The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-01-19

| IN Nv tE@storm of wind and rain,
N " EtfEand before morning
| SSM lSthe ruin was well nigh
~ in IA incomplete. Scarcely a
| I'M lm AN Mhouse remained un-
| &X MANA Wharmed. Many were
| 81 EIkpNfS51A Nunroofed, others en-
! 81 HMENA Htirely blown down, and
| 4 HTSVNASxlllNas morning dawned
AA IAsENALIIN3IEa many family was seen
| SsNNNEJtfSJ{tSES crouching in the shelter
| TfEE1SSASALllS of bare walls, drenched
ISL t0SNTJS with rain, without a
bit of dry wood to start
n fire. nor means to cook food if they could
| find any. in that one town S4U,oVo worth OF
property was destroyed in lew hours.
| | ssppose the most dreaded visitation known
to man is an earthquake. We become accus-
toned to some dangers, and learn to meet them
| with cool heads and steady nerves, out to an
| earthquake never. A man who can bravery
! lead an army to an attack against blazing can
non, or who calmly prepares ms Vessei 10 meet
coming storm, will find his courage vanish
when he feels the earth begin to trembie
Not the first time, perhaps, nor the second, nut
| let him experience several shocks III an earth
! quake country, like Japan, for example ana
the fear and dread grows upon nm, ana inc
longer he lives there the more terrible they
seem, even though he never felt a really ae-
strac:ive shock. There is something strange
which one can overcome.
Next 10 an earthquake people in the East
dread most the great cycionlc storms winch
travel up the southern coast OF China, cross
over to Japan, and spend their force IN the
North Pacific, or sometimes in the Japan sea.
They are the counterpart of the west lhdla
hurricanes. but more frequent and more IN
tense. They are known rs typhoons, from the
Chinese name great wind"
Ii is astonishing how suddenly those storms
sometimes come upon US. Usually, however,
they give fair warning Of their approach. The
people at Iakao anticipated the last destructive
blow several days in advance, and were pre-
pared for it; but 10 preparations can avert the
consequences OF n resIstieSS WIND.
The writer has experienced three typical
typhoons at sea- two of them Of great magnI-
tude and force. The first was when nearing
the coast of Japan, on the Pacific. The passen-
gers were mostly on deck, just before the dln-
ner-hour, enjoying the steady breeze which
had filled our sails all day, and rcmarking on
the strange, coppery light i'll the south and the
gorgeous colors about the setting sun. 1t was
a threatening dull. lurd glow which attracted
u.s. unlike any thing ] have ever seen before or
since. which one Of the officers remarked BODIED
us no good. But the barometer was steady,
and there was only an ordinary ocean-sWeIl,
such as might well accompany the breeze we
had, and no other lntlmatlon OF what was De-
fore Us.
Immediately after dinner / went on deck
and into the smok ing room, when the CONVEX
sation turned upon typhoons There was an
old traveller in Eastern seas among US, and he
told of thrilling experiences OF his own when
evidenced the tremendous power In the swift
moving air Suddenly the side of the ship
seemed to be struck as if with padded mallet.
1t was blow as from an advancing front of
wave or bank of compressed air. Such, at
least was the impression it gave me at the mo.
ment The vessel heeled. and we knew that
we had been literally struck" by typhoon.
There was absolutely no warning of its APP
proach The stay.sails were still set. The
Captain was Just leaving the saloon, and had
stopped to speak with lady, but he bounded
up on deck without ceremony before his com
panion knew that any thing had happened.
OF course the full force of the storm was not
felt at once, and most of our canvas was safely
slowed, but the men had hard work to save 1t,
and the shriekipg Of the wind through the
cordage, and the Tapping of sails and rope-ends
was in strange contrast to the conditions oil a
few minutes before.
1t was about midnight when the wind was
blowing its hardest that went above under the
care of the first officer. Standing in the lee OF one
ofthe houses on the slippery, water washed deck,
holding ON for dear life, and peerng into the
darkness over the waters, could see the phos-
phorescent CLEAN Of the tops of the waves,
broken into luminous foam by the force of the
wind, and the deep hollows between, revealed
now and then by the uncertain, evermovIng
light from the cabin ports. Above not spar
or rope could be seen against the blackness of
the sky; but the shrill whistling of the wind
through the rigging was in one unchanging
tone-sbarp and clear as the high note OF
fife-and this alone was evidence, which one
could feel, of the force of that great wind.
The vessel was hove to- to meet the short,
high waves end on, but her engine power
was scarcely sufficient TO keep steerage way IN
such storm, so she would fall off now ana then
and roll heavily.
The racing of the engines and the shaking
of the wheel as it rose out of the solid water
made the ship tremble from end to end, and
this with the smashing of the water from side
10 side on the cabin floor, made confusion dire
below. Nothing would stay in place that was
| not well secured trunks and handbags danced
about in the staterooms, and the damage to
crockery in the pantry was serious.
Of course nobody could sleep. Some of the
women were too i'll to think about danger,
| while others were so frightened that they re-
! covered from sea sickness and were calling for
| some one to come and pray for them being in
capactated from saying prayers III their own
behalf They should have done as the Chinese
| do The Chinese sailors believe that typhoons
arc caused by malignant spirits of the sea, who
vent their anger upon the iunks and endeavor
| to engulf them. So when the storm is at it's
| hight the sailors launch little paper junk,
patterned after the vessel they are in, whereby
they hope to deceive the spirits into thinking
that the paper junk is the one they are after,
and the vessel itself is allowed to escape.
| have seen many poor soul suffering AFFECT fear
at the prospect of going to the bottom of the sea
| in storm, but the most pitiable Of all those
who believe in the constant protection Of Provi-
dence, and then at such times lose their cons
dencc in that. ] prefer myself, to trust in the
| staunchness OF the vessel, the good working Of
the machinery, and the efficiency of the officers
and crew. At daybreak l was on deck. The
worst of the storm was over, but heavy sea
was running.
The sun rose over the sullen, trembling
waves, and revealed a sad confusion on our
deck. Two boats had been thrown from the
davits. one had been struck by wave of solid
or more; the other was landed fairly on deck
| without suffering much damage. Many lives
were lost at sea in that storm and several fine
steamers foundered off the japanese coast 1t
came suddenly, passed over in a few hours, but
its force was concentrated aud beyond descrip-
| ton.
On another occasion we were less fortunate,
for we spent 40 hours at sea, although one hour
more of daylight would have given us safe
anchorage in a sheltered harbor. We were of
the east coast of Corea. out of the usual course
of severe typhoons but this time very near the
center Of one. We were nearing the entrance
to Fusan harbor in the evening when dense
fog shut down on US and we had to leave the
| w OF nd lie fart ha sea