Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-06-12
A CHINESE TORNADO.
From Five to Ten Thousand Lives
Destroyed by a Terrible Cyclone
Af

az %anCo0.
Correspondence of the Hong Kong
Daily Press, dated Canton, April IA
gives the following particulars of the
terrible tornado which visited Canton
ana its suburbs on the llth of April
Passing over the Shameen settlement,
the storm crossed the canal to the
city, carrying away in its course the
balustrading of the east bridge. A
native police station opposite was al.
so completely destroyed. The storm
leveled all the houses in its course,
making a clean sweep Of everything
for width Of about six hundred
feet. The mortality has been vari.
ously estimated at from five to ten
thousand, and probably the latter
number is nearer the mark. Nine
thousand houses (speaking in round
numbers) are known to have been
destroyed. and although many of the
inmates had notice of the impending
disaster, the noise caused by other
houses falling, and made their escape,
there were other cases in which great
numbers were killed by the falling OF
single house. For instance, there
was an ealing-house where fifty-two
assistants were engaged. In this
house there was at the tine over one
hundred people taking refreshments,
and none of these, either assistants or
guests, are known to have escaped
In another case twenty four persons
are known to have been killed by the
destruction of a family house There
was also great destruction of boats
and life on the water. Allowing,
therefore, for there being no one in
many of the houses at the time of
their fall, and, on the other hand, al
lowing for their being great numbers
in some of those that fell, 1t is proba-
bly, below the average to estimate the
loss OF lifesat one to every house that
fell, and thousand on the water. In
most of the houses blown down, fire
was probably being used. either for
cooking or other purposes, and kero-
sene is now so universally burned
and stored in Chinese houses that it
would have been no cause for sur.
prise had the conflagrations been
much more extensive than they were
AS to the clearing away of the dead
bodies, the Chinese authorities seem
to have acted with the most com.
mcndable promptitudc. Almost i'm
mediately after the catastrophe or
ders for four thousand collins were
issued by the Oi Yuk Tong hospital,
and up to the time the steamer left
yesterday afternoon, three thousand
bodies had been recovered from the
ruins and buried without delay. The
work of clearing away the debris
was proceeding rapidly, but the
stencil in some places was unmistaka-
BILE evidence that there were dead
bodies still to be extricated. The vi
olence of the wind for the few mo-
ments that it lasted was equal to that
of the severest typhoon. Granite
blocks were lifted from their places
and carried a considerable distance /;
thick trees snapped in twain like
twigs; roofs were lifted bodily and
boats carried far on to the shore. In
one case a boat was actually carried
to the roof Of a house in the tenth
ward. A row of houses-all brothels
but one, forming one side of short
lane in the city were the scene of a
notable catastrophe. The other side
of the lane is formed by the side wall
of the Nam Cheong temple, which il
some thirty feet high. This wall
gave way to the force of the tornado, =,
and fell crushing in upon the opposite
the inmates Of which, about
one hundred in number. were all kill
ed, most Of them being crushed to
death, and the remainder suffocated.
There was no means Of exit at the
back and no one attempted to dig the
bodies out of the ruins. The narrow
creek is still partially choked up with
debris, consisting of broken boats and
other wreckage, in which are num-
bers of dead bodies. In too mspv in.
Rtances whoic frmiiics have boon
crushed to death in one boat. The
supply of cofiins is nearly exhausted
and the undertakers are now, am
told, charging double price. The vii
lagos of Pah Him Hook and Pah Hook
Tang. two or three miles to the north
outside the walls, were caught in the
storm and suffered great damage,
many dwelling houses and other
buildings being destroyed and num-
bers of lives lost. The village across
the water opposite Shameen came in
for its share of the disaster also, be-
ing partially destroyed. hear that
though the whirlwind did not effect
SO much damage at Fatshan as in this
port, it has made severe havock. 1t
is stated by Chinese who have come
from there, that not less than two
houses have been laid pros
trate, while about half the boats in
the river there have been wrecked
The loss OF life is put down at several
hundred. A passage boat coming
from Fatshan 10 this city, was, when
a short distance of, caught in the tor
nado and instantly capsized, and
about seventy of the passengers were
drowned. The tornado, it appears,
came from direction quite contrary
to that in which the clouds had been
travelling Immediately preceding it.