Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-06-26

On the approach of autumn the
Floridian quases with apprehension.
1t is the dread season OF hurricanes.
Tearing through the West Indies, they
often strike the coast with deadly effect.
With scarcely note of warning, houses
are overthrown, sailboats blown from
the water, and orange groves swept
bare of leaves and fruit. some of the
old settlers say that they can detect
signs of the storm day before 1t breaks
upon them. "You feel il in the air long
before 1t comes" says one. This l.,
however, an indefinite sign. The de-
vastation lining It's track certainly
proves that ''yOu feel IL r.
it comes" One of these typhOons visits
the coast every year. The day may be
bright and beautiful, and the flowers
heavy with bees aud humming birds
Shimmering mosquito hawks quiver in
the air, and the scarlet cardinal twitters
in the acacias. A cooling breezs plays
through the leaves of the trees and
gently swings the unripe oranges.
Clouds of gulls soar above the dark
green mangrove bushes, and the sand
bars, at low tide, are covered with
pensive curlews and willets. Tle drowsy
roar of the surf is heard, and the gentle
swell of the ocean is rippled with golden
sheen. Almost imperceptibly the wind
may die away. Cries of terms and water
birds fall upon the ear with painful
distinctness. The mud hens of the
marshes pipe an alarm. Not blade of
salt grass moves. The blue sky grows
hazy, and the eastern horizon is milky
white. Fitful gusts begin to ripple
the water and handle the green leaves.
A low moan comes from the ocean.
smoky clouds roll into the sky from the
southeast, and a strong wind whitens
the ruff I'd water. Every minute it in
creases in fury. An ominous yellow
| light tinges the atmosphere. The sun
is gone, and great drops of rain are
hurled TO the ground. Within fifteen
minutes there is gale, and soon the
| full force of the hurricane Is felt. Great
eagles and pelicans are swept through
the heavens utterly pOwerless. Spar
rows and other small birds are lashed
to death by lea1ess twigs, and the torn
bodies of snowy herOns and wild turkeys
lodge In the branches of the live oak
and cypress trees. All living things
disappear. Tall pines are twisted
asunder. The little limbs of willows
and oleanders snap like cow-whips.
Lofty palmettOes bend their heads 10
the ground, their great fans turned in
side out like the ribs of an umbrella.
The force of the wind keeps the trees
down until every green fan pops like
pistol shot. Orange groves are ripped
into shoe strings. The leaves of the
scraggy scrub on the beach are wiped
out, and their stems whipped Into little
brushes. The tough saw-palmetto is
blown as fiat as northern wheatfield,
and the dead grass of the savannas
lashed into fine dust. Boards in the
;. surf are struck by the wind, and sent
spinning hundreds of feet into the air.
The sand dunes are caught up bodily
ana slIted through pine trees miles
away. The foam of the sea is blown
beneath the houses on the main land.
and comes up between the cracks of the
floor like steam. These hurricanes last
from seven TO eight hours, even longer.
During the lulls rain falls i'm torrents.
The tide rises to a great height, carry
ing away wharves aud boat houses, a. d
flooding the low country for miles. The
ocean leaps the sandy barriers of the
coast and floods the Indian and other
salt water rivers, involving great
: damage. After the storm, centre-boarls
and jib-stays are found in spruce pines,
oleanders are loaded with cOrdage. and
dead-eyes and peak-blOcks drop from
leafiess orange trees. Gardens are de-
: stroyed, fences swept away, and the
| tornented FlOridian has three months
work aud no pay to repair damages.