ORDEAL BY FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 92, 15 October 1927, Page 21

ORDEAL BY FIRE

THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE

JAPANESE EFFICIENCY

"The Great Earthquake of 1923 in Japan." Compiled by the Bureau of Social Affairs, Home Office, Japan. (Through H.I.J.M.'s Con-sulate-Gener-al for Japan, Sydney.) "This is the time when the people must ba one In their courageous endeavour for the prosperity: and expansion of the country." These simple but forceful words were taken from* an edict bearing the Imperial Seal pf Japan, dated 11th November, 1923. ;, They were written at a time when the Government and people of Japan were just recovering from the stunning effects of the blow of the earthquake of Ist September, 1923, probably the greatest national disaster of which authentic history has any record. On Ist September, 1923, up to just before noon, the teeming peoples of Tokio and Yokohama and of the towns in their neighbourhood were going about their business in the ordinary way with never a thought of the awful ordeal through which they were about to pass though. The wind had been blowing hard and with rain, but towardi3 I noon the weather became insufferably hot. There was nothing in the weather to suggest the impending cataclysm. At exactly 11.58 a.m. the earth shook, and there was. a .rumbling sound like that of distant thunder. Other shocks followed iii quick succession. Houses in Tokio went down with a crash in the first quake, and more and more collapsed with each violent shuddering of the earth. In an instant 'people in their thousands poured out into the streets. Blank amazement was on every face as shock succeeded shock: and there were 222 shocks in 24 hours. It seemed as if the world were going all the pieces. Simultaneously with the shocks water mains burst in pieces; electric wires snapped and fell; all gas supply was cut off; and great pillars of black smoke shot up into the air. All communications were 1 destroyed. Fire had the mastery of the great city of Tokio, over 130 fires breaking out at once. Smoke and flame' spread over all the city. Drugs and chemicals in shops and warehouses ignited and exploded, adding to the horrors of the hour. Firemen without water .were powerless to check the fury and progress of the flames which swept the' fleeing people before them and sometimes surrounded them with flames, burning hundreds to death at a time. . Cyclones developed in the air, and whirlwinds of fire passed through and through the city, hundreds of people being caught inthemand carriedbattered and bruised in their course. Great fissures opened in the streets and roads of r the city; tram and rail tracks were twisted like ravelled string; tunnels caved in; people: were trapped in buildings and there burned to death, often beneath huge piles of flaming wreckage. , ■ , . .'• . . YOKOHAMA A ETJRNACE. In Yokohama the buildings rocked like ships in a gale, then fell, crashing to-the trembling earth, all bricks, stones steel, and concrete. Great structures swayed, hung poised for a moment, and sank down' in clouds of dust, to be followed by black smoke and hurricanes of fire. Dead and dying were lying everywhere. Indescribable were the injuries of most of them. Screams of women and children penetrated the noise of roaring of the fires; and of the fall ing of masonry^

Old travellers in Japan knew well the former Oriental and Grand Hotels, which wore on the waterfront at Yokohama. On Ist September, 1923, the guests at.; these hotels -were seated at tiffin, or taking the usual cocktails at the bar, fcefore the midday meal. At two minutes to the hour of noon the buildings were violently uplifted, and their walls bellied out and collapsed, crushing men and women and children beneath them. Immediately fire burst out from the kitchens and spread over the ruins. ', Fully 200 foreigners and Japapanese lost their lives in a moment when the 'hotels fell. As' in Tokio, so the flames swept through Yokohama in cyclones of fire, devouring.as they went, and later in the day they reached stored explosives causing terrific reports, ail adding to the terror of the day. Crude oi) floated flaming out to sea among the shipping in port. On the canals and rivers of Yokohama maddened refugees rushed for the pleasure barges, where they were wont to spend their summer evenings in tea and conversation. But the flames reached them there, consuming the barges. Hundreds who divefl overboard' or fell into the water were drowned, increasing the awful toll taken by the disaster.

