately the lesson is not long remembered.' Only a few months ago attention was directed to Sicily by a volcanic outbreak. Italy's-, neighbours then offered their help and sympathy, and Italy was grateful. Now it is Italy which threatens to loose the wild horseman of war. This, at least, is a disaster which it is within human power to prevent. Earthquakes, tidal waves, storms, and the gases of the mine are unseen foes, and must be fought in darkness. But war is an enemy revealed. It is to be hoped that Italy will heed the warnings of Lord Curzon and Lord Kobert Cecil, and will submit her quarrel to the League of Nations. If she does so, there may be one less disaster added to the list.