THE JAPANESE HORROR.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4605, 24 September 1923, Page 1

THE JAPANESE HORROR.

A REMARKABLE PROPHECY. INVERCARGILL MAN NAMES DATE OF UPHEAVAL. A remarkable story of how the great earthquake which has shocked the world was foretold by a resident of Otatara, near Invercargill, a, montn prior to the event, was related to a New Zealand Times reporter by Mr T. W. Hannah, of Wellington. The letter in which the forecast was made was handed to the pressman, and was written by Mr John Bryson, a young man of about midtwonties,. who lives with his mother and makes a study of the weather, the sun, and other heavenly bodies a hohhby. Weather changes and sudden rises and falls in the temperature appear to have a fascination f°r him, as will be seen by his notes. He acts as agent for Mr Hannah in regard to a small property, and a brief report was accompanied oy a lettei showing how he had been studying the weather in the last few monthsThe notes show the progress of his observations, and the sequence of events which followed them. He recalls several sudden rises and falls in the themometer, with variations in climatic conditions. LIGHTNING CHANGES. The letter is dated ” Otatara, August 20th,” and reads as follows: — “A great number of storms have been coming and going in the sun .since the first week in April. These storms were the cause of all the floods, storms and earthquakes you have been reading about in the papers since the beginning of April. Bota April and May here were great months for extremes in the temperatures, the result of storms in the sun. . . .The temperatures rose in some instances Hom 60 to 96 (103 in one case), and then as suddenly drop ped to 60. Other records show changes in temperature on different days, with notes on June and August wealther, and the letter proceeds :—AH| these temper - atui’e.s were taken \ put in the open paddock with a Fahrenheit thermometer, and are quite correct. . . AH these sudden rises in the temperature were caused by very fierce storms in the sun of short duration, and if you will compare the dates you will find they tally with <he storms, floods, and earthquakes reported during April, May, and June. VERY HIGH TIDES. “The last week in JUne for aboutsix days the tides in New Zealand were exceptionally-high, although the weather was perfect. For the first .six days for the first week in July the tides were unusually small, the smallest tides there have been since 1910, the time of the drought. The writer then refers tp more storms in ,the sun, which were immediately followed by severe storms which did so much damage, and goes on to say“ I got a beautiful view of the planets Jupiter and Saturn -n •the first week in May, they being at their nearest to the earth. Jupiter at times nearest is 4101,000,000 distant. Saturn 850,000,000 miles. The cloud belts on Jupiter were quite distinct, and the ring that surrounds Saturn was quite visible. THE PROPHECY. “ There will probably be a very severe earthquake in the northern hemisphere in about 26 to 38 days time from now, August 20th. . • • Both the sun and moon came back suddenly to their old positions early in the autumn. The sun on June 21st rose 12 minutes later than on the same day last year, and also it now reaches its highest daily altitude 28 minutes later than it did during last spring and summer.” —J.B. EXPERTS INTERESTED. The letter was submitted to the authorities at Kelburn observatory, where it was read with considerable interest. Mr Bryson has written several letters of a similar nature to Mr aHnnah, and in a previous one foretold the quake which occurred in Wellington one Sunday early in the year. It is hoped to obtain a few books on the subject to forward to Mr Bryson to enable him to pursue his study, and if possible make practical use of his knowledge. The writer of a communication from China recently received by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce also predicted a terrific earthquake, and it was evident that he had based his calculations on the influence of the heavenly bodies on natural phenomena—as did the astrologers of old who as Pope said, “the future fates foreshow.”