The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-12-02
THE STORM.

The storm, which began on Sunday after
noon and ended on Wednesday, was pro-
ductive Of some mischief and much alarm.
but cannot be classed among meteorological
disasters. In the city one Chinaman lost
his life, and il is feared that some fisher
men were drowned by the capsizing of their
boaIS-that is not a long list Of killed and
wounded. The damage to property may be
summed up in the flooding OF few sewers
and cellars, the blowing down of few
chimneys and roofs, the prostration of tele-
graph and telephone wires here aud there,
some interruption 10 city railroad travel
from interference with the tracks. and the
destruction of some sheds. The total dam
age VIII be repaired at cost of a few thou
sand dollars. If the Injury is compared
with the destruction Of life and property
which is not unfrequently caused by a cy-
clone in the river valleys, or by winter
storm in The Atlantic cities, it will be seen
that San Francisco has got off cheaply. Yet
the storm lasted about forty-eight hours,
and during portion OF the time the velocity
CT the wind was over seventy miles an hour.
Ii is probable that the effects of the blow
were minimized 10y the prevailing fashion OF
building frame houses on fimsy founda-
tons. When these fra structures were
struck by the gale they bent to its force
and were saved by their elasticity. More
massive constructions would have resisted,
aud light have sueeumbed 10 the collision.
1t is observed that ii is the stoutest and
strongest buildings which suffer most from
earthquakes. A frame house sways and
bows o the fierce; when the pressure is re-
moved ii swings back 10 equilibrium. A
stone or brick house. on the contrary, re-
sists gale or an earthquake without de-
fecting hairs breadth out of plumb. and
the consequence is that if it is not strong
enough TO stand the pressure it goes down.
In the river valleys brick walls are leyeled
by wind travelling at the rate of eighty or
ninety miles an hour. 1t is doubtful whether
any wall built of single course of brick
could stand seventy-mile gale if ii were
not protected by other buildin gs or by hills
What impressed the phenomenon on peo-
pies attention was the ftfulness and the
fury Of the wind gusts on Tuesday afternoon
and dnring the following night. The gale
blew 10 sharp. short squalls which shook
everything in their path. aud then subsidized
quite suddenly. Such intermittent out
bursts were more terrifying than steady
blow, because every body reasoned that the
next squall might be fercer than the last.
People were afraid not OF what they felt,
l.
which kept so many people out of bed in
the PotrerO and the Western Addition on
Tuesday night After the earthquake of
October. 1891, in Japan, slight shocks oc-
Cured for two or three days at regular in
tervals of a few minutes. and produced en-
epidemic Of intense nervousness. which al
most unsettled the reason. An analogous
condition of mind pervaded timid natures
in this city on Wednesday morning. Women
felt that they were at close quarters with
power that was infinite and might be over
wheiming.
We have never had in this city a gale
which can be compared to the cyclones OF
tie liver valleys, or to the hurricanes OF the
tropics, in which the velocity of the wind
has been reekoned at $50 or 200 miles an
hour; nor are the conditions of the physical
geography OF the coast favorable to their
production. In comparison with such phe-
nomena, Tuesdays blow was a gentle
zephyr In Jamaica the traveller is shown
mahogany plank driven into the trunk of a
standing tree; the end of The plank pene-
trated the tree to the depth of foot or so.
Until within few years visitors to the
river towns of Iowa were shown a copse
through which cyclone had passed. The
ground lad been covered with growth of
young trees whose trunks were from two 10
four inches in diameter. They had all been
cut off by the wind about three feet above
the ground. as neatly as il they had been
cut off with an ak. These were real blows.
In Illinois. farmers say that you needn't
talk about wind so long as you can get out
of your front door without being blown
back through the passageway into the back
yard.
The most serious mischief done on Tues
day and Wednesday was done to the ship
ping. 1t appears that the bottom of the bay
is bad holding ground. Perhaps it might
not be bad idea to follow the example of
Liverpool. 1t sometimes blows great guns
on the Mersey, but steamers which are not
sale In the docks moor to buoys In the
- Il I'D l.