The Express.
London, England, 1852-10-07 00:00:00

THE COURSE OF STORMS.

The accounts of the storm that swept along the
AtJenne coast in August show some of the r;n irkable fea-
tures of that kind of atmospheric diytuibanc,. Its begin-
ning we have traced to the Gulf of Mexico, at a point south-
east from Hey West, where it rested eleven days before.
In its regular course it reached Middle, in Nova Scotia;
how much further it went in that direction we live no ac-
counts. It is the kind of storm that Mr. W. O. Redfield,
of this city, first proved to be a great whirlwind. This he
did by showing that, at the same instant in el:tferent
places, the wind actually blows in a circle, of course the
circle being very ►arge, measuring some five hundred miles
in diameter, and, while whirling around, progressing or-
ward like other smaller whirlwinds. We here give a num-
ber of dates which we have taken from the public journals
to mark its rates of progress.
On the 21st August the American barque Jasper, found
from Havana to New York, was caught in the gale blowing
from the south-east, and, while " lying .o," was driven on
the reels the neat day, ten miles east of Key West. Many
other valuable remelt and cargoes went in like manner
ashore.

On the 22nd, at Key West, early on Sunday morning, it
I commenced to blow a hurricane, the barometer rapidly
falling. Its greatest violence was at sundown, and, by one
o'clock on Monday morning, 23rd, it had tmtirtly ceased.
The direction of the wind was trout the south-east. was
the hardest storm there since 1816.
Oa the 21th, Tuesday, it began at Pensacola ; its greatest
form was on Wednesday and Thursday, the 25th and 26th.
The wind was at first easterly, and gradually shifted round
southerly, and then westerly. The rain fell is gram quan-
tities, and the storm was the most severe that hail raged
there for many years. All the bathing-houses and more
than two-thirds of the main reef were carried away.
On the 25th and 26th, also, it was violent at Mobile, doing
damage to the amount of half a million of dollars. The
dwelling of the light-keeper at Choctaw Point was carried
away, and five persons were lost. It extended west to Lake
Pontchartrain.

On the 26th and 27th, it spread over the State of Georgia.
The Ocmu!gee Rimer' at Macon, rose to a great height, car-
rying away the railroad bridge. At Augusta, the savannah
River rose to such a height on Friday, the 27th, as to sweep
off the railroad bridges, and stop all travel. The water rests
four feet in the streets ; one or two houses were washed
away, and several lives lost. The care on the railways could
not approach within a mile of the city. The telegraph ac-
counts of the damage done to that city were 9,000,000 dole,
probably an exaggeration.
In South Carolina, near Columbia, several bridges were
swept away from Broad River, and in the Congeree, us far
up as that city, the freshet was three feet higher than ever
known before, and 32 feet above tho ordinary level. The
rain was heavy at Charleston.
In Virginia we hear of the severity of the storm, and of
the overflowing of the James River at Richmond, sub-
merging a number of cellars and houses in the lower part
of the city. The Rappahannock ruse to an extraordinary
height at Fredericksburg, carrying away the Chatham-
bridge and injuring the canal. A waggon and four horses
were swept down by tat correct.
On the 28th, Saturday, the storm raged at Baltimore. Its
violence in wind and rain on that day was remarkable in
southern New Jersey. The same day it began in New
York. Its first rain was about noon; at 6 o'clock the
wind acid rain were severe; at seven the storm was vio-
lent, and so continued until noon on Sunday, though
the rain ceased early on Sunday morning. The wind
was at first from the east, then from the north-east,
and ultimately it veered around by the north to the
west. The damage% were large in the blowing down of
unfinished houses in New York, Brooklyn, Williamsburg,
and Jersey City.
At Boston it began on Saturday evening, the 28th, and
kept on until Monday morning the 30th. At Newburyport
the rain amounted to 3! iaehes during that time.
On the 31st, Tuesday, the storm was so heavy to the east-
ward of Porland, Me., that the news by the steamer
America, which arrived at Halifax at aix p.m., could not be
telegraphed.
We thus see that eleven days were required for the storm
to progress from a little beyond Key West to Halifix. A
wind blowing in a direct line along its track with the vio-
lence of that storm would have reached hat distance in
twenty-four or thirty hours at farthest. All along its path
the wind was constantly veering. For instance, at Pen-
sacola, the account' say, "the wind was at first easterly,
and gradually shifted round southerly, then westerly." This
shows that the centre of the storm passed west of that place.
At New Ycrk it began easterly, turned towards the north,
and then to the west and southwest. This shears that the
ceatre of the storm passed east of this city. Its track was
remarkably curved. Beginning near Havana, acconiing to
our limited notices, it progressed towards the north-west
until about Mobile. There it turned towards the north-east,
and followed the line of the coast, probably leaving the line
of the coast more and more to the north.

