No. 251.
Mr. Shepard to Mr. Fish.
Japan, April 13, 1872. (Received May 24.)
Sir: On the afternoon and night of April 3 the most disastrous fire within the memory of its inhabitants occurred in the city of Yedo. The space over which the fire passed was fully four miles by two, the number of houses destroyed not less than 6,000, and the number of persons rendered homeless nearly 50,000. Seventeen government offices and sixty temples or places of worship were destroyed. The loss in property is comparatively slight, as the buildings were small and of cheap material.
Diminutive fire-proof mud houses, called “godowns,” from 18 to 24 inches in thickness, are attached to nearly all stores, and in these valuables are generally placed in case of fire. Upon this occasion they were particularly serviceable, and now stand like tombstones in a cemetery, the only monuments of the past.
Rice is served out daily by the government, and steps are being taken to rebuild in a more substantial manner.
Probably not to exceed sixty lives were lost, but it is a disaster for Yedo only equaled by the tidal wave of 1854.
I am, &c.,
Charge d’Affaires ad int.