The Hawaiian gazette., 1874-12-16
HAWAIIANGAZETTE


nal ore OF the most apralhng disasters mat pa
ever happened in this Colony. A yphoOe O
unprecedented violence ragged in this neighbor
bod % Tuesday night, September ed. and
wednesday morning last. The weather during
TIE day had been threatening; the barometer
havinr hlleu very considerably dering the fore
noon. ard still renaioiog low 10 the evening
Aboot s O'Clock the Wiod began to threaten, aud
shortly amer O'Clock was blowing strong gale,
This increased rspiaiy. ard in the course Of an
hoer il vas evident that typhoon Of a severe
Character vas to be apprehsrded ard this proved
too soon to Be the case. The barometer KEEP.
rapidly falling, and the wind Increased frightfully
IN vioieaee. raging ard howlins q, first. aud sfer
tine sounding Ike one Continued peal Of mus
kerry broken at intervals BY artillery. rs sudden
and more violent gusts swept through the harbor
and over The land. At times even over the 6ecee
bowling o. the winds eoald be heard the pitifnl
cries Of thousands rainly battling with the storm.
FEARFUL HAVOC
No. single ship IN port escaped unchanged
and the casualties aad loss Of rfe-the latter es,
/ iinA,sd at over 1000 souls-have exceeded any
thing which has ever been upon record The
city. after the occurrence. presented the appear
a1ce OF town wb;eh bad been besieged. Ia all
Directions we're rooaess and shattered houses,
crumbliag walls naked poles and raftsrs standing
Oei glooSniiy against the leaien SKY. The roads
were strewu right and len With debris. wreck Of
boats aud trees-some OF gigantic sire-toru No
by the roots. The telegraph on the island and
the marine telegraph between Honskong ard
Saigoa was intercepted: the gas-pipes were torn
% dead bodies 10 al directions washed ashore
the Gag-stag al the Peak was seen leaning at an
snsle sad sigoal to ships miles away Of the raw
ages 10 which the Colony has been subjected
TIE tide was exceptionally high. which materially
increased the amount Of damage inflicted, and to
the eastward great deal Of i1jary bo'b to life
and property was caused BY the height Of the
water which 90 The plaiu at East Point was on
an average about four feet high To add to the
disasters, a IRE occurred 10 house on the Praya.
pear the Canton wharf bat fortunately vas soon
got ander bat IS a noticeable aud somewhat ON
iuous incident, 10 connection with the news as to
ince0diaries from Macao as it is to be feared that
there are Desperate Characters here ready to avail
themselves Of any such disaster as a typhoou for
the p1rpose Of pluuder. So stroOg was the wind
that the flames ct Ere were blown oct 10 some
instances Ike the light Of a candle. A very Gu
rioGs Circumstance is mentioned on good sutbor- 1
ity, namely. that large number Of clocks in the .
Colouy stopped at the sane hour. Oar Informant I
has heard OF Eve. and Suggests the hypothesis Of .
) slight shock Of an earthquake having occurred /
while the typhoou was raging, Certainly the os-
citation il many Of the houses would tav0c such 4
ssupPositiOu.
To convey an adequate idea in general words Of
the awful effects which this unprecedented gale
has prodoeed IS impossible At the present mo
msot all business Is suspended and al oppressive
silence rsigns over the Colony. broken only by
the elaekiug Of the hammers of those repairing
the houses and other ruins; st Aberdeen. near
the decks, lies high and dry on land. the magni-
fee0t steamer Alaska, belonging to the Pacific
Nail Company, and the dead bodies of the VIC
tins are being driftsd ashore ia all directions.
The Chinese bad as usual. during Tuesday
anticipated the danger, and the sampars and
junks cleared out in large numbers to seek shell
ter. Some doubts. however. we're felt among
foreigners as to whether there Eouli be more
than gale. though the prePouderating opinion
On Tuesday evening vas that typhoon was to
be anticipated In fact the indications we're
strongly in that direction and the doubts only
arose in Consequence Of there having slready been
several false warnings Of typhoOus this year.
Az ErE wrrSESs' DESCRIPTION
As eye witness OF the terrible occurrence sends
Is the foIlO=iug description of the scene 90 the
Prsya: I had been out dining with friend and
started to return home little after eleven. 1t
vas then blowing very hard. bot neither l nor
ny Of ny companions had sn idea Of the severity
% which the gale vas destined to reach. I &C :
,or5iHgly vent With = companion to the Praya
o see the SIGHT, and certainly never witnessed
anything 50 striking il ny life. Although have
zen many tyPh0ous daring 8 stay Of over four
ecu years IL Houekoug, DO not know of any
shich has caused 50 much injury to the Colouy =
nd 50 much loss Of Iifs- By the time =e had
irrived ST the Prays the wind bad frssheued IA
,idly. and the typboo1 vas raging With full vigor.
The sea sas breaking over the Praya With terri
C force. While the roar Of the Wind vas ieafsn-
re- The waves broke bright With phospborez-
ent light and presented striking and awful
ight. The lights 90 shore aieksred through the
and seemed oaly to render it the more q
1teuse. Gradually the swell increased and the :
raves rushed first half aeross the Praya. and 0
ftsrzars quite across it. and before had reach
j Pustaa's wharf. towards which I vas going c
rsst~uri. theT we're more than aeross the Praya,
I'd had to push NJ Eag kuee-d=ep in water G
]i1ging TO ssch projections fron the houses as
Isrs aithIa ny reach endsaVored to coutinus o
q ny coarse. bat soou found it vas too Danger
Is to Persevsrs as the waves we're coming II :
nth s1eh ioece that there vas every chance Of J!
eng Eashsd azag. while tiles ard bricks we're i
Hing il al directions from the shaken houses
; zaz oGe o'clock When vas thus forced to beat z
retreat, and nay mention that up TO that time y
Coz OF the sad casualties which have been re- Y
7rded had occurred, a1d a the gale began to II
Oderafs By three O'Clock, i Is evident that the D
.vOe must have beea the Eosk Of little more si
lau tz0 b01rs-7 as