JAPANESE DISASTER.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 September 1923, Page 2

JAPANESE DISASTER.

LATEST CABLE NEWS

AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION. NEW YORK, Sept. 2. Tho United States Government has been unsuccessfully attempting for the last 24 hours to communicate with its Asiatic Fleet,- for the purpose of ordering it to proceed to Japan and g-'vo aid. No fears are felt for the Fleet’s safety. It is believed the American vessels were without the range of tho upheaval area, hut it is believed that the earthquakes have caused aiatmospheric disturbances, thus making wireless communication impossible. Honolulu wireless station reports its inability to communicate with Japan. CABLES WORKING AGAIN.

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 “The Times” lias now received tho first word over the cables from Japan. Its representative in Kyoto cables that ho is safe. It is expected that firsthand accounts of the disaster will now begin to arrive. A colossal DISASTER. LONDON, Sent. 2 The meagre news indicates the colossal nature of the disaster in Japan. The range of the upheaval was apparently 300 miles, from Osaka in the south to Sendai in the north, embracing the most thickly-populated section of Japan. Many towns are still blazing. The water supplies arc wrecked The populace are panic-stricken everywhere in the streets.

HEAPS OF DEAD. SHANGHAI. Sept, 2. Hundreds of foreigners were holidaying in the Hakone district, where tho force of i-'C earthquake shocks is believed to have been most severe. Fears are entertained for their safety. A naval radio, received from Funahaistu, says the Japanese Navy Department is not answering radio calls, and it is feared tile entire department has .ceil destroyed.

A British light- cruiser has been dispatched. being the only foreign war vessel said to be on route to Yokohama. It is reported that the new Premier Yomogato, and one of the young Imrerial T'rinoes, had a. liarrovv escape, the latter taking refuge in a bamboo patch. The countryside for 50 miles about Tokio is laid waste. Heaps of dead fill the streets of tho desolated towns. TIDAL WAVE WIPES TOWNS OUT.

PEKIN, September 2. An interrupted message from the steamer Koroamaru in Yokohama- Harbour estimates that tens of thousands are dead and states that the Tokio fire continues. Yokohama, has been destroyed and its refugees are without provisions, and beseeching ships for food. As many as possible are "being taken aboard and led. Meanwhile tho American warship Huron is proceeding to Yokohama with nurses, doctors and medical supplies. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2.

Martial law is being enforced in Tokio. Nobody is admitted without provisions. The Nippon and Basin wards of the city were annihilated. Eight other wards in the city Mere swept by the fire. All aviator was unable to see a single house in Kamakura or Yokosuka as the result of tho tidal wave. Fourteen hundred houses were burned in Yokohama. The Mamie district, surrounding Yokosuka; was wiped out. The ships there "ere stranded. All t.lO bridges oil the Sujnitla. River have been lost. The towns of Noshima and Kamakura are turned into a- muddy sea.

AMERICAN HELP. WASHINGTON, Sept. 2. K American Red Cross has cabled Its Chinese and Philippine stations to rush all its available personnel and supplies to the stricken cities of Japan. The organisation also communicated with the Japanese Government, declaring itself ready to make whatever appropriation is necessary to carry out relief work, in memory of the Japanese Red Cross Society’s expenditure of 100,000 dollars at tho time of the San Francisco earthquake.

SCIENTISTS’ SYM PATHY. SYDNEY, Sept. 3. The Science Congress accepted Professor Sakurai’s invitation for tho next Congress to meet in Tokio in 1926. In accepting the invitation, the greatest sympathy was expressed with Japan over the earthquake disaster. SHOCKS AND FIRES CONTINUE. SHANGHAI, Sept. 2. The latest; report from the city of Nagasaki says: Though it is imposlible to estimate the earthquake casualties in Tokio, it is feared that Ihcv exceed those of the great earthquake in 1850, which killed over a hundred thousand in Yedo alone. The report says the Fuji Spinning Mills, near Mount Fuji, collapsed, and eight thousand operators in the mills perished.

Hnkoiie, a famous mountain resort, has almost been wiped out. Tokio city was still burning late on Sunday night, Explosions were frequently to be heard. Intermittent earthquakes continue. WORST JAPAN HAS KNOWN. LONDON, Sept. 2 The “Daily Express” Osaka correspondent says: "It is impossible to givo an idea of the disaster. Yokohama has practically been destroyed. Tokio city is cut off. All we know is that the loss of life is greater than in any previous earthquake. Before communication was cut off, we were told that, one-quarter of the capital was not burning, but that the rest of it was enveloped ill flames. The population were rushing about madly, being trampled upon, crushed lo death, or suffocated in smoke. The Government offices had disappeared. The Imperial Palace was afire. The roadways of Yokohama are thick with dead.”

DEATH OK 600,000 REPORTED. NEW YORK. Sept. 2 The American Radio Corporation has received a further wireless stating: The Japanese city of Nagoya has been destroyed. The whole [>opulation of six hundred thousand people, are believed to be dead. OVER HALF A MILLION DEAD. SHANGHAI, Sept, 2. Early estimates show that a total in excess of one hundred thousand people are dead in Tokio City. Many small Japanese cities have been completely destroyed. It is feared the deaths exceed half a million people.