, 1874-11-15

Pirates Burn Seven Hundred Buildings
in Macao During the Storm.


It ig our painful duty to record By the prese1
mail one OF the most appalling disasters th'
has ever happened in this Colony. Atypboon {
unprecedented violence ragged in this neighbo
hood on Tuesday night, Sept. %, aud Weduet
day morning last. THE weather during the ia
had been threatening. tue barometer havin
fallen very considerably during tho foronoo,
and still remaining low in the evening. About
o'clock the wind began to threaten, an
shortly after s o'clock was blowing
strong gale. This Increased rapidly, lnd in Il,
courso Of au hour it VAS evident that typhoo
OF severe character was to be apprehended
and this proved too soon to be the case Th
barometer kept rapidly falling. and the wind in
creased friEhtfully in violence, raging and howl
iug at first, and after time sounding like on
continued peal Of ,nuRletry, broken at interval
By artillery, rs Buddcn and more violent gust
swept through the harbor and over the land A
tunes even above the fierce bowling Of the vino
could bo heard the pitiful cries OF Thousand:
Tainly battling with the storm.
FEARFUL HAVOC.
Net 8 single ship in port escaped undanaged
an; the casualties and loss of lfe-the latter es-
tinateI ut over 1000 souls-havo exceeded any
thing which has ever before been on record. The
:ity, after the occurrence, presented the appear
nnce Of q town which had been besieged. In all
directions were roo1ess and shattered houses,
crunbEng walls, naked poles aud rafters stand
ing cut glooniy against tho leaden sky. The
roads we're strewn right md left with debris,
wrecks Of boats, and trees-aome OF gigantic
size-tosn up by the roots The telegraph en-
the island and the marine telegraph be-
tween Hong Kong and Saigon WAS interrupted !;
the gas-plpes we're torn up; dead bodies in all
directions washed ashore; the Flagstaff ut the
Peak was seen leaning at an angle, sad signal
to ships miles away OF the rayages to which tue
Colony has been subjected. The tide was e1cep-
amount OF the damage inflicted, and to the east
ward great deal Of injury both to life and
property was caused By the height Of tbs wafer
which on the plain at East Point was
on en average shout feet high. 70 add
to the disasters, fire occurred in ho,,se
On the Praya, near the Canton wharf, but fer
tunateir was soon got uEder, but it il = notice.
oblo cud somewhat 0GalnOu5 incident in co;,-
nection with the news as to iuc1ndiaries fsom
Macao, as it is to ke feared that there are ties-
petate characters hero ready TO avail themselves
OF any such disaster Is typhoon for tho pur-
pose Of plumber So strong was the wind that
the flames OF the fire were blown ont in some
instances like the Light OF candle. very
curious circumstance ls mentioned on good
authority. namely, that large number Of clocks
IN tho Colony stopped at the same hour. Our
informant has heard of Eve. md suggests the
hypothesis OF Il slight shock Of an ear.hquaae
having occurred While the typhoon WAS raging
Certainly the oscillation in many OF the houses
would favor such supposition.
70 convey al adequate idea in general words
OF the awful effects which this upDrecedepted
gallo las produced is impossible. At the present
moment all business is suspended and an on
presslSe silence reigns over the Colony, broken
only by the checking of the hammers Of those re-
pairing the houses and other ruins; at Aber-
dcen. near The docks, lies high aud dry on the
land the magnificent steamer Alaska belonging
to tho Pacific Mail Company and the dead bodies
Of the victims are being drif.ed ashore in ali
directions. I
TIE Chinese had, AZ usual, during the Tues |
day anticipated the danger, aud the sampans |
and junlB cleared ont i'll large numbers to seek |
shelter. Some doubts were. however, fe1s among
foreigners ~ to whether there would be nors
than gallo. though the prcpondeGatiug opinion !
on Tuesday evening VAS that q typhoon va. to |
DO anticipated In fact, the indications we're
strongly in that direction, and the doubts prob
ABLY only arose IN consequence Of there having |
already been several false warnings of typhoons !
this year.
AN EYEWITNESS DESCRIPTION.
An eyewitness Of the terrible occurrence sends |
US the following description of the scene on the |
Praya:
II had been out dining with friend aud |
Started to return home at little after II. It |
Was then blowing very hard but neither unr
any Of my companions had M idea of the seyeri-
y 70 WHICH the gale was destined to reach. ac-
coruinsly vent with companion to the praya to !
see the sight. and certainly never witnessed any
thing SO striking in my life. Although I haTa
seen many tgphoons during stay Of over four
teen years IN Hongkong, do not know Of any
and so much loss Of life. By the time We had
arrived a. the Praya the wind had freahened
rapidly. and the typhoon WAS raging win full
sleof: Ihe sea was breaking over the Fraya with
terrific force. while the roar of the wind was
deafening. Tho waves broke bright will, nhos-
phorescent light, and presented strikiurp puu and
awful sight. The lights on shore flicIered
y through the darkness, aud seemed only to render !
u the more intense. Gradually tho swell in
c1tea9so. t1 ana tue waves rushed first half ACROSS
the Praya and afterwards quite across il. and
before | had reached Pustau's wharf, towards
"h1ch VAS going westward, thew were
more tnan across the Praya, and I had
20 70 pusn my way knee-deep in water Ciingiug
90 sncn projection, from the houses as were with.
IN my reach, endeavorcd to continue on nv
course, but soon found that it WAS dangerous tn
perse'efe as the wavos Fero coming in with suci
.otce thas there was every Glance Of being
"ksnen u away, while tiles nod bricks we're fulius
III ~ directions from the shaken honses Il W.
oclock When WAS thus forced to hest rotra.t |
~ ano may mention that up to that time nom NJ |
Tue sad casualties which have been recor;lad hal
oecu11ed and as the gale began to moderate bv
: clock, it ia evident that the havoc nnst hnrs
been tho work of little more than two hnnrs o
VESSELS WRECKED AND INJURED.
tIhe Press then gives long list at rosas,.
wrecked. injured. and miseiny.1
Tie steamer Powan, the nlgbt-boat Of III. |
hong hong: Canton Macao Company. Ar
r4ved On Wednesday At about n. IN. She stnrt-
ed from Cxnton at the usual hour with .40i) i'm
seueers on board. and at the time felt no indira
aons OF bad weather; but met the storm when
t.e aeat LII lin. Here she anchored to Wait ont
- nc D'cnt OF it, when high wave smashed in
eoout a,' " leet of the hull. Capt Beuniug pent
aoout 'o3 Ut the passengers below. and took nra.
SSa1t1oh LOT the safety Of the others which wera
fortunately, SUCCESSFUL. "A'Ae"1 "efe'
Tn,asa oSS"offD AND BUILDINGS BLOWN DOWN.
,si,arn Immense damage, beth in The harbor and
~ ]s.~ vas done eastward. As usual nr,,nhcr ,
VI st n1o9e craft sought shelter in The craeL
soaet an ordinary way, they are sae sea bn:
was the wind that m.uy OF them WeTo So
severely @ damaged OF broken up. Ono ;,.n,, "ere ~,
aear wss Cast ashore far ~ l5o vsrs sdn1, n, We
N 9srines Bazaar, facing causeWs1 s1s Rar inland;
PC houses have becn blown down down. H. iaEf E al
aong @ Ice con'pans's chimney fe1] 10 o. hGng s1g
hat OF the sugaE Company We learn a. a. tn also
1e latter sustained great loss in consanv eas
the water rushing in some feet tsuuenee daa,, a
a)ur1ne 2o9o p;culs OF refined sugar f5no 1na nf
lessrs Jertlnes residences, which wa occ,,o1
!