0 -or all, cyclones of winds generated by the fires, rained bricks, galvanised iron sheets, arid flaming embers. A heap of 40,000 tons of coal caught fire and burned for two months after the earthquake.. THE SEA ON FIRE. The great naval depot at Yokosuka, the Japanese Portsmouth, was enveloped in smoke and flames caused by the., bursting and ignition of 80,000 tons" of fuel oil. Warships with steam up had to put to sea full speed ahead to escape the fiery tide 684 people were killed and 897 injured in Yokosuka, and 14,300 houses destroyed. In the country districts there was terrible . destruction, especially at the famous resorts of Hakohe and Miyanoshita, both well known to foreign tourists at Tonosawa, ■ which is situated in a gorge very like the Kaiwarra and Ngahauranga Gorges of Wellington. Mountain sides slipped down, carrying the forest with them, also many, houses perched on their slopes. .All were precipitated .-into.' the streams, blocking them up. Floods of pent-up waters burst out here and there, carrying everything before them.. Villages were buried under water, mud, sand, and boulders.

Tourists familiar with the colossal bronze Dai Butsu at Kamakura will be interested to know that it was pushed forward three feet from its stone base. Kamakura, the beautiful village by the sea, was almost entirely destroyed; as were many other villages and towns off the beaten tourist tracks.

To the fire and its horrors succeeded wild, terrifying rumours. The Koreans in Japan came in' for much suspicion, entirely groundless, and the military and police had the utmost difficulty in pacifying tho maddened mob.

The bottom of the sea rose in some places and fell in others, and tidal waves, from 10 to 40 feet high, swept parts of the great Bay of Sagami, through which all navigation to and from Yokohama has to pass. Gas and hot water spurted out in places along the coast. PROMPT MEASURES. But leaving the graphic official description of this unprecedented and gigantic disaster as set out in this: report with its ' exhaustive. tabular, photographic, and cartographic information, supplementing the text, the fact that most deeply impresses itself on the mind of the reader is the wonderful work done by the Government and municipal authorities. The utmost use was made of 'wireless in taking the place of telegraphs, and cables, destroyed by the fire; aeroplanes were also used in conveying dispatches from Tokio to other parts of Japan not affected by the earthquake. Never before had the Japanese so bril-* liantly demonstrated to the world their astounding organising ability. Never before did this people .command greater admiration for the courage and coolheadedness in circumstances of which history contains probably no parallel. The army, navy, police, and firemen never lost their heads, but went about their duties with firmness and courage. Martial law was at once proclaimed in affected areas, and the Crown Prince, who at once visited the smoking ruined city^ of Tokyo, himself issued an order

three days after the earthquake requiring the officials of the State to — "Take by your united efforts appropriate emergency methods to meet the requirements of the moment and exert yourselves for the satisfactory realisation of this pressing need." And they did. Indeed, His Royal Highness's order was anticipated. The first thing done without an hour's delay after the disaster was to restore order, then procure water, food, and shelter. Saving the people from themselves, many had to be kept ou J of burning buildings at the point of the bayonet, so - anxious were they to dart back into blazing buildings to rescue their property. A WORK TOR THE WORLD. The contents of this record should appeal with force to Governments of every land where seismic disturbances occur or are likely to occur. The scientist, police officer, engineer, architect, merchant, and financier in such countries will each find in the record very much to interest them. The San Francisco disaster was serious enough; but mild in loss of life and property by the comparison with the great earthquake in Japan in 1923. . The relief police and military organisation, reconstructive work, and emergency legislation are fully dealt with in detail in 'this record. The work has been most thoroughly done, considered from every point of view. . ' ' Incidentally, the report is a masterRieee of the printer's art and craft. The report is bound in grey corded silk and is gold lettered, and the pages are heavily gilded on the top edges. An ideographic title in gold and scarlet appears on the front of the report. Maps, plans, and diagrams are all bound in a separate volume. The whole production is one of which the Japanese craftsmen engaged upon it have just reason to be proud. » A copy of the report has been sent to His Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, from the Japanese Consulate-General i» Sydney. Z