The Wahpeton times., 1888-04-05
"a .ATROPICALTORNADO.

.ATROPICAL TORNADO.
I An Ex-Naval Omcer's Account Of His Ex.
perience in q Japanese Typhoon.
sThe recent tornado at Philadel.
phia was vivid illustration of what
the wind can do when it gets q good
ret Il on" said John B. Robinson,
toreleven years an officer in the Unit
edHtates navy. 81 was over to see
the effects of the blow in Camden, and
the destruction is similar to that caus-
ed by hurricane in the tropics or an
East India typhoon. No one can
ever believe the wind could exert such
unearthly force untilhehas experience
ed it himself. I was in atyphoon once
on the 11th of August, 1871, in the
United States steamship Idaho,
in Yokohama harbor, japan. /
never want another such expert
ence. We had long spell Of in
tensely hot weather. The day before
the typhoon part of the Tenth British
Regiment and Royal Marines, exchang.
ed to 60 home, were transferred to q
transport, and to avoid the heat
moved in the early morning. Five of
the men were sunstruck when the sun
was not three degrees high. We had
about twenty-four hours notice of
the coming of the typhoon by the fall
of the barometer, the shifting of the
wind, and increasing moisture OF the
atmosphere. A few hours before the
center of the storm passed the sky be-
came filled with inky black clouds,
gyrating around in the most confused
manner. The wind blew q steadily
increasig gale, finally, as the storm
center was upon us, assuming hurri-
cane violence.
- II was navigating officer, and part
sof my duty was to watch the barom-
eter and dsympisometer, which mark
ed every ten and five minutes. The
mercury fell in regular jumps toward
the last, as if the bottom were out the
tube, halting at 27.46. For the hour
preceding this the situation was per-
fectly awful. We were at anchor in
the harbor, the two best bowers down
and veered to ninety fathoms of chain
on each. The harbor was full of craft,
large and small. Admiral Kepple's
flagship, q Clyde-built steamer, was on
one side of us, the Pacific mail steamer
America, Captain Warsaw, on the
other; and Norwegian bark near
astern. The steamers kept full head
Of steam on, and could ease up their
cables. Our vessel and the other sail
ing craft had to trust to theirs.
1.-THE danger of fouling was immi-
nent. The bark drifted all around lis,
fortunately not striking us. Had she
done so, both vessels would have been
ground to pieces. The wind at it's
height was simply indescribable, the
noise that of ten thousand devils
yelling in air. There was no sea on
while the wind blew at it's greatest
velocity, us it cut the tops off the
waves like knife, and the air was
filled with a binding salt mist. We
could not show our heads above the
rail. To look to wind-ward or hold
your head up against the wind was
impossible. When the barometer
ceased falling, the wind fell, and dead
calm, awful in its stiffness, succeeded
fdF about fifteen minutes. We were
then in the vortex OF the storm and,
as we afterwards calculated, four
miles from actual center. AS the wind
lulled the sea rose and came piling in
the harbor in tremendous waves, run
ming in all directions, toppling over
the decks and filling them with tons
of water. Our matches were battened
down and everything was fast, but
our serious danger was just then, as
we were loaded deep, and rolled so
that we actually thought at one time
we'd turn clean over; but we came
through it all fright, but heavily shaken
up.
4, "The wind came out from the oppo.
site quarter, in few minutes blew the
sea down again, and ragged with de.
monlac force and decreasing velocity
for an hour or SO, the barometer
jumped up to nearly thirty inches
again, the sky cleared until there was
not a cloud to be seen, and the ty-
phoon was past; but it left it's wreck
behind! Numbers OF small crafts and
several large steamers were on the
beach in pieces no bigger than yard
stick. The harbor was full of tea
boxes for days from the wrecked ves-
sells. Ashore the view was like in
Camden, only the swath far wider. /
have been five times across the Allan
tic, in some heavy wintry gales on
that treacherous ocean. was in cy-
clone off Hatteras in the frigate Mace
donia; have scudded 1000 miles before
the'brave westerly winds on one paral-
lel, off Cape of Good Hope, when 60
ing out to India, but I have never
seen the wind blow so hard as in that
typoon. Indeed l never believed it
could blow so, and use to joke at the
mess table with the executive officer,
who had been in a typhoo1 prior to
this one, and would yarn about it.
During the height Of the typhoon he
was standing alongside of me under
the break of the poop. Captain J.
Crittendon Watson was in the cabin
praying. He leaned down close to my
ear, and, yelling with all his power
otherwise could not have heard him
for the shrieking of the wind-said:
"Now, d-n you, don't you believe it
can blow?" My reply was an affirma-
tive nod of the head, as 1 registered
the next jump of the barometer.
SIS there no way of escaping or miti-
eating the danger of these violent tor
nadoes?"
"None that science has yet discover.
ed. Outside, with sea room, you can
run out of them if you are warned
soon enough, as the captain of the
Twilight tried to do recently; but
L