Page 50 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
P. 50
– A Different Drumbeat 50
both numerous and severe. History of the past few centuries records severe shocks
in 1778 and 1862, but, judging by the death roll and the evidences of the devastation
on the face of Nature, I think that, without much research work, we are safe in
pronouncing the “quake” of 1920 to be the most severe.
East Kansu was the storm centre and there the damage wrought was almost
indescribable. Without warning the first terrible shock came on that fateful evening of
a cold winter’s day between 7 o’clock and 7-30 and for ten minutes the Court of
Death held high revel to which over two hundred thousand lives paid tribute. Homes
and cities collapsed like packs of cards, crushing the inmates to death or burning
them alive in the fires which resulted. Mountains flowed down from their lofty
eminences like flowing sand from a desert hill. Streams and rivers were dammed in
their courses, inundating large tracts of cultivated land, or bringing down houses
which had escaped the avalanche of earth from the flowing mountains.
An interesting extension to the earthquake news was this item:
THE LONDON AND CHINA TELEGRAPH. DEC. 28, 1920
CHINA EARTHQUAKE RECORDED IN JAPAN TOKYO, DEC. 19.
The Tokyo Imperial University seismograph on Dec. 16 at 11.10 p.m. registered what is
described as “the greatest earthquake shock ever recorded.” The needle of the seismograph
was broken. The shock lasted over four hours, and occurred apparently 2,100 kilometres
south or south-west of Tokyo. -Reuter.
It would not be hard to write a book about his activities over the next few months. David
Bentley-Taylor, GFA’s niece’s husband, had access to GFA’s diaries of this period. As a
well published writer himself, he could have written this book, and I am thankful to him for
the copy of his account of GFA’s life which he wrote for his family. Here is how Bentley-
Taylor sums up this period:
As soon as he entered Kansu there were tremors daily and he saw ruined villages on
every hand. "The stench from the bodies of dead animals was almost unbearable."
Whole towns had collapsed. At Haiyuan 80,000 people perished. From Kuyuan 24
cartloads of badly injured people had been taken to Pingliang where Mr Tornvall of
the CIM, assisted by his son Gustav, had attained fame as a physician and surgeon,
though untrained.
Entire mountains had shifted, burying hundreds of farming communities, blocking
river valleys and thus creating new lakes which threatened to carve out fresh
channels and cause devastating floods in the crowded provinces further down the
Yellow River. It was decided to use relief funds to employ destitute men to cut
through to the lakes and clear them in a controlled way, paying them well so that
they could eventually rebuild their farms. To the officials in Kansu it was evident
that only GFA could supervise this colossal task. As he moved west he perceived its
magnitude. "Only God can make it a success", he wrote in the brief diary he
managed to keep throughout 1921, which is open before me as I try to summarize
both numerous and severe. History of the past few centuries records severe shocks
in 1778 and 1862, but, judging by the death roll and the evidences of the devastation
on the face of Nature, I think that, without much research work, we are safe in
pronouncing the “quake” of 1920 to be the most severe.
East Kansu was the storm centre and there the damage wrought was almost
indescribable. Without warning the first terrible shock came on that fateful evening of
a cold winter’s day between 7 o’clock and 7-30 and for ten minutes the Court of
Death held high revel to which over two hundred thousand lives paid tribute. Homes
and cities collapsed like packs of cards, crushing the inmates to death or burning
them alive in the fires which resulted. Mountains flowed down from their lofty
eminences like flowing sand from a desert hill. Streams and rivers were dammed in
their courses, inundating large tracts of cultivated land, or bringing down houses
which had escaped the avalanche of earth from the flowing mountains.
An interesting extension to the earthquake news was this item:
THE LONDON AND CHINA TELEGRAPH. DEC. 28, 1920
CHINA EARTHQUAKE RECORDED IN JAPAN TOKYO, DEC. 19.
The Tokyo Imperial University seismograph on Dec. 16 at 11.10 p.m. registered what is
described as “the greatest earthquake shock ever recorded.” The needle of the seismograph
was broken. The shock lasted over four hours, and occurred apparently 2,100 kilometres
south or south-west of Tokyo. -Reuter.
It would not be hard to write a book about his activities over the next few months. David
Bentley-Taylor, GFA’s niece’s husband, had access to GFA’s diaries of this period. As a
well published writer himself, he could have written this book, and I am thankful to him for
the copy of his account of GFA’s life which he wrote for his family. Here is how Bentley-
Taylor sums up this period:
As soon as he entered Kansu there were tremors daily and he saw ruined villages on
every hand. "The stench from the bodies of dead animals was almost unbearable."
Whole towns had collapsed. At Haiyuan 80,000 people perished. From Kuyuan 24
cartloads of badly injured people had been taken to Pingliang where Mr Tornvall of
the CIM, assisted by his son Gustav, had attained fame as a physician and surgeon,
though untrained.
Entire mountains had shifted, burying hundreds of farming communities, blocking
river valleys and thus creating new lakes which threatened to carve out fresh
channels and cause devastating floods in the crowded provinces further down the
Yellow River. It was decided to use relief funds to employ destitute men to cut
through to the lakes and clear them in a controlled way, paying them well so that
they could eventually rebuild their farms. To the officials in Kansu it was evident
that only GFA could supervise this colossal task. As he moved west he perceived its
magnitude. "Only God can make it a success", he wrote in the brief diary he
managed to keep throughout 1921, which is open before me as I try to summarize
