DEATH AND RUIN IN JAPAN.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1958, 15 January 1914, Page 5

DEATH AND RUIN IN JAPAN.

l§ffil&lA' ? IN VIOLENT ; |VILLAGES'(OVERWHELMEa; " ■ : Bj£Tel4erapJi;£p^ Tokfo, ■' January' 13. ijU'iio,' firstyoruption'i-.i of.; Sakura-jima volcano,'-whichAhasJbcen'v dormant for 130.--ycars;- ; occurred:Oir Saturday, morn- ■.-' hhiormousXbloekvfof'"'-• stone' wort ; .thrown.27oo*'fcotj'tisonid' being ■carried. twent.vT •..'■ " :: -..- Streams- of ■" lava'Tdvcnvhelmed throe Tillages; killing many of the inhabit, ants. • Tho-remainder fled'in boats So Iv.agoshima,v I but.,the"firo. spread to the .mainland.---'-:*;* ' ■<•':■?■'.'■■'. ! -' Further' carried burning • lava to,;Kagoshima,*. and ignited the hemscs.".' : '"' ;.'•'■'The inhabitants" (led, 'but hundreds perished.':..The--'refugees .crowded tho freight .trains leaving northwards. ■ By tho evening-Kagoshima was deserted, 1 ; Tho sole occupant, a plucky telegraph'official, telegraphed yesterday .that the. whole placa was covercrl in ashes, smoke.';, and earthquakes making the situation'■ increasingly horrible. ; .v' 4 . Further! reports show'that there arc ■ continuous;-'oiuptions of Sakura-jima, which is.now enveloped in flames." -"■-.The, island, '>: which > contained ten thousand inhabitants; 11 .; .is , now unap- " pronehable. . ."■■■:' : ■'"'■' . . The fugitives stata that linli of tho people_ have-, perished. : ; j\''. 1 : ;-^ : f'.' - ; . ' HOHflOtt.'^-'"' 1 '::. 1 . 'i^S/TIDAL?WAVE THREATEN " : ;?V' v HISFUttEES." I ;;"Timcs"—Sydney "Sun" Special Cables. I \SlsS^i^P;'. January U, 9.25 p.m.) : "- Tokto, January 13. ■ Ay tidal'wave added to tho horrors of the '' Kagoshima disaster, whew the '. Hoeing .multitudes had crowded to the beach. ~'>if : "■£•:. '':V\ ■ ::--n4-(Hcc:- January 15, 0.5 a.in.) -\ ' ''■: ■' ' "' V:' v . Tohlo, January 14. ' -• The . eruption .at • the volcano of Sakura-shima- commoneed by enormous columns.of smoke' bursting out at several points. Forty minutes later came the eruption at- the summit. ■'■ The houses on tho east side of Sakurashima were first on fire, and tho sur- ■ viving inhabitants thronged the beach. 1 The police commandeered lighters and took the refugees on hoard. : .'■ The heat was intense. The skv was '■ darkened with smoke, and seen' from tho mainland the island presented a magnificent spectacle. It appeared to be-.enveloped in flames, its bril- ■ .lianco■-" being constantly . enhanced ■ bv" - eruptions from- the crater. Meanwhile the population of seventy thousand at Kagoshima Bay believed that their, homes were about to share ; the fate of the island. Hundreds of 'houses were destroyed, and the inhabitants killed or injured. v '-Kagoshima itself was shaken by an earthquake every three or fivo minutes. |- two' hundred tremors being registered ■ on Sunday. . -■;": The crater of Asama'is also active. i. ivhiioEirishiuwi, thirty' miles Miol'thoui ' Kagoshimii, is also causing devastation, i 'Seismic ■■'disturbances ■ are occurring i'■.throughout thoKynshyu province.*-- ■■• i ■ Nagasaki, a hundred miles away;' is .. covered.with volcanic ash.. [ ■..■;Jlonnt Sakura-jima, iu Kagoshima Bar, 3743 ft. hifih, is an island volcano, with .-. ; several parasitic coups, now extinct, cm the north and east sides. At the summit . arss two- deep craters, tho southern of which emits steam. Grass grows, however, to tho very edsres of the crater. The island is celebrated for thermal springs, ornnffes. am! diakon (radishes', which, sometimes grow to a weight of 7011>. ..•VESUVIUS AWAKENING. ; ;;:<AN EXPLORER'S WARXTXG. j "Times"—Sydney "Sun" Special Cabins. „■"_ ■ Urnion, Januarv 13. '' • '-.Mr. Bitrlmgham, who recently de- [ seondc-d the crater of Mount Vesuvius • to ■ secure Cinematograph lilins, states 1 that, the -'.volcano is undoubtedly preparing for another eruption. • . The walls are structurally weak and ..-: the lava will break through and destroy , one side. .Out of an abyss two mile's ,' deep lava-'rnr.hcs with a hollow -roar. ; accompanied bv douse clouds of in- • caiidcscont. pink smoke.