The Hazlehurst signal., 1885-11-12
DISASTROUS STORMS.
The Destroying Power of Recent and An.
Client Cyclones

Recently cyclones and storms seem to
have, ,circled the whole earth. In the
Bay ot Bengal A ftw years ngo one
formed and passed over tho continent,
swelling the rivers, and flood ng the
city Of Surat. Five hundred houses
are said to have fallen. persons were
drowned in the midst Of the city, rail-
road bridges and embankmcnts were
swept away. Another storm in Europe
startled the city Of Paris. tore down the
flags and decorations In the Place de Ia
Concordc. broke lamps and windows,
and devastated the Jardin de' plantcs.
"The water-spout was so violent on
the Seinc.' wrstc the -serrcspondcnt OF
the Daily Neps. "that n river steamer
was beaten down upon 1t, and must
have foundered II larger vessels had not
gone to its relief This hurricane,
though of short duration, was more de-
,truclivc than any storh which has for
years ragged over Paris"
All over our own country the disturb
ancc of the elements has prevailed.
Wind and water have united iii their
fearful work. Ndw they sweep away
whole villages in Michigan or Missis.
sippi. Next they drive the summer
visitors from the r8ofcss hotels Of the
Jersey shore. Sometimes they threaten
81. Louis with foundations, or pour u
tidal wave into Chicago. or cover
Charleston with dismay Tho recent
fate Of ilourishing town in Ohio seems
the most disastrous of all. Yet fearful
rs have been these storms of few years
past. they have never clualcd the VIC.
lencc and widespread ruin Of those re-
lated in history.
One OF the earliest is described by
Petrarch. He was at Naples. when
suddenly, on the night of November %,
1913. tempest rose from the sea and
broke upon tho city. The houses shook
to their foundations; the harbor was
Powered with wrecks. The thunder
roarcd. the lightning flashed nccssant-
ly. and when morning came the raging
waves were seen 6vcrturning houses
and dashing ships helpless on the shore.
AT sea-" says Pctrarch, "no ship es.
capped the fury Of the tempest; all in
tho harbor but one sank before our
eyes, and every soul on board per
ishcd."
Another great storm passed over
northern Italy in li5G "On the 2ith
of August" says Machiavclli, "aboui
an hour before daybreak, u whirlwind
crossed Italy FROM east 10 west. II was
accompanied by thick clouds and the
most impcnetrable darkness" 1t burst;
its fierce elements were engaged in n
dreadful contest. Sometimes they rose
to heaven. and then descended TO tho
earth. The end of all things seemed at
hand. The country lost all its habitsblc
character where the tempest passed.
Churches and dwellings were laid in
heaps Of ruins. The air was filled with
the cries of those who had lost friends
and kindred in the awful desolation.
Anguish or pity filled every breast.
Fortunately the storm struck no im-
oortani city, or il might have razcd ii
to the ground. II passed within eight
miles of Florence and reached tho sea
near Pisa.
England has been constantly swept
by destructive storms OF wind aud rain.
The early monkish chronicles are full
OF them. But the most disastrous OF
all was the storm Of 1903, sung by Ad-
olson and recorded by the aged Evelyn.
Thousands of lives were lost; the coast
was strewn'with the wrecks Of the finest
ships of the time. London was half
dismantlcd of roofs and chimnoys, and
immense numbers of oaks that had
stood for centuries were torn up by the
roots and lay prostrate on the ground.
"Pale britannia" Addison tells us,
trcmbled; and Evelyn relates that
..many houses were demolished and
people killed" His own losses, he
says, were "tragical," and not to be
described. He laments his trees. But
the most fatal to trees and plantations
in England was the storm OF October,
1881. 1t is estimated that in one Dis
trlct thirty thousand or forty thousand
lrocs were blown down. Great clumps
Of oak that had seemed as solid as the
castles around them were torn up by
the roots.
Yet II is a satisfaction to know that
the rage of wind and storm Is not
beyond control. We have as yet no per-
feet means for measuring the force and
swiftness of the wind. But we know at
least that common precautions will
save our dwellings from the ravages OF
the storm. We know the relative pow
er of the wind. In n cyclone that
swept over the Atlantic Highlands u
few years ago. it was only the houses
slightly built that were carried into the
bag. In Michigan, at nearly the same
time. a cyclone tore down houses, or
sent them with all their contents sail.
ing through the mir: But they were all
of slight construction.
The iroglodyte on the scythian plains
escaped the violence of the winds by
digging his house below the surface of
the earth. The Parthenon has resisted
for two thousand years the tempests of
the East. The lesson of every cyclone
is that houses and cities should be built
to defy the storm. II Is better to imi-
tate the Greek rather than the Scythiau;
and among the inventions OF the future