AN EYE-WtTNESS DESCRIBES
THE JAPANESE EARTH
QUAKE DISASTER
Through the courtesy of Editor L.
L. Leh, of The Page Reporter, we are
able to furnish a story of the terrible
earthquake disaster that visited Tokio,
Japan, a couple cf months ago. We
publish the article as it ap^reared in
the current issues of the-Reporter:
The first question the Editor of the
Page Reporter asked when he heard
of the great disaster in Japan was
what part of Japan it was that suffer
ed. 'It is but natural that at such
( mes one should think first of one’s
■ c wn, and the Editor happened to have
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a as
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Mrs. Downey will take the
picture.
O’NEILL PHOTO CO.
O’Neill, Nebr.
_ I
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a yfcry dear frldnd irt Jaj>an at the
time. Fortunately this friend', Rev. I.
G. Nace, connected with the Mission
of the Reformed Church ih Japan, has
his residence at Sandi, which is far
from the scene of the disaster. How
ever, a few days after the earth-quake
Mr. Nace visited both' Tokyo and
Yokohoma. We are printing below
his account of what he saw on his trip:
OUR TRIP TO TOKYO.
We left our home in Nojiri on Mon
day evening, September 10th, at six
o’clock. There were four of us, Mr.
Schroer, Mr. Thede, and Mr. Clark
and I. Mr. Schroer and I were going
on a definite mission. Our purpose
was to see if the Schroer house in
Tokyo was still there. If there, to see
what the condition of the house and
furnishings was. Mr. Schroer and I
are the only members of our Mission
who saw both Tokyo and Yokohama
within ten days after the great ca
tastrophe.
At the station we were refused
tickets because we did not have the
proper kind of a permit from Police
Headquarters. We at once got busy
and secured our permits, catching a
late traifi, leaving our station at 9:37
p. m. instead of 6.55, as we had plan
ned. It was a task to get on the train,
as trains were crowded, but we got as
far as the vestibule and lavatory,
where we had the privilege of stand
ing until six o’clock the next morning.
This would not have been so bad had
not forty-four others (Japenese with
loads of baggage) also wanted to
stand in this vestibule. Imagine be
tween forty and fifty standing in the
vestibule of a small Japanese coach
all night long, and that with enough
baggage to fill a fourth7of a baggage
car. We too had considerable baggage
as we had rations in our knap-sacks
to last four days.
We got to Omiya station at six in
the morning. Here we had to change
trains. So did about 20,000 other
people. The only way theyfcould con
trol such a mob at one time was by
military men who kept us in line at
the point of the bayonet. After stand
ing in line four and a half hours we
scrambled into a train, through the
window or through the door, any old
way we eould get in. But we got in
and we really were in time to get a
seat. This was wonderful after stand
ing up all night. From here we Had
one hour’s ride to Tokyo.
One now saw evidence of the earth
quake on all sides. Roofs were
broken up, chimneys cracked afid fallen
down, and the walls of buildings tot
tering. The nearer to Tokyo we got
the greater was the amount of
damage. "The railway bridge across
the river just outside Tokyo had been
badly shaken up, looking serpent like.
Our train went across on practically a
temporary 'structure. As the train
wound its way into the city one felt
more and more the reality and awful
pess of the earthquake. The train
took us as far as Nippon. .Here we
had to literally fight our way out, by
going feet first through the windows.
On the platform outside was a crowd
about ten deep, making a mad rush to
get on the train.
At Nippori we boarded a freight
train, which was being used as a pas
senger train, running over the tracks
of the fast line electric railway around
the city. This took us as far as Shina
gawa, giving us a fine opportunity to
see the ruins on both sides of the
track. In the patfci of the city
through which this took us the damage
had been caused by the earthquake,
not by the fire. At Shinagawa we got
off, and walked to Sengakujimae,
where we got a trolley to Tengenji. A
few trolley lines had been opened just
a day or so before. No fares were
Collected. Everybody piled on and
rode free. We got off at Shinohashi,
the nearest spot to where the Schro
ers lived in Azabu.
We got to the house at two p.m. and
to our great surprise there was very
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to destination.
L. E. DOWNEY,
Ticket Agent
little dam kg*. This seemed miracu
lous as most of the. houses in the
neighborhood seemed considerably
shaken up. A lamp shade and chimney
and some bottles were the only broken
things we could find in the house.
