The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-07-04

ask himself now Ine puOllC tIlal NOulu
affect his wife and himself. And the
first thing he would see would be that it
would involve letting out the whole
story of the filtration. Now, if his wife
had persisted in her folly, instead of act
ing the part of a virtuous cur, as she did.
he might have been willing to have her
shown up: but rs it was, he would desir>
to Rush it up as securely as possible.
There was only one way to Go that, and
that was
"Ah! l see. The plaintiff would de
cline to prosecutor
Exactly, and that (as have the best
reason for knowing) is just what he has
done. His counsel arc instructed to
withdraw the charge; and of course,
under the circumstances, the Judge
would allow him to do so. But when
they see that the prisoner is not on hand.
it may cause them to modify this course.
They might profess themselves ready to
go on with the case, and as the prisoner
is absent judgment would issue against
him."
sit is that result that hoped to avoid.
1t would be sad thing for an honorable
family to be dragged through the dust in
this way for crime for which the &C
cused is not responsible"
He should have had the manliness to
face his accusers," repeated the inspeo-
tor. mo one knows better than you,
judge, that in this world man must de-
fend himself. He cannot expect other
people to find excuses for him. But, as
I say, he may live it down; he is a young
fellow yet, and"-
"Have you seen this mornings paper2"
interposed the judge.
II have looked through it. Is there
anything particular"
The Judge held out the paper, with his
finger on certain paragraph. The in
pector took it and read as follows:
"A terrible hurricane is reported as
having occurred in the neighborhood of
St. Thomas, w. l., on the 18th ult. 1t
is described as the severest ever known
in those ATTITUDES. 1t was preceded in
the morning by dead calm and exces-
sive heat Early in the afternoon
weatherwise persons predicted heavy
OiO"' AhS plOpllSNy "Sto oOOIl vel
CLOUDS were observed collecting in the
southwest; they rapidly increasd in size
and darkness, and advanced toward the
northeast, from which quarter q gentle
breeze was blowing. The storm burst
with terrific fury. The harbor of st.
Thomas is large basin, the entrance to
which is comparatively narrow pas.
hot hooIlnn1s Tho bor
Dor was at the time filled with shipping,
including several steamers and large YES.
sells. One of the steamers was at the TING
taking on passengers; the captain gave
orders that this should be stopped, and
steamed out of the harbor in the hopeof
weathering the gale. The steamer has
not since been heard of, but fragments
of it have been picked up at sea, and
there is no doubt that she persisted with
all ON board. The storm was accompa-
MED by intense darkness, greater than
that of ordinary midnight without moon
or stars. The winds velocity was est,
mated to reach no less than two hundred
miles an hour, and the destruction it
caused was terrible.
After blowing for a couple of hours
from the southwest it hauled about and
blew with equal violence from the north,
east. All the shipping in the harbor was
destroyed, and several vessels were lifted
out Of the water and carried inland
One large merchant ship was taken up
bodily and planted in the midst of
Warehouse near the shore. The houses
of the town were unroofed and in most
cases annihilated. Upwards of four
hundred lives were reported lost, and
the harbor was fun of corpses, which
were devoured by the sharks. One OF
the most remarkable episodes of this dis
astrous storm was that of the U. S. and
B. Co.'S steamship Amazon. She was
due at st. Thomas on the day after that
on which the hurricane occurred. She
had cleared from New York with six
passengers and full cargo. She had
fair weather up to within two hundred
miles of st. Thomas, and was some
what ahead Of her schedule tiEe. Ac-
cording to tho narration of tho surviv-
ors, she met the hurricane about O'Clock
on the afternoon Of the 18th. She was
put about SO as to run before the gale
The wind and waves almost Immediately
dismasted her, and it was found impos-
sible to domore than keep her before the
wind, even this taxing all tn powers OF
those on board. At one time she was
popped by heavy sea which broke into
the forecastle and swept many overheard
"When the wind veered about the
steamer became virtually unmanageable;
she drove before the gale, and it was ex-
pected that she must founder. But after
several l--1rs she was suddenly beached;