TYPHOON IN JAPAN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 184, 21 December 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

TYPHOON IN JAPAN

ENORMOUS LOSSES. A VILLAGE CARRIED TO SEA. Details have reached England through Renter's Agency of the terrible typhoon which ravaged Japan on September 22 and 23. Damage amounting to £4,000.OUO was done to property, and there was much loss of life. At Osaka the observatory registered the volocity of the wind at 82 miles-an hour, the highest figure yet recorded. In Yokohama the French cruiser Dupleix dragged her anchors and grounded on the sand, but she was rescued the following day by the Kleber, her sister ship. Masts were broken on' the Satsura and the Marashu, which were engaged in exercises in the Bay of Ise, Two torpedo destroyers, the'Fubuki and Tachibana, and two torpedo boats' went ashore in 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 2S 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 L'megaka Maru, a vessel of some 3000 tons, of tha Shimonoseki Fusan line. The water entered her whilst she was anchored outside Shimonoseki. She was insured lor about £IOO.OOO with Lloyd's. The Vedo Maru foundered at sea, and 30 persons were reported lost. The Keiko* Maru foundered off Nagoya, with\3B men on board, and the Ba'nsai Maru sank off Hokkaido, and the Yamata Maru oil' Osaka. A number of other vessels wera driven ashore all round the coast, and a report from Osaka stated that eight steamers were ashore in Aiehi prefecture

400 FISHERMEN DROWNED, In Formosa the loss of the Dacre. Castle has to be recorded. Of the fishing fleet of Sapporro, consisting of 00 vessels, no fewer than 38 foundered, carrying down with them 400 men. For several days Tokio was telegraphically and telephonically isolated from the north and west. 'At Ta'kaoka a passenger train was blown off the line, although no one was killed, but every person in the train was more or less' seriously injured. At Nagoya and in Aichi prefecture 10,243 houses'' and 400 other buildings were wrecked, and the damage in that prefecture alone is estimated at X,), 500,000. At Gifp the East llongwanji Temple was ruined, the great hall of the West Hongwanji collapsed, the museum fell, and the Renshoji Temple was destroyed. In addition, 0890 houses and 3772 other buildings were wrecked, 103 bodies were recovered, and '269 per-, sons 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 Kagaka 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 3000 persons in 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 Slirine at Xara, a famous building, in part over 1000 years old. was wrecked. At Xara 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.