This made us feel good even though
we had headaches from the loss of
sleep the night before. After seeing
that all was well we washed ilp. We
needed it, as we looked worse than the
ordinary tramp. Here I made my first
visit to a public bath, as I just felt I
had to get into hot water to ease up
my head. It felt great, and I have had
no ill effects from it since. It was one
of the first days since the earthquake
for the bath to be open, so there was
no charge, and the crowd was large.
Next we took our lunch from our
knap sacks, and went over to the
Shimo Shibuya Compound where we
lived for two years. Our old neigh
bor, Mr. Hayes, was not at home, as
he was out endeavoring to find out
how many pastors and members of
their Mission had lost their lives. The
house in which we used to live was
considerably damaged, chimneys down,
plaster walls on the inside broken up,
but the house standing. Here on the
lawn we ate our lunch. In the mean
while there were two rather severe
earthquakes, causing the houses to
tremble and rattle. Ever since the
Great Earthquake there have been in
numerable quakes, some of which
would have been considered very
severe in ordinary times. After we
called on Mrs. Blume, one of our old
neighbors. Her husband had been
killed instantly by the falling of the
building in which he worked. She was
all broken up and making* plans to re
turn to the States as soon as possible.
From there we went to Meiji Gak
uin, (College and Seminary of the
Dutch Reformed and Presbyterian
churches). On the campus we talked
to Dr. Reischauer, who had just ar
rived from Karuizawa to investigate
the conditions of the buildings. This
institution was fairly well intact. Only
two or three buildings were badly
cracked. On our return we passed the
home of Mrs. Ishii, one of our Lan
guage teachers while we lived in
Tokyo. Her home was not destroyed,
but she seemed to be very nervous,
yet glad to see us. Her family was
safe.
We again went to Mr. Hayes’ home.
He returned very shortly. These were
strenous days for him, as they had
lost much life and property in their
Mission. He said that the section of
the city in which he was that after
noon was practically as the quake had
left it, but that many of the bodies
had been cremated. He was out in
the Hon jo section where 32,000 lost
their lives in one ward. For several
days after the earthquake they cre
mated about 10,000 bodies daily in
Tokio. The canals in the lower part
of the city were still littered with
floating bodies.
We hastened back to the Schroer
house for the night, as foreigners
were to be off the streets before night
’fall. There had been a Korean scare,
which made the crowds furious, mak
ing it especially dangerous for for
eigners for several days. However,
this mob-craze was just about ended.
We were not disturbed In any way on
the whole trip. *
The next morning we started out
f<jr the Imperial Hotel, which seemed
to have become headquarters for re
lief work, as it was one of the few
large buildings not destroyed. We
were able to go as far as Sakurada
mon by trolley. From here we had to
walk. The cars barely crept along, as
there was little power. After leaving
Roppongi we got into the burnt area.
All one could see was a burnt field
stretching down to Hibya, to the
Ginza, to Tsukiji, and to the Bay. One
could hardly believe it. In the open
places refugees had gathered. Hibya
Park was full of them. The sights
ftere piteous, but not nearly trhat they
were a few days before, so we were
told. At the Imperial Hote} we met
some of our friends, and members of
the Embassy, who had come down
from Karuizawa and Nojiri to do re
lief work As there was no immediate
need for more men and hep that day
we decided to see more of the ruins.
With the permission of a member of
the Embassy Staff we got on an army
truck which took us to the Bay at
Shibaura where we got on a De
stroyer that took us to Yokohama.
THE RUINS OF YOKOHAMA.
Before seeing Yokohama as left by
the earthquake one tries to imagine
just what it is like. But no imagina
tion, no matter how vivid, can quite
succeed in picturing the awfulness of
it all. After seeing it with one's own
eyes it is almost impossible to believe
that what was once a vast flourishing
city with teeming thousands could in
so short a time be reduced to nothing
ness. But such is the case. Ony the
memory of Yokohama as a city re
mains, for there is nothing else. Its
inhabitants were mowed down as by
a mower, and those who escaped fled
to every part of the Empire.
It was ten days after the earthquake
that the writer was in Yokohama.
With him were three others, Mr.
Schroer of our Mission, and Mr. Thede
and Mr. Clark. It was rather unex
pectedly that we got to Yokohama.
Our police permission was intended to
admit us to Tokyo only. But it was
an easy thing to get to Yokohama.
