The morning news., 1889-04-14

Auckland, and from there cabled to Europe
and America
FORCE OF THE STORM.
The force of the storm was never equaled
in this part of the world before. The
barometer had been falling steadily for
| several days previous to the storm, and the
wind commenced to blow Friday afternoon,
March ID, and continued until Sunday
morning The rain fell in torrents during
the whole time, and great clouds of sand
swept over the tow. Hundreds of people
stood on the beach and watched the awful
| spectacle in the harbor The vessels all had
a full head of steam on and three or four
| anchors out. Their yards and topmasts
were down and every precaution taken to
| insure the safety of the ships, but the wind
constantly shifted from the northeast to
the northwest.
ANCHORS OF NO AVAIL.
| The force was so great that the vessels
| dragged their anchors all over from one
| side of the bay to the other and came in
collision a dozen times. Tremendous seas
broke over the decks, and torrents of water
| rushed down the hatchways and put out
| the fires. There was great confusion among
the men on several of the vessels early
| Saturday morning, but the officers did
noble work, and the men became
orderly and attended to their duties bravely
| In the face of the danger persons on shore
were powerless to render assistance to
the ships. Hundreds ran to the waters
edge, and stood in the binding storm,
| watching the great vessels pitch about on
| the waves, or drift to total destruction
against the reefs. The sea broke upon the
reefs with a roaring sound, aud washed
far upon the beach, carrying with it great
| quantities of wrecSage The watchers on
a
many were injured by floating wreckage.
CLOUDS OF SAND.
Great clouds of sand filed the air and cut
the face and body like knife. The beach
was strewn with wreckage from one end of
the town to the other. Over 900 American
and German sailors are quartered in Apia
| and for few days after the storm subsided
| the greatest confusion existed everywhere.
FALLS FROM THE RIGGING.
A large number of men on the Vandalia,
| and several on the other vessels, were badly
| injured by falling from the rigging and
| being thrown about the decks by the terri
| bic seas, and it was necessary to provide a
| temporary hospital for their accommoda-
| tion. A great many men from the wrecked
| vessels became intoxicated as soon as they
reached the shore. Every one was drenched
| with rain, but stood shivering in the storm,
prepared to render whatever assistance
might be possible
NATIVES TO THE RESCUE.
The natives waded far out into the surf.
where white man could not live, and
many q life was saved through their efforts.
Americans and Germans were treated alike /;
no thought was given to the state Of war
existing between the Germans and them
! selves and the men who fought the Ger
mans at Vailele few months before, now
hot fn1 witt fhn and rial lyaA
their own lives to save their enc enies
| from a watery grave. The storm
ragged furiously for nearly two days,
I and when the wind finally abated the scene
of destruction was awful On shore houses
were unroofed and blown down, and trees
and fences were thrown across the streets,
| so that passage was almost blocked. Out
| of seventeen vessels which were moored in
| the harbor, only two small schooners re-
manned ahoat, and these were badly dam
aged.
SURVIVORS DAZED.
The survivors of the disaster seemed
| dazed. They had seen friends and COM
rades swept away from their grasp and go
down to death and had expected, to follow
them as every wave broke over their ill
fated vessels. Long exposure had rendered
them weak and exhausted. Very few had
tasted food for thirty six hours. Many had
| clothing, and all bore marks of terrible suf-
fering. The houses of Apia were thrown
open and both native and foreign residents
| did all in their power to accommodate the
shipwreckedisailors
THEIR RELATIVE POSITION.
| The men-of-war which were anchored in
| the harbor were necessarily very close to-
! gether. The vessels nearest to shore were
the Eber and the Nipsic. The Eber was
directly in front of the American consulate,
about a quarter of a mile from shore, and
the Nipsic was about 200 yards east of the
| Eber. The Adler was just ahead of the
! Nipsic, and the Olga and Caliope were
ahead of the Eber. The Vandalia was be-
| yond the Calliope, mile off shore. The
| Trenton was the last of the war ships
| to arrive here and being much larger
than any other man-of-war in the bay,
there was no room for her near the shore
so she was obliged to drop anchor beyond
| the Vandalia, Just within the outer coral
reef The sailing craft were in shallow
water, west Of the men-of-war. The Tren-
ton and Vandalia had the most dangerous
| berth in the harbor while the position of
| tie Npsic was considered the
safest For few days preceding
| the hurricane the weather was
cloudy and the barometer had been steadily
falling, but no one anticipated the storm
! NulCu COIuluSuCou W oSb III NliAaJ dAeOA
noon, March IL.
| INCREASED TO A GALE.
| By II o'clock at night the wind had in
creased to a gale, and nearly all the war
ships had their engines working to relieve
the strain upon their anchors.
| The crews on most Of the sailing
vessels threw out extra anchors
and then went ashore. Rain commenced to
| fall at midnight, and the wind increased in
| fury Great waves were rolling in from the
! open ocean, and the pitching Of the vessels
was fearful Every man was kept at work.
| The Eber commenced to drag her anchors
at midnight, and an hour later the Wanda
! las were also dragging. However, by using
full steam power they both succeeded in
| keeping we'll Off the reef and away from the
| other vessels. The wind blew stronger and
stronger and the rain fell in torrents, and
| by O'Clock the situation had become
alarming. Nearly every vessel in the har-
Dor was dragging its anchors, and there
was imminent danger of collision.
A PANIC.
A panic began to break out among the
men on several of the vessels, and they we're
kept at their posts with great difiiculty
On the shore the bowling Of the wind
| among the trees and houses and the crash
OF falling roofs had aroused many persons
from their beds, and figures were seen
groping about the streets looking for some
spot of shelter from the tempest. The tide
was coming in rapidly, and waves were
~ Al. o. kgvv.