Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-02-13
miscellaneous.
Preparing for Hurricanes


Living ninety miles from the nearest
land, the $4,000 inhabitants OF the 700
square miles of the island OF Mauritius
await for three months in every year with
anxious solicitude the coming OF the bur-
ricanes that sweep down from the equator.
At the end of the year, as Christmas draws
near, the watching begins.
The signal of the approach of the storms
is given from the Fort at Port Louis. by
the firing of gun; but long before the
first gun is heard. every householder has
made ready, by gathering in food enough
to last his family many days. and by care
fully examining the fastenings of every
window-shutter. Not door or window
on the entire island is without its hurri-
can shutter, made of iron and painted
green, and woe be to the house if but one
Single shutter fails in its duty, for off goes
the roof, leaving four walls full of water.
The firing of the second gun is the signal
for all business to cease for the ships in
the roadstead to put to sea; tor the rail-
way trains to cease running; for every
man and woman on the island to get into
his house or hut; to close and barricade
every window and door. leaving all inside
in the very blacklist of darkness.
Before the second gun is fired there
have been the preparations OF nature for
the stupendous struggle about to take
place between air and earth.
The first warning is an excessive heat !;
this is followed by an atmosphere so OPP
pressive as to lead one almost to believe
some unknown agency to be at work
against human existence; the rays of the
sun are scorching; the air is so over
charged with electricity that every living
thing is made miserable; the birds tlutter
uneasily, and fly away to the thick woods !;
mules stand and sniff the air; a few rag
ged clouds are driven wildly across the
hard, coppery sky; the barometer falls
rapidly, and an awful stiffness pervades
everything; all nature seems in state OF
horrid expectancy. More driving clouds,
gray and leaden, sweep swiftly past, their
ragged edges catching and tangling, until
the sky is covered with them.
| 1t is then that the second signal gun
gives the last warning to prepare for the
worst Gust now succeeds gust. The
roaring of the wind is louder than thunder
and it is difficult to make ones voice heard
inside the house. Sleep is wellnigh i'm
possible; fire, out of the question. The
| family gather in the driest room, about
the lamp and listen fearfully as each fresh
blast threatens to bring the whole struc-
ture about their ears. Clothes are satu-
rated with moisture that drives in at every
crevice, for the rain falls In sheets; the
rivers are cataracts of milk-colored water;
the trees and the canes toss wildly, like
live creatures in agony; forest trees bend
double, and branches fly bodily off with
the wind; houses are torn from their
foundations and carried away; great
boulders, weighing tons, are rolled over;
the surface of the sea is torn up with spir
al columns, revolving with great velocity !;
dry earth has disappeared under sheet
of water, dashed and driven into spray.
that beats its way into the Utmost rooms
of the houses. A resident Ito whom we
are indebted for this description) of the
of 1874, states that at the end of the aw-
full period, his entire family were seat
ed on the dining-table, that being the on
ly dry place, and their only food, a
can of Australian mutton. Their dozen
servants were huddled overa dish of char
coal in the room adjoining, their bodies in
| state OF lnclplent mlldeW.
To add to the known misery and posi-
BILE outcome of the hurricanes, the certain
ty awaits the planters, that not leaf of
their cane-felds will be left standing a;
gardens will be mere wrecks; outhouSes
unroofed or blown away altogether; roads
blocked by fallen timber, sides of houses
or masses of stone. The nearer the CEN
ter of the storm is, the fiercer are the
gusts and the greater the damage done.
In the actual eve of the cyclone terrible
calm reigus. The slower the progress
of the storm the greater the damage. as it
takes longer to pass over the country. 1t
must be remembered thai the velocity of
the storm and the wind are distinct For
a day or two after the departure of the
main storm, stray gust will occasionally
rush past after its fellows.
The hurricane of 174S was accompanied
by flight of locusts that of 1873 blew
down the Cathedral and three hundred
houses in Port Louis. the chief city of the
island. In 1919 the cyclones swept the
island with awful destruction OF crops.
The most destructive of all on record was
that of 1913.
! So vast are the forces of nature in the
tropics, that month after hurricane has
passed, the trees have put on fresh leaves,
the broken branches are hidden by foliage.
and all nature is at work to hide, as speed
| lily as possible, the results of her own late
rage.
The hurricanes always sensibly dimin-
ish the death-rate on Mauritius and other
of the islands OF the Indian Ocean, by
thoroughly washing out all the ravines
and hollows.-Good Cheer