There was no interference on the part
of any authorities. From^Tokyo Bay
we went by the Smith-Thomas De
stroyer, No. 112, to the side of the
President McKinley, which was lying
at anchor in Yokohama Bay. From
there we went by motor beat to what
was once Customs Her, where we
l$fhded.
Approaching the city by water in
this way one saw nothing but an
eveness of ruins. The familiar red and
white light houses at the break-water
entrance sank thirty feet, so we were
told. At any rate, all that is left
above the water is the top of them.
To the astonishment of all the lights
are still in working order as if nothing
had happened. The pier, from which
most of us first landed on Japanese
soil, is destroyed, a large part of it
being entirely submerged under water;
the rest of it is horribly broken and
twisted. From the Her we went to
the British Consulate where some
British sailors were digging out the
femalns of the dt&d, »nd bpsftln# thi
safe. The bodies dug out here hid
been burned, so nothing was found ex
cept bones and ashes. A little further
on and we stood at the entrance bf
the American Consulate, where one
was unusually greeted by the genial
Mr. Paul denies, who lost his life when
the building went down. The flag
pole in front of the building is still
standing. The American flag, the only
sign of a flag we saw in all Yokohama,
was flying at half-mast, almost mov
ing one to tears.
We passed by the Yokohama Specie
Bank, practically the only building
that seemed to be in tact es far as the
eye could reach. This building wap
fire and earthquake proof. Scores fled
into it for safety, and closed the doors
so that the flames would not r-ach
them. But the heat on the outside was
too intense. Those w'ho thought they
were safe within were suffocated, and
literally baked to death. This building
had pot yet been opened, nor any
bodies removed, the day we were
there.
Our next effort was to reach Moto
machi by way of Main Street. We
went down Main Street, but here the
ruins were so piled up that one hardly
recognize any of the familiar places.
‘Where is Sale and Frazer? Where
is Kelly and Walsh’s? Where is
Caudrelier’s Grocery Store?” Ques
tions like these we asked each other,
but without a careful searchby one
who knew the exact location it was
well nigh impossible to locate any of
these familiar business concerns. The
ruins on Main Street were several
feet lygh in many places,—nothing
but stone and brick, underneath which
were pinned automobiles, bicycles,
carts, and the bodies of men ana
horses, carts and dogs. Here and
there parts of a typewriter or an ad
ding machine, burnt and twisted,
were scattered all along Main Street.
Then, of course, the gruesome bodies
of men,, women, and children, mothers
with babies (pressed close to their
bosoms, like charred mummies, half
decayed at the time we were there,
were scattered all along the street,
and among the debris. The stench
was hideous and sickening. Some
British seamen who stopped to speak
to us had just come across from the
direction of Bentendori, where they
said they could hardly walk because of
the decomposing bodies of humans
and animals. But enough for that!
The sight and stench of it all can
never be erased from the memory of
anyone who passed along.
After reaching the end of Main
Street we went up along the moat to
.he second bridge from the water
front. In the moats and on the Bay
the bloated and charred bodies of dead
floated. At some places we were told
the moats had been littered with dead
bodies. This feature was not so bad
anymore when we were there. All
along here, and practically every
where, the earth was cracked open.
At some places there were wide
crevices, giving a fiercely disfigured
look to the whole surface. We crossed
on the steel beams of the bridge as
the rest of it was burnt. This brought
Us to the once renouned Motomachi.
Albng here there were a few strag
tiling refugees* who seemed to h*V«
come back in search of fthat they
might find. Here fend there they
picked up a Cup or h saucer or some;
other piece of ware that perchance
was not broken. These refugees j
looked bewildered and dazed like
dumb-driven cattle, their eyes bulg
ing out from lack of sleep and rest.
This whole section looked like a vast
dumping place on which everything
imaginable was piled. Here and there
could be seen a few shacks, built of
fire-discolored zinc sheets, which had
been erected where there were, safes
to guard or relatives known to be
dead. Climbing across the debris we
went up the Bluff, where most of the
foreigners used to live. As we went
up we noticed that hugh masses of
earth had slid dowj^Tnto the Moto
machi section, bringing along houses'
and everything on them at the time'
of the quake.
From the Bluff we had an unbroken
view of the entire city. Nothing more
desolate or disheartening can be im
agined. On the Bluff the blackened
skeletons of a few houses were left.
