Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1889-04-05
THE DISASTER AT APIA.

The destruction wrought at Apia
on the 18th OF March by the hurrl-
cane of that date was signally thor
ough and complete. When the
storm struck the island Of UpOlu
there were seven war.ships in the
harbor of Apla, beside number of
merchant vessels. When it was
over all were wrecks, with the sim
gle exception of the English war.
ship Calllope, the commander OF
which put to sea in time to prevent
his vessel from being driven ashore.
OF the three war.ships the United
States had at Apia two, the Tren-
ton and Vandalia, were total losses,
and the third, the Nlpsic, was
beached, and in such a plight that,
according to Admiral Kimberly,
the chaDces were all against her
being saved. Besides this destruc.
ton OF ships, there was an extra.
ordinary loss Of lite, fifty OF the
800 men under Admiral kimber-
ley's command having been drown
ed. The Germans Jared even
worse. Two of their war-ships,
the Eber and Adler, were totally
destroyed, with loss Of niuely-siX
men drowned, while a third, the
Olga, was stranded and in badly
damaged condition. As most OF
the merchant vessels in harbOT
were German, the havoc wrought
by the hurricane tells with eXcep
tional severity upon the fatherland.
The Calliope's escape may have
been due to the fact that, being the
last TO arrive at Apia, she occupied
an outside position near the en-
trance to the harbOr, and was lying
with banked fires in the eXpecta-
ton OF moving. According to the
first dispatches she got to sea un-
injured, but the telegram sent by
Mr.. PendletOn, orr minister at Der.
lin, states that the Calliope was
damaged TO some extent and had
gone to Sydney for repairs. The
cause of the disaster at Apia Is not
far 10 seek. The harhor Is formed
by a coral reef cncircling the island
at short distance from the shore.
The entrance, "A break in the rect
about 800 yards wide, is open to
the north, and within the space
available for ships is small. The
reefs on each side Of the entrance
are awash at high water and are
surrounded by shoals. As for the
Inclosed space, it has sandy bot
tom, affording slight hold for an
anchor. The depth ranges from
four to eight fathoms, deep water
being found close in shore. The
hurricane Of March - came on, it
may be assumed, suddenly, and,
blowing with reslstleSs force, drove
the vessels inside the reef upon the
rugged shore. Those near the en-
trance had "A chance to escape, but
the rest were necessarily broken to
pieces. 1t must he said in defense
of the reputation Of the Pacific as
milder ocean than the Atlantic
that hurricanes of exceptional se-
verify are not frequent in the Sa-
moan Islands. They occur, how
ever, occasionally in the months
from December to April. In April,
1850, and again in January, 1870,
the islands were visited by terrific
hurricanes. which destroyed tie
cocOanut, banana and bread fruit
crops and reduced the natives to
the verge of starvation. Again, 10
March, 1888, there was terrible
storm, accompanied by a tidal
wave, which Destroyed a number OF
vessels. Upon the whole, however,
the weather at Apia is favorable
compared with that Of our Atlantic
coast, and but for the nature OF the
harbor there would be little to fear
when the weather is at its worst.
The value Of the ships and stores
destroyed for us on the 18th ult.
was about $4,000. 900; for Germany
about S1,500,000 Add to the
81, 1000, 900 the 5000, 600 Congress
has appropriated for the assertion
of our Samoan rights, and 1t be-
comes likely that our "entanglng
alliance with MalietOa is going to
C st us more than it will come to
in money, not to speak Of the IRE
parable loss of life just incurred.
For Germany the Samoan venture
promises TO be still more nnprOfita-
ble. To the loss of 40 odd men in
battle with the SamOans last winter
she must now add list of 9G
drowned, not to speak Of ships,
stores, &c. All this in the asser
ton of petty claims to predOmi-
nance in the affairs Of two or three
insignificant islands IN the mid
Pacific The game is hardly worth
the candle, and in the conference
soon to take place in Berlin it will
not surprise us il Prince Bismarck
announces a willingness to make us
a present of Samoa if we want it
Baltimore Sun.
All MOYing that Way.