Kobe, Sept. 11.
Numerous stories have been told of the experiences of foreigners but not many of Japanese. However, Reuter's special correspondent to-day came across a certain J. Iwazawa, the chief telegraph operator on the steamer Korea Maru, who told him how his eldest girl, Toshiko, aged 11; had saved five lives.
Mr. Iwazawa was on_board his ship alongside No. 4 Quay when the first shock came. The effect on board was a tremendous vibration and in the harbour an extraordinary agitation of the sea.
"I went ashore after the fire in search of my wife and thre children. There did not seem to be much hope of success but I felt that God would protect family. I am a Christian. Well, I found them at an _improvized rescue station—all of them. - I was so happy. We all cried for a long time, holding each other's hands.
"My wife told me how after our house had collapsed she and my brother and two of my children had been pinned down. Toshiko had got out and rushed for help. Two strong mien got out my wife and brother, who saved the two children. Meanwhile, Toshiko, by gathering help in the streets, saved five other people, two of whom were not got out till their house caught fire.
"My family got into the water and remained there a day."
Mr. Iwazawa explained that the reason why, in spite of the fact that Japanese had in most cases been able to get out of their houses before they tumbled, owing to their construction being more suitable to resist earth shocks, so many thousand Japanese failed to escape was because they were trapped in the streets.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.