Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1896 — VICTIMS OF THE SEA. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

VICTIMS OF THE SEA.

Thirty Thousand People Drowned by the Tidal Wave in Japan. Thirty thousand souls hurried to eternity; thirty thousand lives blotted out iu five minutes; probably the same nnmber of emaciated sufferers stalking hungryeyed about the ruins of their former homes—that, briefly, is the story ot the great wave that swept up from the sea and engulfed (he coast of the island of Yexo, Japan. Following is the summary of the results »f the disaster: Iwate— 25,413 deaths. 1,244 wounded. 5,030 houses svsept deaths. 505 wounded. GtSM houses swept away or destroyed. Aomori—346 deaths, 243 wounded, 454 houses swept away or destabyed. Totals—2B.4l6 deaths, 1.w2 wounded. 6.202 houses swept away or destroyed. Of various tjjwus and villages that were visited by Tfio calamity Kamaishi and Taro suffered 1 most. In the former 4,700 ont of 6.557 iicnple were drowned, while iu the latter 2,656%ut of 3,747 were killed. It was shortly before 8 o’clock on the night of Monday, June 15; that dwellers near the coast lihftM a strange sound that came out from the sea, swelling on the calm evening air. The dreaded tsunami (sea wave) was not altogether new to some of those who were so soon to become its victims. But it is asserted that the people were exceedingly slow to realize the immensity of the danger that threatened them. "Tsunami!" cried a terrorstricken fisherman, and "Tsunalni!” passed the echoing wail swiftly from man to man until the silent fishing hamlets rang with the cry. Mad with terror that lent speed to their flying fpet, the dwellers

forsook their frail, thatched huts, anl lushed for the bluffs topping the sleeping villages. Some of the first to floe gained places of safety, saw the pliosphorescent waters clamor and toss timliers and human beings almost at their feet, and beard them sullenly retreat with their ghastly burden. Others caught by the sen and beaten most cruelly by the debris which it bore on its crest were yet left behind when it withdrew. But by far the most were swallowed up and their,poor bodies are now only being thrown buck on land. The town of Kiimaisnl, situated a few miles from the iron mines of that name, was almost wiped out, only n few houses standing on high ground liehiml the town being spared, in this town 4,700 persons, out of a total population of (1.557, lost their lives; 500 were injured; 1,080 out of 1,213 houses were destroyed. Taro was a village ot 2.500 population. Three hundred persons escaped from the catastrophe. At this point the wave appears to have been most destructive; some of the survivors declare it to have been eighty f<>et high, and the marks left on the rising grounds show it to have been

of such a height that it is a marvel any human beings survive. The loss of life would have been greater, but for the fact that over a hundred of the Taro fishermen were nt sea and knew nnughtof the disaster till they returned. Owing to the destruction of the telegraph lines along the coast it wns not till late next morning that news of the catastrophe began to spread, and for three days it was all but impossible to afford official uid’fo the survivors. Meanwhile the ''weather find grown warmer. Decomposition of - th? bodies had set in and it began to be a dreadful experience to venture in the vicinity of those spots where formerly there had been human habitations. Bnt, worse than the awful scenes to which one could never become accustomed, in passing near the ruined house's was the spectacle of groups of swollen onee-hninan forms rocking to and fro on the sea almost within reach of the shore, while on the beach itself other similar awful objects were rolled over and over in rows by each succeeding wave as it reached the strand. There can be no exaggeration of this frightful calamity or of the never-to-bo forgotten scenes that have followed and are yet coming in its wake. It has been found extremely

difficult to secure laborers to assist in loeating.opeeovering and decently interring the dead. and the gravest- fears are entertained that disease will be bred b." the presence of so ninny decaying bodies. ft would be idle to discuss the causes of this extraordinary visitation. It may have originated in some tremendous volcanic outburst far away in the Pacific ocean, or it may have been caused by n displacement of the ocean bed on the hither edge of the Tuscarora Deep, which wns discovered by Admiral Belknap in the Tuscarora, and stretches a mighty abyss, tire and one-third miles deep, off the .Japan coast. Sea waves have invaded Japan before, but never with such disas-

trout result*. It is well within the memory of those still alive that in 1854 the harbor of Shimoda was visited by three huge waves, which destroyed mauy live* and much shipping, leaving the Knssiau frigate Diana a total wreck. Moreover, in 1892, a small wave which fortunately wrought little destruction, was experienced iu parts of the very regions that have now been devastated. The Emperor and Empress promptly gave 14,UtM> yen. to be devoted to the relief ».f the sufferers, and foreigners and Japanese are subscribing to fnyds started for a similar purpose.

SHIZUKAW AFTER THE WAVE PASSED OVER IT.

RUINS IN ODACHI.