20 AUGUST 1910, Page 2

Serious floods have taken place during the week at Tokio

and in the neighbouring prefectures. The official returns state that 1,380 persons are dead or missing, and that 3,700 houses were washed away, while 393,000 were damaged. The gas and electric light supplies in Tokio failed, and many thousands of persons have had to leave their homes and are dependent on charity. At one time it was feared that all three of the chief embankments protecting the city would give way, and in that case half of Tokio would have been under water. Fortunately two of the embankments held firm, and the water fell rapidly when the crisis was past.