The Kobe Chronicle publishes the following letter received frow a lady at Hikone, con the eastern shore of Lake Biwa October 28th, 2.30 P.at.
Hikone was visited this morning by one of the severest earthquakes which have vccurved during my sty in Japan. The first shock tuck place at 6.45 a.m, when we were fast asleep, but it is hardly necessary to say that it had the effect ut at nce wrousing us, Every one in the house made for the open air as quickly as possible, und rushed through the house into the garden with the plaster falling ubout us, wood creaking and cracking, and the walls awa "g ominously. Fortunately we all reach-r safely, having incurred no greater injuries than some pretty severe bruises. Having secured " safe place, we turned to lovk at the house, which rocked an violently that it appeared us if (loatinse on waves, and we thought every moment to see it come down with " run, Looking round, I saw the students of the adjoining school escaping in terrified haste from the windows, and found that in places great rents had been choel building, while durin, ff the shuck cracks had opene in the exercise yard, increasing the terror of the pupils toa greater extent still.
Continual vibrations were going on all the time, No souner had one shock ceased than another commenced, and for move than two hours we were afraid to venture back into the house. However, at 9.30 we mustered up courage, and I turned to the house fur a few miuuti My first thought was that it was impossible this could be our house, for such scene of wreck you can hardly imagine. Not a single article of furniture reave in the place it had occupied the prev night; everything that could be broken was in pieces; and the smaller articles were so much dispersed and had found their way into such odd places that it required considerable search to unearth them; my mirror, indeed, seemed to have Vanished completely, und it was only after tive minutes' search that I managed to disc r it behind a chest of drawers, The shoji were all toru down, and the walls askew.
But we had now become somewhat used to the continual tremors, ged to clean the house and get things a little into order in the intervals between the severer shocks. It was impossible, however, to remain in the house longer than five minutes at a time, as some of the vibrations were exceedingly violent. While taking our tiffin we had to rush out no fewer than three times, and if the vibrations keep on much longer my house will certainly collapse, for it has already sunk considerably upon one side, have sent the children for " walk in the fields, where they will be safest, and won the verandah rending g to jump off at the Ttind the school buildig has received great damage, and the rooms used for physics and chemistry are a complete wreck, everything being suiashed, In the town the damage has been very great. Many houses have fallen, and several lives have been lost. Hundreds are running about panic-stricken, while the open space in front of the school is crowded with people who have brought all the valuables they could secure or are possessed of, and are guarding them there, f afraid to go back to their houses lest they should be overwhelmed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.