But everything seemed desert-like.
Where once there were beautiful
lawns, with trees and shrubbery of all
kinds, nothing seemed to be left but
ashes and stone. From this elevation
we could see far out over the plain,
but only black ruins stared one in the
face. One has no words with which to
make strong enough the absoluteness
of the destruction that stretched out
across the plains for miles. Very
seldom was there anything even as
much as parts of a wall, to be seen
standing. There was no sign of a
house that could again be used for
living purposes, until one got to the
outskirts where the fire ceased. And
what was left there seemed so badly
broken and shattered that one won
dered whether or not they could be
used without tearing down what re
mained and building anew. Every
thing had a forsaken look. God was
there only “in the sound of gentle
stillness.”
.from tne murrs we aescenaea to
the Motomachi section, and crossed the
moat on a plank bridge. As we went
along bodies could still be seen mostly
everywhere. At places they seemed
to be piled together somewhat, and
covered with sheet iron that was taken
from the ruins. For the greater part
they were scattered around just as
they fell. We weat through the Park.
Here there was a small Red-Cross tent
that had been set up for relief work
All over the Park there were ashes,
and the remains of bodies that had
been gathered together and cremated
there. We took the widest street we
could find and headed back to the
water-front. Trolley cars, wires and
poles were scattered all over the
streets. Automobiles, turned upside
down by the shock of the quake and
then burnt, were in evidence every
where. We reached the pier in good
time to catch our motor boat which
took us back to the Steamship Presi
dent McKinley, on which we stayed
for the night. On this ship was Mrs.
Palm. She was very glad to learn
that all our missionaries were safe
and that Mr. Guriither would meet her
in Kobe instead of Yokohama. Steam
. I
•hip Companies win v«y ‘ei nftl
allowing any passengers to gw asherS.
There were 115 missionaries on this
ship and all were eager to know about
the missionaries in Japan. The only
information they had on their voyage
was wireless news which was no news
at all for these folks anxious about
their friends. Ours was the first de
finite information they had received.
The night on the McKinley, was very
resttul, even though the sights of the
day remained so vivid in one’s eyes
that one could not sleep. The next
morning we returned on the Detroyer
to Tokyo.
Comparing Tokyo and Yokohama
one can readily see that the shock of
the earthquake must have been mucn
stronger in Yokohama than In Tokyo.
In Yokohama everything ig shattered
to the ground. In Tokyo the burnt
remains of buildings are standing, ex
cept in certain sections like Tsuqiji.
The chances to flee also seem to have
been less in Yokohama than ip Tokyo.
To give a description of the vastness
and absoluteness of the destruction, of
the grewsomeness and awfulness of
the sights is simply impossible. One
cannot exaggerate anything. In talk
ing to men who were in the thick; of
it all at Verdun and on the battlefields
of France during the great World War
one heard expressions like this, "There
wasn’t anything as sickening and dis
heartening anywhere over there like
Yokohama.’’ "If you try to put to
gether the sights of all the battle
fields of northern France at the close
of the War it gives you an idea of
what Yokohama looks like.’’
Up to the time of our trip, which
was ten days after the quake, nothing
had been done by the Japanese au
thorities in all Yokohama to make the
place a little decent. Looting and
robbery seemed to have been rife. The
only thing done in the way of cleaning
up the place had been done by Ameri
can and British naval men, and by
foreign business Arms. Japanese
authorities were critisized severely
for this neglect and indifference. How
ever, one must remember that or
ganized work under such circumstan
ces is difficult, and that it is easy to
find fault. The Japanase are a brave
people. No (people could go through
such a monstrous catastrophe more
nobly than they are doing. The re
building of Yokohama seems almost
hopeless, and it is doubtful whether
it will ever be anything like its for
mer self in importance again. There
are various predictions concerning the
future. If it is to be rebuilt several
decades will be required. Then it will
be a new Yokohama, for the Yoko
hama so familiar to all of us is no
more. As one looks over the ruins of
it all one feels that there is but one
hope and that is in Resurrected Life.
One has to look through and beyond
it all • to the living God. Surely no
loving Father would bring such a
cruel disaster upon His children. May
these peoplfe who are struggling under
the burden and discouragement of
such a great calamity of nature And
beyond it all, in the "still-small voice,”
the God of Love.
' > * I. G. NACE.
Sendai, Japan, October 5, 1923.
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