The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-05-20
Many Hodses Blown Down, q Large Number Of
People Reported Killed and All the Ships at
Port Louis Driven on the Coral Reefs.
Gossip About the Trial of Deacon, Slayer
OF Abeille, Which Begins To-Day.
Encounter with Swords, in Which One French
man Wounded Two-Villages Wrecked By
an Earthquake and Many Lives Lost
CRUSHED IN THEIR HOUSES

Many Persons Reported Killed by q Great
Storm In the Island of Mauritius.
LONDON. May 19.-Advices received here
from Mauritius state that q hurricane. un-
precedented In its violence, passed over
that island, on April 20. causing enormous
damage to shipping. A majority of the
vessels at the island were blown ashore.
The western half of Port Louis. the capital
was devastated. Houses were blown down,
gigantic trees were uprooted. and that part
of the town was about wiped out OF exist
ence. The loss of life was appalling. A
large number of persons were caught in
the falling houses and crushed to death,
while Others lost their lives by be.
ing struck by flying debris while
they were attempting to seek places
of safety. The roar of the gale wad
deafening. and people rushed to and
fro in aimless confusion, with no idea Of
what they were doing. Rain fell in tor.
rents. The thunder crashed with awe-in-
spring volleys while the flashes Of light
ming were binding. Never before in the
history of the island has such q warning Of
the elements been known, and never be-
fore was there such widespread fear among
the inhabitants. The exact number of
dead is not known. Every effort is being
made by the authorities to alleviate the
suffering that has been caused by the dis
aster The Governor has issued orders for
military tents to be distributed TO shelter
the homeless aud food is being issued to
those who have lost everything by the
storm. Half of the crop of sugar, rice cof-
fee and pepper has been ruined, and the
loss In this direction Is extremely heavy.
Mauritius. or 1t Is sometimes called Isle
of France. has always been noted for its
violent and destructive hurricanes, but this
one exceeds In destructlveness any hither.
to known. The island lies in the Indian
ocean. and il well known as the scene OF
the famous story of Paul and Virginia.
In that story the author describes. with
great minuteness, terrible hurricane that
passed over the island during which Paul
and Virginia lost their lives. But the hor-
ror OF that scene was far excelled by this
last death-caIrying wind that has thrown
the whole island into mourning It is not
in the power of words to describe the scene.
The lowering skies and falling baro meters
gave warning of the approach of the
storm. Taking warning from previous
gales every thing possible was done to mini
mize the threatened damage, but when at
last the gale burst all the precautions
proved of no avail The ships in the har-
Dor sent down their topmasts. extra an.
chors were put down, cables were paid out,
and everything was made snug below and
aloft. Had it been an ordinary hurricane.
the vessels might have successfully ridden
out the storm. But so fierce was the storm
that cables parted like pack thread and
the vessels were dashed upon the coral
reefs that are so dangerous to NAVIGATION
about the island. Among the vessels that
were stranded were the following: The
British eteamer Pentakotu, 2,209 tons from
Calcutta; the British steamer Umballa /,
242 tons. from Bombay and Zanzibar; the
British bark William Wilson. Captain Nc
Millin. from Melbourne; the British
steamer Oaklands. from Zanzibar; the Ger
man schooner Paula. from Bombay, and the
Dutch bark Princess Wilhelmins. from
ChIttagong. All these vessels were slightly
damaged, and were subsequently fioated.
The vessels still aground are the British
bark Strathspey. from Port Natal; the
British ship Leander, from Penarth; tho
British ship Sconcagua, from New York;
the British ship Queen of Scots. the British
ship EurydIce, from Chittagong; the British
steamer Amaranth, and the British steamer
Gladiator. from Tamatave.