Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-01-27
Cyclones In the Tropics.

These sudden movements of the ali
are perhaps, after the great volcanic
eruptions, the most terrible meteorologi-
cal phenomena Of our planet, and we
cannot be astonished that in the mytho-
logy of the Hindoos, Rudra, the chief OF
winds and storms, should have ended by
becoming, under the name of silva, the
god of destruction and death. Some
days before the terrible hurricane is un-
chained, nature already gloomy and
as if veiled, seems to anticipate
disaster. The little white clouds
which fioat in the nights of air with
the counter trade-winds are hidden un-
der yellowish or dirty wllte yapor; the
heavenly bodies are surrounded by
yaguely.iridescent halos and heavy layers
of clouds, which in the evening present
the most magnificent shades of purple
and gold, stretching far over the horizon,
and the air is as sitting asif 1t came from
the mouth of some great furnace The
cyclone, which already whirls in the
upper regions, gradually approaches the
surface of the ground or water. Torn
fragments of reddish or black clouds are
carried furiously along by the storm
which plunges and hurries through
space; the column Of mercury is wildly
agitated in the barometer, and sinks ra-
pidly; the birds assemble, as if to take
counsel, then fly swiftly away, so as to
escape the tempest that pursues them.
Soon a dark mass shows itself in the
threatening part Of the sky this mass
increases, and spreads itself out, grad
ually covering the azure with veil of a
terrible darkness or a blood-colored
hue. This is the cyclone which falls
and takes possession of its empire,
twisting its immense spirals around the
rhorizan. The roaring of the sea and
skies succeeds to this awful silence.
Among the effects that certain hurri-
canes have produced, there are several
which would seem quite incredible, If
the genius of man could not by means
of powder and other Illuminating mat
ters impress on the air still greater
rapidity, and give 1t thus, though in very
limited spaces, force of destruction
superior to that Of the tempest. On the
26th Of July, 1925, during the hurricane
Of Guadaloupe, gust of wind seized a
plank an inch thick and sent it through
the trunk of palm tree sixteen inches
thick. In the same way, in a lesser
whirlwind which passed near Calcutta,
a bamboo was hurled through q wall Of
a yard and half in thickness; that is to
say, the breath Of air in movement over
this point bad force equal 70 that Of a
six FOUNDER. At St. Thomas, in 1887,
the fortress which defends the entrance
Of the port was demolished as IT it had
been bombarded. Blocks Of rock we're
torn from a depth Of thirty or forty feet
beneath the sea and flung on shore.
Elsewhers, solid houses, torn from
their foundations, have glided over
the ground a. If flying before
the tempest. On the banks OF the
Gsnges. on the coasts Of the Antilles,
and at Charleston, vessels have been
stranded far from the shore in open
plains or in forests. In 1851 a vessel
from Antigua was carried up the rocks
three yards above the highest tides, and
remained like q bridge between two
psints Of rock. In 1873, at the time Of
the great hurricane Of Guadaloupe, the
vessels which we're IN the road Of Basse