The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-09-30
A Florida Typhoon.

Tioiioe SUMMERS are passably cool
The thermometer rests between 500 and
90'. with occasional spurts to 1902. Al
night the heat Is frequently intense
without close sahd.hy bar there is nc
rest, and with one no ais. Grateful dew,
cool the air before daylight, but coppery
sun soon reappears, and up to 8 q. m. the
atmosphere is like that of q furnace
Then refreshing trade wind sets in from
the southeast, aud blows steadily unit
sundown. This trade wind lasts three
months, say from the middle of June ia
ebout the same time in September
Without it, life OH the eastern coas,
would be iusurportable. There are day,
In which the cir becomes mucky and
sticky. A dead land bre 20 covers the
earth. Sands and marshes throw out q
tremuious heat, binding to tie eye; the
leaves Of the oleanders ard fg trees
shrink under the burning rays of the
sun; the sky seems rooted by brazeu
dome, and gardens and groves fairly pant
for breath.
On the approach Of autumn the Flori.
dians quake with apprehension. It is
the dread season Of hurricanes. Tearing
through the West Indies, they often strike
the coast with deadly effect. With
scarcely a note of warning, houses are
overthrown, sailhoats blown from the
water, and orange groves swept bare Of
leaves and fruit. Some of the old set.
tiers say that they can detect signs OF
the storm day before it breaks upon
them.
"You feel it in the air long before il
comes" says one. This is, however. an
Indefinite sign. The devastation lining
its track certainly proves that "you feel Il
in the air after it comes" One of these
typhoons visits the coast every year.
The day may be bright and beautiful,
and the flowers heavy with bees and
humming. birds. Shimmering mosquito
hawks culver in the air, aud the scarlet
cardinal twitters in the acacias. A cool.
ing breeze plays through the leaves OF
the trees and gently swings the unripc
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. The drowsey
roar of the surf is heard, and the gentle
swell of the ocean is rippled with golden
sheen.
Almost impcrceptibly the wind dies
away. Cries of terms and water birds fall
upo.. the ear with painful dstinctness.
The mud hens Of the marshes pipe an
alarm: Not blade of grass moves.
!he blue ely grows haZy, and the eae.e...
horizon is milky white. Fitful gusts
begin to ripple tie 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 rufi1ed water. Every
minute it incr, ,ses in fury. An ominous
yellow light tinges the atmosphere. The
sun IS gone, and great drops of rain are
hurried 90 the ground. Within fifteen
minutes there is gale, and soon The. full
force of the hurricane is felt. Great eagles
ana pelicans are swept through the
heavens utterly powerless. Sparrows
and other small birds are lashed to death
by leafiess 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 limbs of viii
lows and oleanders snap like COW whips.
Loff- palmettoes bend their heads to
the grcrnd, their great fans turned inside
out like the ribs OF an umbrella. The
force of the wind keeps the trees down
until every green fan pops Ikea ristolshot.
Orange groves are ripped into shoe strings.
The leaves Of the scraggy scrub on the
beach are whipped into little brushes.
The tough saw palmetto is blown as
fiat as northern wheat field. and the
dead grass of the eayannas Iashed into
fine dust Boards in the surf are struck
by. the winds, and sent spinning hundreds
Of feet into the air. Tie sand dunes arc
caught up bodily and sifted through the
tops fpine trees miles away. The foam
of the sea is blown beneath the houses on
the main land, and comes I'D betwean
the cracks of the floor like Bteam.
Woe to the owners OF sail boats and
aboat houses. At Lake Worth the Crui-
ser, g heavy round bottouled sail boat.
thirty-two feet long, owned by Can't.
Charles Moore, was picked up from her
ways, rigging and all, and carried across
the lake, mile away, without touching
the water. A bont owned by DR.. Wallace
of Castle Windy was torn from her moor.
ings, lifted from the water, and dropped
into saltwater mash fringing MOSQUITO
Lagoon, 800 yards from the castle. In
the fal! Of 1876 the Ida Smith, n large
schooner running between New Smyrns
and Jacksonville, was torn from her an.
chors and stranded on a marsh 500 Yards
from the ship channel. The coast sur
vey steamer, in good harbor, sheltered
by sand banks, threw ont three anchors,
aud kept her wheels working against
the. wind under full head Of steam.
She draggedher anchor several hundred
yards, and barely escaped destruction.
The hurricanes last from seven to
eight hours, even longer. During shc
lull rain falls intorrents. The tide rises
to great height, carrying away wharves
and lighthouses, and flooding the country
for miles. The ocean leaps the sandy
barriers of the coast and floods The In.
dian and other salt water rivers. inyol.
wing great damage. After the storm.
centre.boards and jib-stays are found in
spruce pines, oleanders are loaded with
cordage, and dead eyes and peak blocks
drop from leafless orange trees. Gardens
ere destroyed. fences swept away, and the
tormented Floridian has three months
work and no pay to repair damages.
Vessels are driven ashore had some
time many lives lost. The Landona, o
New York steamship, went ashore twelve
miles north of Canaveral in the great gale
of Aug. %, 1871. All on board perished.
Since then many vessels have been
wrecked. r ZIsKA.