CITIES OF RUINS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17171, 15 October 1923, Page 4

CITIES OF RUINS.

CONDITIONS IN JAPAN. NEW MODERN TOWNS PLANNED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Sydney Sun Cables. TOKIO, October 13. Til© Australian relief ship Australmount has arrived. The greater part of Tokio lies in ashes. It is an appalling, a staggering sight. Latest figures give the killed at 78,000 and the missing at 120,000. The houses destroyed, in Tokio alone, total 35,000. Few buildings have been left untouched. The Press and also leaders of the people expressed to the Australian 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 had deeply touched the people and would never be forgotten. From Yokohama to Tokio, a distance of eighteen miles, the country presents a scene of pitiable desolation. Hardly a house has escaped damage. Big land- . slides and great fissures are to be seen. Bridges are down and the railway has been destroyed in places. Much rolling stock ha v s been irreparably damaged. The people are now calmer, more stolid and determined to rebuild a greater city. Dr Beard, the American townplanning expert, is here to help in the great task. Earthquake shocks were responsible for many deaths but the greater number of lives were lost in the fires, a j result of the flimsy character of the 1 houses in the congested areas. The new cit}' will be planned on more | modern lines. The conflagration lasted two days and nights and the ruins are still smouldering in some places. Tokio's material losses are estimated ; at over £1,000.000,000. Great barracks and thousands of 1 tents have l>een erected to afford temporary housing for the stricken people and the Government is applying itself in a wonderful manner to the task of sheltering, feeding and clothing people and tending injured and sick. The American Red Cross is rendering invaluable assistance. It is estimated that 500,000 people are unemployed, and that 10,000 factories have been destroyed. Food and clothing, sent from other parts of Japan and from other countries, are now so plentiful that uo fear j is entertained in that respect, but few people .possess more than they stand up in. Their homes and all their possessions have gone, and there is tragic distress on all sides.

Bodies are still being unearthed among the debris, which lies in great tangled heaps. The military authorities are conducting the salvage work, and thousands are employed clearing the ruins. Fortunately the weather is cooler, and the rainy season has set- in. other- j wise a serious epidemic was certain. Numerous cases of typhoid fever and dysentery have been l-eported, but no great epidemic is now feared. The Australmount’s shipment includes a large quantity of medical stores, whcli were much needed and ap predated. Yokohama is a city of smells, sulphur being mixed with decaying matter. Tokio is less objectionable in this re spect, but- manv canals are stagnant ' through the breakdown of the water- I works, and are causing typhoid. The j authorities are overcoming this as j rapidly as possible.