St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-15
SUVA COMPLETELY RAZED
Not One Of Eight Hundred
Cottages and Dwellings
Lett Standing.
AFFAIRS QUIET IN HAWAII.
German Intrigue in Samoa
The Gold Craze in Aus
tralia.

VICTORIA, B. c., March 14.-Par-
ticulars by the Australian mail of
a terrible hurricane which swept
over the FIJI islands a few weeks
ago, and the first effects of which
were still a topic of interesting dis
cussion when the MioWera touched
at Suva, are received. 1t was in
this storm that several large vessels
came to grief with lamentable loss
of life, and buildings in Suva, the
capital of Fiji, suffered very severe
ly. The town is comparatively in
debris, having been the center of the
hurricane. Most of the damage ap-
pears to have been done about 2
o'clock in the morning on Feb. z,
when the force of the wind was ter
rife. The hurricane was accom-
panied by a fearful driving rain,
penetrating everything. The storm
continued until 5 o'clock Monday
afternoon, and then it gradually
Gained down.
During the lull some ventured out
to see the extent of the damage done.
The town was stripped of foliage,
and on every hand were houses with
Verandas blown down, roofs half
off, bare walls standing, or damage
of some other form apparent. The
most serious reports of damage
come from planta tions in the group,
which have suffered terribly. The
cocoanut plantations will take fully
five years to recover, and banana
plantations have been totally ruined.
The past year had been such a
thoroughly successful one that busi-
ness people were looking forward to
q few years of prosperity.
This is reported to be the most
serious hurricane the group has
had for years. The island of Ia
veuni, on which most Of the Euro
pean planters are settled, has been
swept from top to bottom.
The Union Steamship company's
Osau had miraculous escape. She
was shipping sugar at Vulna Point,
where there is absolutely no shelter.
When the hurricane had blown over
she had drifted miles, and got among
the most dangerous patch of reefs
in the group, known as the Ringold
reefs, where the smallest insular
steamer would not go in the broad
est daylight. The food supply of the
people is now almost entirely de-
StrOyed, and the effects which must
surely follow such a storm are fam
inc, disease, and, too often, death.
The government Of the Fiji islands
is fully aware of this danger, and
has voted money to meet the more
immediate necessities of the case,
but this will certainly not prove suf-
ficient. By far the largest number
of natives belong to the Methodist
church of this colony, and mission
ary societies are taking steps to give
relief. A correspondent says:
THE cyclone Travelled from east
to west, revolving around an axis
against the sun. We had the last
blast about p. m. Sunday. Though
1T then blew gale of hurricane
force nearly all night, it seemed to
be almost calm compared with the
fearful reality of the cyclone.
"On Monday morning what sight
the island presented All houses in
the native town were leveled. Nearly
all the 700 cottages were blown
down or torn away. The whole
place had just the appearance of
having been bombarded for weeks
past by all the fleets on earth or
sea, the ground being strewn with
nuts looking like cannon balls, only
no cannonading could have caused
the devastation which was every
where seen.''