The morning call., 1891-02-25

The storm which began at the end of last
week is, in some respects. with out example
on this Coast. The extent which it covered
from Puget Sound into the heart of Ar-
zona-and the tremendous velocity of the
wind and extreme atmospheric pressure
have seldom been witnessed before. The
barometer has seldom been as low as 90. II at
San Francisco
These extreme conditions were due to the
simultaneous conjunction of two cyclones.
| The first was observed on the morning OF
Wednesday, the 18th, off Vancouver Island
and Cape Flattery; the second followed on
| Friday, the Goth, and on Saturday, the 2lsf
| the two had Joined forces. When combined
| they travelled rapidly down the Coast IN the
| usual path, striking San Francisco on Sun
| day, the 22d, when the Elizabeth was
| wrecked. The public ale told by the signal
! service officers that we we're here on the
southern edge of the cyclone If so, the
edge must have been large. for while the
Elizabeth was being ground to chips on the
rocks near Point Reyes, several miles. OF
railroad track we're being submerged and
swept away near Yuma, and landslide
blocked the California and Oregon line near
| DunSmur. In fact, to the unscientitc mind
the simple fact appears to be that storm
of unprecedented severity swept the whole
Coast from the Canadian frontier TO the
Mexican line. 1t will be some days yet be-
fore we realize the full extent of the damage
it inflicted.
The law of these cyclones is simple. They
almost invariably originate out at sea-
make their first appearance off Vancouver
Island or Northwestern Washington, and
travel down the coast in opposition to the
wind. Some of them visit Idaho and Ne
yada, but they never cross the continental
divide. The rains on the other side of that
range originate in Manitoba or Alberta, and
are first felt on the American side of the line
in Northern Dakota. Our cyclones cannot
compare in point of severity with the hur-
ricanes of the tropics or the typhoons of
China or the Indian sea. In the hurricane
at Samoa the wind attained velocity of
eighty miles an hour, and there are records
in the West India Islands of hurricane
winds which Travelled a hundred miles an
hour. We seldom experience a wind of
greater velocity than fifty miles. Nor are
our storms as dangerous as those of the In
dian Ocean. There the tremendous power
of the wind lifts the sea into mountains OF
water, before which ships are irresistibly
swept; here, unless a captain gets so near
the shore as to be brought within the in
tluence of tides and currents, he can put his
head to the wind and hold his own against
gale with comparatively little danger.
| The captain of the JesSomene showed good
! judgment when he put 10 sea as soon as he
found himself entering the cyclone; if the
| Elizabeth had pursued the same course she
would probably have been aflOat to-day.
| The loss of a couple of masts is trifing
matter in comparison with the wreck of a
ship.
The apprehfnsions which were felt on
Monday that travel would be interrupted on
| the RAILROADS do not seem to be confirmed.
The Central Pacific is open to Ogden be-
yond that point the storm was not felt In
day or so the obstruction at Dunsmuir, on
the Oregon line, will be removed. On the
Southern Pacific. the extent of the damage
done by floods is not yet aseertalned. If it
amounts 10 nothing more than the washing
out OF a few miles of track, a week will re-
store things to their former condition; ii
any bridges of considerable size have been
carried away, the damage will take more
time to repair. Happily, the Coast is not
dependent on the southern line for cOmmun-
nicatioD with the East.
In the city, strange to say, the cyclone did
no damage worth mentioning. On Monday
night and yesterday morning a. series of
squalls tried the nerves of timid house
holders; houses rocked as if there had been
an earthquake. But very little damage was
dana