The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-01-18
THE BENGAL CYCLONE.



life aud Property.
The London Times furnishes few
additional particulars concerning the
effects Of the cyclone wave which, Ou the
thirty-iirst ~ October, came upon the
slumbcriug inhabitants Of the Backrr-
gungc and neighborlng districts like a
thief ia the night. The Times says
The comparatively few details that have
Yet reached us concerning the effects 0i
the cyclone wave which. al midnight, on
I October 81, suddenly swooped round the
laW-lyiug district ut the mouth 0i the
Gmgcs are sufficient "a mark the event
rs probably the most destructive catas-
truphc by water un authentic record. Ii
is to he feared that, when anything like
AN accurate account has been taken Ut
the destruction D. life and property
which Was caused. il viii he found con
siderably 10 exceed the estimate already
made, appallingly high as that in, II is
not easy 30 form any yalvquate idea of the
destruction Of life which has occurred /;
2l5, 900 lives lost ia space of time that
might also be counted by minutes
Tins number exceeds by several thou
sand the population Of Cumberland, is
four times the loss Of life caused by the
Hooghly cyclone of October, 1864, aud
bears about the same proportion Ia the
number uf deaths caused by the Lisbon
earthquake ui the middle uf last century.
The Immediate cause Of the recent catas-
truphe Ia the BAckcrgunge and neighbor-
ing districts Was what lh known as "a cy-
clone Wuve, or storm wave At eleven
o'clock. We are tod, on the night Of the
storm there were no signs Of danger; be-
fore midnight the cyclone wave swept
over nu AREA probably close on three
thousand square miles, to a depth In
places of tgrnty feet, waking the sleep
ing mhai it4nts only 10 consciousness
Of their terrible fate
CYCLONES up oTHER PERIODS.
One Of the earliest cyclones Of which
details have been recorded occurred, hot
IN the usual season, hut IN DecsInber,
l7S9 II was accompanied 10y y huge
storm wave, which broke on the coast NJ
C0riugu. near the mouth of the GOdAyery.
Ia this case, AS IN several other cases on
record. the cuast WIS swept lay three sue
cessiyr wAycs, the first uf which drove
all before il, and flooded the town with
several feet of water; the second over
topped the first and covered all the
ueighhuriug district. while the third
dashed It's waters over ALL Nearly all
the town, with thirty thousand inhabi-
iants. vas destroyed. while the shipping
at anchor in the bay were thrown far up
un t1 the land This very spot was
visited hy au almost equally destructive
cycluur wave Ia 1889. On October 81 4,
1881. 100 miles II the country az the
mouth - the Ganges was swept by a
wave which obliterted 800 native VII
lagcs and destroyed Ia. 600 II the inhabi-
iauts Other destructive hurricanes are
recorded 40 having occurred on the same
coas, ou October Z. 1882. and September
u. 1899. On October Il. 1888 wave
swept the mouth 81 the Hooghiy and
overwhelmed 10000 people; while, on
the twcnty-tirst Of the previous May,
thr,sc successive waves. as ~ Curmgn,
swept away COO villages and destroyed
20. 900 people. The last ~ these waves
WINS nine feet higher than the highest
tide. and the barometer is said o. have
suddenly fallen n much rs two inches.
THE CALCUTTA CYCLONE
la the Calcutta cyclone of Octobcr 3.
lsG4, the devastation was almost solely
due t1 the effect 81 the cyciuue wave, the
extent us country Land under water having
becn 800 square mules II was Of little
avail that the banks uf the Hooghly and
is feeders. and the islands at is mouth
were protected by dikes and emhank-
mcnts oi from eight "a ten feet high F;
these. even If they had been strong
enough Ia withstand the shock ~ the
wave, were far oyert"pped by II, and the
land inside laid under water to q depth
Of from AK feet to eighteen feet. In the
Hooghly the greatest height Of this mem
urhlr cycluuc wave recorded was sixteen
and n half feet above high sprlng-tldc
level. and about twrnty-sevpn feet above
the mean level oi the sea. Even rs far
up as Calcutta il was about the same
height rs the highest spring tide. and
fourteen and half feet above the mean
sea level. The wave was felt rs high up
as Mchurpurc. uu the Matabangha. The
loss of lie directly caused by the storm
wave was not less than -, 600. aud would
probably have been enormously greater
had tn wave caught the people asleep,
as has been the case az Backergunge.
In the brief space uf one month after
the Hooghly disaster of 1854. on Novem-
her D. scarcely less destructive wave
dashed over the coast at Masulipatam, at
the month ~ the Eistnah. where the
curve OF the coast is precisely Of n nature
20 intercept and concentrate the power Of
sucN a wave. The loss of life in this
ease was something like %. 600 people
Only three years later, November J.,
1867, the Calcutta district bad another
similar visitation, happily not noarlv 50
destructive. rs only 900 lives were lost,
though 10000 native huts we're swept
AWAY
OF all recorded previous chtastrophies
Of this kind. the most terrible occurred
in 1862. and the natives still remember
il AZ the baHyd or food of 1929 B. ).
This cyclone appears Ia have had very
wide range. extending far mland, aud Ia
the east. and far beyond Calcutta 10 the
west II swept over NIL the islands at the
mouth OF the Hooghly and over the
ncighboriug coasts. Fortunately the
wave broke in the early evening, and, as
the cyclone had been raging for some
time. the people were in some measure
prepared. Still. il is stated, 100000 of
the inhabitants and M many cattle were
destroyed. and property to the extent OF
more than 600 600 rupees.