The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-05-05
Some Famous Storms.


| he predicted. 1t is to be regretted, in the
interests of scientific observation, that Il
more careful record has not been kept of
| the really great storms that have from time
/ to time devastated wide areas of the earth 5
surface. As it is, the literature of the sub
/ iect is both extensive and interesting, but
f. the most graphic chroniclers were unfor-
| tunately those in whom the faculty OF I'M
agination was stronger than that OF obser-
vation, and who only were too apt to find
or to force remarkable incidents and COIN
cidences. 1t was not possible for a great
man to die without some fiuttering cOnvul-
! sion of nature accompanying or preceding
the event, and it is to be feared that the
chroniclers of old time had the bad habit
of modern travellers by sea, who never ex-
perience hurricane that is not a terrible
one, nor see waves that do not run noun
tains high Some of the early storms recor-
ded in England would not devoted picayune
affairs in the present time, for instance, that
of 944, which destroyed l 800 houses in
London; that of October 5, 1901, which
prevailed in several parts OF England, top
pling over 800 houses in the metropolis
Two Of these early storms are said to have
exerted no little influence upon the course
of English history-that Of 1215, in which
Hugh de Beauvais and the reinforcements
for John against the barons perished, and
that of 1899, which so mauled the army
of Edward III. on the march by Chartres
as to compel the King to agree to IL peace.
Both of the Queens Of Richard IL. brought
notable tempcsts in their train when they
crossed the Channel in 1882 and 1896, and
the spirit Of Oliver Cromwell passed away,
on his ''lucky day the Sd Of September,
165S-the anniversary of his great victories
at Dunbar and Worcester the midst Of
hurricane whose fury was felt far beyond
the boundaries Of the British Islands.
The storm Of November 26-27, 1903,
was. however, by far the most furious that
ever ravaged England Not one vestige
was left of the old Eddystone Lighthouse
devised by the clever but eccentric Win
stanly, who perished in the structure. In
the single county Of Kent 1900 trees
were uprooted and 5000 lives were lost by
the floods in the valley Of the Thames and
Severn, and the blowing out to sea and
upon the Dutch coast of scores Of ships
whose treacherous anchors gave way.
Twelve men-Of-war were lost within sight
of shore with their crews Of 800 men,
and it is an interesting comment upon the
condition of the times that the people Of
Deal would have left the 200 survivors to
be overwhelmed by the tide rising upon
the Goodwin Sands-the boatmen being
too busy picking up wreckage and the
custom house officials refusing to lend
their boats for such an irregular service
but for the efforts Of the Mayor, who took the
boats by force, and then had to feed, clothe
and bury the men rescued, at his own ex-
pense. The Bishop of Bath and Wells
and his wife were killed in bed by the fall
ing of stack of chimneys upon their roof.
In London twenty-one fatal accidents of
this nature were recorded during the week
and so general was the demolition that
building material and the wages of brick
LAYERS advanced from 400 to 500 per cent
In the storm of October II, 1879, hun
dreds Of vessels were cast away on the
Indian coast and 10000 lives lost In
October, 1868, occurred the well-remem-
bered storm at Havana, i'll which 1000
houses were destroyed and more than l 600
persons lost their lives. Among the best
known of modern storms may be mentioned
the hurricane Of January and I, 1889.
which proved 50 destructive in the west Of
England and in Ireland; the storm of No
vember 1916 1854, which cntailed such
disasters upon the Crimean expedition, and
that of October 25-26, 1857, in which the
Royal Charter and many other gallant ships
perished. 1t may not be ami S to recall
that it was in 1857 that the British Mete-
geological Department began the publica-
ton of the weather reports, the first storm
warnings being given three years later in
Holland by NJ. Buys-Ballot. Reid's Law
of Storms" published in 1888, had already
famiiarized the reading public with the
hitherto little understood and much dreaded
cyclones Some of these whrlwinds in
more recent days have been tremendously
destructive. That of October ), 1864 at
Calcutta, was followed by "bore'' in the
Hooghly, when the river rose thirty feet,
100 ships were destroyed and 10000 per-
sons persisted. The storm Of November
! /, 1861, was still more destructive Of life,
as 10000 persons were drowned, and an
/ outbreak Of cholera followed in the devas-
tated districts and proved fatal to 10000
more Most fatal of all was the cyclone of
October 81, 1876, in which 215,000 Ben
gals perished in Il space Of time 50 brief as
to be reckoned by minutes. Some Of the
disasters in South America, though less de-
structive of human life, have been marked
by almost incredible displays of elemental
violence Ofhurricanes that have wrought
serious loss in our own country within the
| last few years may be mentioned that of
April 10, $780, by which Marshfeld and
two other towns in Missouri were literally
torn to pieces; that of June II, 1881, by
which 100 lives were lost in the northwest
ern portion of the same state; that which
smote New Ulm, Mimi, July 13, 1881;
the great hurricane at Quincy, ILL.,, Septem-
Der "A, 1881, and the still more violent
storm which wrought such damage at Sa-
vannah, Ga, on the 29th of August, in the
same year. The year 1882 was an unu-
sually fatal one In all parts OF the world.
A storm of exceptionable severity passed
over Russia in January, overwhelming some
600 fishermen at the mouth of the Volga
another hurricane left scarcely a rooted
house OF standing plantation in the
Friendly Islands; a cyclone very nearly de-
stroyed Manila in October In the United
States furious whirlwinds swept over Kan
sas, Michigan and Iowa on the 9th OF
April; three weeks later similar disasters
were reported from Mississippi and Penn
sylvania, and such storm visited Alabama
as was without a parallel in local annals
In June came The destruction of Grinnel
and Emmettsburg, Ia, with some scores Of
lives, and finally, at the September equi-
nox, storm whose severity displayed over
a wide region in Northern states would
have made the fortune of a Virgins. a