Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-11-22
November 20, 1867.
Particulars Of the Late Terrible Hurricane
at St. Thomas.


Particulars Of the Late Terrible Hurricane
at St. Thomas.
A private letter fran gentleman who
has long resided at ST. Thomas, gives the
following account of the recent hurri-
cane in that locality
ST. THOMAS, November IL am able
to tell you that we have all escaped with
our lives. An awful hurricane burst
over this island, and many neighboring
towns, on Tuesday, the 29th of October,
about IL o clock. AT quarter to one IT
was at its greatest hight, and, wearied
with destruction, it began to subside
about three, and exhausted its fury at six
p.m. Words cannot describe the fright
full tempest. No poetic imagery | ever
read has come up to it. have now wit
messed the reality of cyclone, and hope
| may never again be exposed to the
horrors of another. Almost every house
in the place is unroofed; large number
are in ruins; those covered with shingles
or tin have alone escaped. From my
windows you can see the trucks of the
masts and hulls of thirty vessels, totally
wrecked, and in other parts Of the har-
bor about thirty more may be seen.
Among them, the Liverpool steamship
Caribbean, which came in an hour or two
before the hurricane began, the Spanish
steamer Pajaro, and the royal mail steam
shin Derwent. AS yet one hundred and
ten dead bodies have been found dead
and buried, some who we're killed in their
houses, and the rest the majority, in the
harbor and about the wharves. But there
must be very large number still to be
found, as a frightiul stencil is ascending
from the Kings wharf, westward. The
cornses are no doubt covered with debris,
such as masts and spars, which prevent
them coming up to the surface. May
Divine Providence avert pestilence from
usl The Palyo and Todd steamers were
driven ON shore. Immense trees,
totally uprooted, lie about in every
direction. The rain fell heavily at the
time, so that every one who had the good
fortuue to have floor or cellar under
meath took refuge below. In the hight
of the storm the strong shutters, firmly
barred. hooked and bolted, were
wrenched open, and torrents Of binding
rain swept into the house, making it like
An omen street | was in this predica'
ment, and my wife handed me the nails
and kept the ialousies fast while | nailed
them to. The merchants have sustained
immense losses, for besides many of the
sunken vessels containing goods just
shipped by purchasers from Porto Rico
| and elsewhere, and not insured, the
warehouses were filled with merchandise
which has been spoiled by the rain.
But the worst remains to be told. The
roval mail steamship Rhone was at Peter
Island, about twenty miles from here,
almost ready to start for Europe, and
engaged in taking on board passengers,
mails and cargo from the inter- colonial
steamers when the blast began. She
stood out to sea, but the wind sent her on
the iron-bound coast, the waves burst
her boilers, she was cut in two, aud about
one hundred and twenty people, e,includlng
her noble Captain Woolley, went down IN
her. About twenty.three men were saved.
The royal mail steamship Wye was
dashed to pieces on Buck Island, and out
of seventy only thirteen escaped. The
royal mail steamship Conway was driven
on shore at Tortola; | do not knew
whether she lost any of her crew or pas
sengers. The Caravelle, French steamer,
is also reported to be total wreck.
On a rough calculation, the esti-
mated damage to shipping and prop
erty on board and in town can
not be less than fifteen to twenty mil
lions of dollars. You cannot imagine
our situation. 1t is terrible. The gas
works we're leveled to the ground, killing
number of people; and every church
and place of worship is more or less
injured. If the,place had been subjected
TO bombardment it could not present a
more deplorable appearance. In the
midst ofthe hurricane many persons felt
shocks of earthquake; | did not, but it
must have been so, for there are abund-
ant indications of it everywhere. OF the
iunumerable small boats, such as lighters
and boats, there are very few remaining.
The soldiers barracks were all blown
down. The lighthouse is gone, so are the
dredging machine and telegraph. Many
of the gas lamp posts, Of solid iron, were
also blown down. / must write you
further Of particulars next mail, for am
400 borri6ad IN oo on now