“STAGGERING SIGHT”

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11650, 15 October 1923, Page 7

“STAGGERING SIGHT”

DEVASTATION IN JAPAN AUSTRALIAN RELIEF SHIP REACHES TOKIO. “CITY LIES IN ASHES.” (Special to Australian Press Associa* tion.) (Received October 14, 5.5 p.m.) TOKIO, October 13. The Australian relief ship Australmount has arrived. The greater part of Tokio lies in ashes. It is an appalling, staggering sight. The latest figures give the number of killed as 78,000, and the missing as 120,000. The houses destroyed in Tokio alone number 35,000. Few buildings are left untouched. The Press and leaders of the people expressed to the visitors profound gratitude for the help extended by Australia, America, Canada, and other countries to Japan in her hour of affliction. Such tokens of friendship and goodwill have deeply touched the people, and will never be forgotten. PITIABLE DESOLATION. From Yokohama to Tokio, a distance of 18 miles, the country presents a scene of pitiable desolation. Hardly a house escaped damage. Big landslides and great fissures are to be seen, bridges are down, the railway is destroyed in places, and much rollingstock is irreparably damaged. But the people are "now calmer and stolid, and determined to rebuild-a greater city. Dr Beard, an American city planner, is here to help in the great task. The earthquake shocks were responsible for many deaths, but the greatest number of lives were lost in the fires, as the result of tho flimsy character of tho houses in the congested area. The new city will be planned on more modern lines. The conflagration lasted two days and nights, but the ruins are still smouldering in some places. WONDERFUL RELIEF. Tokio’s material losses are estimated at over 1000 millions sterling. Great barracks and thousands of tents have been erected to afford temporary housing for the stricken people. The Government is applying itself in a wonderful manner to the task of sheltering, feeding, and clothing the people, and tending, the injured and sick. The American Red Cross is rendering invaluable assistance. It is estimated that 500,000 people are unemployed. Nineteen thousand factories were destroyed. NO FEAR OF FAMINE.

Food and clothing, sent from other .parts of Japan and other countries, are now so plentiful that no fear is entertained in that respect, but few people possess more than they stand up in. Their homes and all possessions * are gone. There is tragic distress on all sides. Bodies aTe still being unearthed from the debris, which lies in great tangled heaps. The naval and military authorities are conducting the salvage work, and thousands are employed in clearing the ruins. Fortunately the weather is cooler, and the rainy season has set in; otherwise a serious epidemic would be certain. Numerous cases of typhoid and dysentery are reported, but no great epidemic is feared. The ’Australmount’s shipment includes a large quantity of medical stores, which are much needed and appreciated. Yokohama is a city o fsmells, sulphur ■being mixed l with tne decaying matter. Tokio is less objectionable in this respect, but many canals are stagnant through the breakdown of the waterworks causing typhoid. The authorities are overcoming this as rapidly as possible. ORIGIN .OF EARTHQUAKES. It is. not unnatural that in the first excitment many incorrect statements were made. For instance, it was cabled to Australia that the earthquake was caused by the active volcano on the Island of and then sinking into the sea, and later reappearing. When approaching Yokohama Captain James, of the Australmount, wirelessed fo any change in sailing directions, and got a reply from an American ship that no special change was needed. Oshima Island is ©even miles long and 40 miles from Yokohama and was not much affected, but the lighthouse was damaged and no light was visible in Tokio. It is now stated that the earthquake originated in the sinkof the bed of the sea north of Ofrtuma, in Sagami Bay. Soundings show greater depth there than before the earthquake. DAMAGE BY FIRES CAUSED BY INCENDIARISTS? KOREANS SUSPECTED. By Telegraph.—-Press Assn.—Copyright. BRISBANE, October 13. Mr G. R. Rawson, a New Zealander, who ha a been teaching English in Japanese schools in Tokio, has arrived at Townsville. In an interview, he ©ays there is little doubt in the minds of many Japanese that 6ome of the fires associated wi£h the earthquake were caused by Koreans, who hated Japan, and took advantage of the calamity to add to the chaos. Miany inndoent Koreans wero unjustly put to death by the infuriated populace who held this theory. . Mr Rawson estimates that over 317,000 houses were in Tokio and Yokohama.