The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-09-16 00:00:00

THE TERRIBLE HURRICANE AT ST.

THOMAS.

The nteamship Nap WTI VC,' at Plymouth on Sun-
day with the West India mails. She brings 107
'sewers, ,o‘ck,, of mails, treasure to the value of
136,0:31 .lollars, 1,22 i bags .4 coffee, 140 bales of
India-rubber, 4110 seems if cochineal, 509 secinis
of bark, 20 Per.lol of indigo, 1,223 sacks of cocoa,
22 turtles, and 152 I,riekage:4 ,f sinelries. 30 packages
awl the mails were landed, and the Nile proeteded for
• lierbourg. The mails were f..rwanbsl by the 7.45 p.m.
train. The Nite dates aro Valparaiso, A lign,t 2;
la., II; Panarna, 21; Jamaica. 25; and St. I!, 29.
The principal West holia TIMA istlie .let thesevere
eyelone that visited Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Bartholo-
mew, St. Martin's, Tortola. St. Thomas, ant one side of
Porto Rico, on August 21. St. 'Phoman experienced the
galemost severely. The St. Thomas T r.od e,mys, thaton
;Saturday evening, Anwtst 19, there was an oppressive
ntillness in the atmosphere, and the heat wall distress-
fog,(in Sunday morning there was a change, and at
half-past ten the barometer atoisl at 30.15, the wind
blowing in gusts from N.N.E. to KN. E. The ba-
rometer continued to fall slowly, and at 8.30 p.m it
marke I 30.10 .-•;r;ng ; w. ;
.tel cmtinuesl
to blow in gudA, and to increase in violence. The
barometer conthou,l to fall all night, and at 4 a.m. on
Monilay, the 24-t, it ,t.. 64,41 at 30, awl renesined
s So, until 0 a in. the win,' continued to
en gtillta, alld rain seeali • at is.ints varying from ea-t ti
noititeast, f, pant frao he whitened su: fa s•
et., sea, and whirling it ati el,,eq of Fpray. At 12.30
the i r.yorneter was at 29.71(, aul still fai,iuee gradually,
blowing in fearfnl g,.-ti, and veering round
more northerly. At 3.30 the barmeets WM at 29.50,
the wind continuing to veer roue' to north-west, and
still blowing with greet violence. The heaviest gusts
were between 4,30 and 5 p.m., when they came with
terrific violence from nortlewest, then it was that the
great work of destruction was completol. At .5 o'ch.ck
there was a midden calm, the centre of the cyclone
pics:ing over St. Tlionian ilurieg the calm. The ba-
rometer reached its lowest 'mint at 1 a.m. In the
Lariss,r it showed 25.40. After balf an hour it
began to blow again in heavy squalls from the
south-west to south, the barometer rising rapidly.
At 7 o'clock it was as high no 29.50,. and
the violence of the wind had ceased. On Tues-
day morning was revealed the full extent of the
feadul havoc. Of some houses there was scarcely a
vestige left ; others were but heaps of bmwhed lumber.
Psalm had been mowsh from one place to another ;
others had been turned upside down. Inland, in the
bland houses, fruit trees, fence*, and crops were blown
&sem The losses experienced by the planters and
labourers wee,, very nevere, and will be felt by them
for a long time. There was not much shipping in
the hails:lir, and what there was, having more room
to awing, was not mach injured. St. ThiMMIS
is considered bailee muttered more rei shore than in
10.47. The kAsl i are returned at 42 perx:;no killed,
79 seriohsle inPirc.l, and 420 houses eornplasly des-
tnryeil. The two appear" as if it hail slat red a I,rim-
-I,rdment. No lives were lost by damage to the sh'pt
ring. The barque Duke of Wellington, with a cord

670 hogsheads of sugar, Wai totally lost. The Ameri•
Can steamer Sonora parted from her moorirws,and ran
ashore. Tho etc leer Goar,tor Be.yr was run n,hore ;
awl the schoontas Gravntre, and
were injured. At Antigua the effects (.1 the cyclone
were equally severe, and the Is, of life M:l4 greater.
Eighty persons are reported killed and the number of
hadly wounded is rated at several hundred. Scarcely
a house or plantation in the island has escaped serious
damage.