The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-01-13
THE TYPHOON AT MANILA.
Great Destruction of Property.

The damage, in q merely monetary sense,
is enormous, and cannot be estimated under
many millions of dollars; the Government,
we hear, setting its own loss down at four
millions. As not house in the place has
escaped damage of one kind or another, the
loss to private individuals must be far be-
yond that sum. The typhoon began at eight
O'Clock in the morning and continued with
unabated fury until about two o'clock in the
afternoon, when it subsided somewhat
Thousands of Indians and others are with
out shelter of any kind whatever, and
should bad weather come, their condition
will be one of fearful misery. One reason
why so many Of the houses have been un-
rooted is that after the destructive earth
quake of 1880 the houses we're so built as to
guard against repetition of the fatal con-
sequences which then ensued. The roofs
were made of corrugated iron, with large
Overhanging caves, so that in the event of
the walls giving way, they would not col
lapse so entirely as an ordinary roof would
However, is often the case, in guarding
against one evil, another was created, as
these caves afforded such hold to the wind
that the inevitable result was their dispace-
ment. In other cases where tiles We're used
for roofing, these were laid on with scarcely
any attachment, and of course were soon
stripped Off
The ConlerciO of the goth October states
that while the paper was being prepared,
a typhOon Of terrific fury was raging in
Manila, and latterly the work i'm the office
had to be stopped, the compositors could
not stand at their frames owing to the
shower Of stones, wood, iron roofing, &C.,
which was falling around them. At this
time it was utterly impossible to walk in
the streets, owing to the force of the wind,
which was rolling carriages along the streets
like playthings, and keeping sheets of iron
roofing floating in the air like pieces of
paper. Carriage traffic prohibited by
the police owing to the danger to the occu-
pants from the pieces of iron roofing which
we're being torn from the houses. Almost
ali the houses were UnroOfed, and the heavy
rain found free entrance, doing great dam
age to furniture and household fittings
generally. 4 Chinaman was killed by a
sheet of iron roofing falling on him. The
Kings Barracks, the old Custom house, the
houses of ArZebispo, and those in Palacio-
street were all unrUofed, while the roof of
San Agustin was in bad state. The cross
of San Agustin Church was blown away,
and the clock damaged. IU the Direction
Civil, nearly the whole of the roofs were
blown away-and in fact not single house
i'm the walled city escaped damage Of some
sort The Variedades Theatre has COM
pleteIy disappeared, with the exception of
the stage; the FOrtin Tobacco Factory is
without roof, and the house of Senior
VermejO is RACED to the ground. Not tree
was left standing in the Istnao de Magal-
lanes. The inmates of the Military
Hospital had to leave that institution,
owing to it's getting uninhabitabIe, and
seek refuge in San Juan IL Dios. The
greater part of the foreign merchants
houses have suffered severely, and much
damage has also been done in the Plaza
San Gabrich and Vivac.
Eleven ships went Oh shore. and twelve
torches, laden with rice, foundered. No
mention is made of the crews. The tele-
graph wires were thrown down, the Flagstaff
at the American Consulate blown over, and,
To add 10 the panic and confusion which pre-
vailed, the street lamps Were blown away
Water standing in the street To- u d"Pth oI
eighteen inches did not improve matters,
and the pitiabie spectacle "i women ana
children. rendered homeless, struggling in
the midst Of the uproar to fiud a place OF
refuge was n common one Churches ana
converts nave Deen Sc eTeiN my
one house was left standing in Ermita- The
asyIum for orphans who have lost their
Darents by cholera was damaged, and the
Youngsters had to take refuge on the ground
floor. The cigar mandatory at Arroeeros
was greatly damaged. \ great part of the
roof of the Hospicio de San Jose i'm which
wore 56f persons, of all ages and of both
.sxe- and of whom 3I4 are lunatic7, was
bioyvu AWAY. To sum up the state of affairs
il may merely be said that Manila Is III
r,i,,- IL - said that during the typhoon
several shocks Of earthquake were felt. No
such destructive typhoOn has visited those
unfortunate islam, since 1881 1t - reporter
that much of the sugar crop has been dam
aoed. Twelve vessrls were driven on shore
ON the morning of the tyPho0n seven Eng
Iisb seamen belonging to G crew OF NV"
british vessels in the bay were on their way
hack to the ships, and the boat was caught
Nv a oust of wind and capsiZed. SIX OF them
managed to reach shore, but the seventh
was drowned r.o,,tor
The steamer Manila was lost in Paohoon
during the typhoon. Ten OF the crew per
isbed through want of provisions anu water
and five were wounded through other causes