The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-10-01
The Outside Edge of a Typhoon
Illnrr Iondor, Ctnndard

lOOrr. LONDON StandardI
The harbor of Hong Kong presents at
night scene that for beauty of peculiar
kind is probably not surpassed all the word
over. The mountain upon the base of which
the city is built circles round the bay like a
huge amphitheatre, and the streets, rising
one above the other, from the waters edge
to far up the hillside, are illuminated by
myriads of Chinese lanterns that hang over
every door, and almost over every window
These successive tiers of lights are again re-
Elected in the shimmeling waters below,
across which necessarily fit the tiny Ian
terms of the numerous "sanpans" that ply
among the shipping. But Hong Kong har-
Dor presents very different aspect when a
typhoon is raging. AT the present season
July these terrific whirlwinds-some of
them five hundred miles in dlameter-con-
tinually traverse the China Sea; and in 1874
the centre of one passed over Hong Kong it
self. On that occasion the waters of the lit
tie bay, only mile or two across, were
dashed mo such fury that great steamers
we're torn from their moorings and hurled
against the qnays. The sanpans, which may
be termed the gondolas of Chinese waters,
were all wrecked, and most of the families
who lived upon them were drowned. When
a sanpan is chartered the fare is rowed to his
destination by three generations. The grand
mother pulls the bow oar, the son or daugh-
ter-in-law the stroke, and the youngest born
baby, who probably has never been out of
the boat, holds the tiller.
The memory of the typhoon of 1874 is
still vivid in Hong Kong, and the floating
population live in continual terror of being
caught by such another. A day or two be-
fore / left the island the outside edge of one
passed over us, and | witnessed the panic
which prevailed during its progress. The
day had been sultry in the extreme. Even
the sparrOws seemed exhausted, and when
at midnight sudden gust of hot wind was
followed by steady rush of air in the at
mosphere above, an alarm was quickly raised
in the harbor. Shouts of terror that could
be heard all over the city arose from the
crowds of anchored sanpans and cargo
GOATS, and ashore the people hastily arose
and made fast their changing shutters. The
steamships got up steam, and the sailing
vessels sen down their upper spars. In
short, there was uproar all over Hong Kong.
At first there was but little wind below, but
high up in the clouds the air could be heard
to surge along in an ominous and continu-
GUS moan. By morning it was blowing a
strong gale, which every instant increased
in force. The steamers were leaving their
anchorage to seek better shelter near the
mainland, and the wrecks of numerous san
pans, with floating bales Of goods sirewed
the waters. The helpless misery of the fam
lilies suddenly forced to leave their homes
and take refuge on shore was pitiable to
witness, but, fortunately, the veer of the
wind, as the cyclone marched along, showed
by noon that the worst had passed. Every
body in Hong Kong has thoroughly mastered
the laws of circular storms. 1t was known
that the dreaded centre had gone by, and
the panic abated as suddenly as it had aris-
on