The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-12-17
The st. Domingo aurrieane.a

as furious drenching storm of rain. i
began at about eight o'clock A. NJ, ant
blew in fits and roaring gusts till pas
midnight. The great damage to tht
shipping and larger buildings in tht
city was done at the beginning of the
blow. But all that terrible day the
wind and rain seemed to combine tt
continue steadily the work of destruc
tion. The first crash of the gale un
rooted whole streets of thatch-covered
houses, and shook and loosened tiles on
fiat-roofed Moorish palaces, built by the
younger followers of Columbus more
than three hundred and fifty years ago
Old trees that had withstood the gales
of centuries, fell as if the axe was al
their feet. The rain came down in
such masses that it seemed as if a noun.
tain torrent was running through the
air, bearing on its surface leaves and
branches of trees, fragments of timber,
hats, handkerchiefs, and miscellane-
Gus lot of dry goods (dry no longer).
and even fruit. Cocoa nuts were whirl-
ed through the city like cannon balls,
and added to the fright of some who
thought the horrors of another seige
was to begin.
The poorer classes, who were drowned
out of their houses, snatched hastily
what little poor valuables they happen
ed to possess, and waded through the
flowing streets to the churches. Their
blessed dosrs stood open as usual, and
never did more stricken wanderers pass
their portals. The grand old Cathedral
on the Government square, began, as an
inscription over the front entrance in
forms us, in 16i0, was crammed with a
weeping, terror-stricken multitude.
There was not a living thing to be seen
in the streets except when, at long in
vervals, some desperate adventurer, at
the risk of his life, would pick or crawl
his way along under the lee of the walls
left standing, from one to the other of
the old churches, in search of some mis-
sing relative or friend.
What added to the dreadful gloom
was the ponderous thump of the break
ers all along the line of the sea-wall of
the city, which at times seemed to shake
the very foundations of the churches,
and caused cry of earthquake" in the
crowd. Thank heaven this appalling
crown of disaster, which has been with
held for the many centuries from this
venerable and histeric-once the me-
tropolis of the Western world-was
spared to us. In the midst of the uni
versal desolation which prevails there
is sentiment of gratitude in the
breasts of these poor, destitute Domi-
nicians that matters are no worse.
Frhnir nl,nrnhau rat i,,a1 n,
injured, and this these simple-minded
devotees regard as special token of re-
membrance of heaven.
Before this late visitation Santo Do
mingo City was famous chiefly for its
magnificent ruins, and one revisiting
the city to-day would not at first glance
be Impressed with any sudden change
wrought in the fortunes of its inhabit-
ants. All the prominent cdifices re-
main standing. But the desolation is in
the cabins of the poor. Thousands are
houseless. The roofs of their dwellings
being blown off in the first heavy gust,
the rain afterwards deluged and spoiled
everything in the shape Of furniture,
wearing apparel, bedding, etc, so that
large numbers have saved nothing but
the clothes they stood in. Some of these
moor people owned "burrow" or
donkey-their only treasure, with which
they did a kind of slow-express
business about town; others kept a
few hens or few goats, or a
COW. A great part of these domestic
animals were killed during the gale.
The roads to the interior are in bad
condition, being choked with fallen
trees. Il is reported that many natives,
with their animals, were drowned in
attempting to cross the suddenly swollen
rivers to their homes. The Niqua river
rose to an unexampled hight, and swept
off large quantity of copper ore be-
longing to the Santo Domingo Copper
Company of New York. The camels
employed by this company in transport
ing ore to the seacoast, | understand,
were not injured, as they lay fiat, with
their long nccks extended on the ground
before them, according to their custom
in the desert.
There will be great suffering among
the lower classes for some time to come,
for, unlike the other West India Islands
we have no mother country to look to
for relief. The government has appro-
priated $500 for the sufferers, but this
is but drop, and government and peo-
pie are now poor alike.-CorreSpondenct
y. i. Post.