It Is highly desirable that editors should state more pre-
cisely the times of the beginning end ending et the storms,
how the wind begins, whish way it veers, and where it
ends. This is necessary in order to cshibit the proofs of the
circular motion of the wind ; for, it must be remembered,
that some highly respectable scientific men do not believe in
Mr. Redfield's discovery. Governor Reid, of the B. rmuda
Islands, wen among the first who adopted the Redfield
theory, and he has written two or three octavo volumes,
giving the course and history of several great storms. In
the East Indies, Messrs. Piddiogton end Thom, in the em-
ployment of the East India Company, have each published
several volumes, showing, from very careful data, that in
the Indian Ocean and China Sea, the storms are also circu-
lar, sod that, south of the equator, they whirl arouod in
the opposite direction, that is, south of the equator they
move round in the same way ss the hands of a watch. Mr.
Piddiogton very properly calls them cyclones, Iron the
eyeloidal course of the wing.
Here on our own coast, they can be studied more easily
than in any other part of the world, for they sweep so far
along the land, and over the hundred@ of vessels on our
coasts, and hence many observations can be made. It is re-
markable that, while the discovery is entirely and indispu-
tably American, the British have investigated it the most
largely, and written on it most voluminously. Mr. Red-
field's papers were sest•ered about in several scientific peri-
-1 odicals, and have never been collected in a single ‘olume.
The separate volumes of Reid, Piddiogton, and Thom on
cyclone storms are numerous.—New Fork Courier.

MAIL FOR THE CAPE AND AUSTRALIA.—Notice
was issued by the Post-office yesterday that the Cape of
Good Hops and Australian mail packet, Melbourne, which
was to here left Plymouth on the 3rd inst., has not yet
taken her departure from that port, and that mails will con-
tinue to be made up fur her in the General Poat-office and
at Plymouth until further notice.

LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY.—.
Return of traffic for the week ending Oct. 3, 1852 :
Pweengers, parcels, carriages, hones, and mails,
10,6831. 55.:9d.; merchandise, 19.5971. 16e. 92. • cattle,
1,8261. 10.. 2d. Total, 61,1061. lls. Bd. Corresponding
week, 1861.61,749'. 7s. 6d. Ditto, 1860, 48.1261. 10s. Id
Aggregate: 1850--693,3401. la. 4d.; 1851-876,468/.111.9d. ;
1862-730,8321. 10a. 9d.

DRAM OF MR. BARNES, TIIE ENGINEER. —We
regret to announce the death of Mr. John Barnes, director
of the construction of steam engines and vessel's for the
service of the Menageries National of France. His decease
took place on Friday, the 24th ultimo, at La Ciotat, near
Marseilles, France, in the 54th year of his age, after an
illness of about six week. No serious apprehensions were
entertained in nspect to the termination of his illness until
within a few days of his decease. Mr. Barnes, a few years
since, was well known in this country as the principal of
the firm of Barnes and Miller (now Miller, Rmeilhill, and
Salk.ll). Mr. Barnes held a distinguished reputation as a
constructor of marine steam engines. His talents and
general acquirements were of a very high order. The death
of this gentleman (who was the brother-in.law of Mr.
Millie) will be a great loss to France, and to the engineering
world.