New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-24
DESCRIBED ny AN WITNESS.
on BARnADoEs ALoSE-DAMAGE Es-
A - sro1p


ON RARnADoEs hLoSE-pAMAGE "a
TIMATED At r.5".ooo
rho bur,,c,u. which rngrd in the Windw"ri
Isle. on September - and II was according 10
,.so,,.o,s y, .he steamship Carihbee. % the que
hoe limo which reached port yesterday one or mo
most destructive storms over witnessed on nose
,s,,,d. barring the great hurricane OF 1871 when
the Caribbee left Barbadocs on September u inc
ia, q casualties although long vas tar iroih
,ornIe,. while the damage 10 property had not
been estimated. ,
For weeks the weather In tho Windward Isles hhu
been opprcasivey hot. ior that tropical ell
mate and while the people expected severe AZ
rno.phcric disturbance. they were by no means
prepared FOR the devastation which followed. sat
urday September 10 opened clear ARD nov. ou'
ahou, noon the barometer began TO drop until, at
l.2o u M Il registered % and DISK breez"
from, the northeast gave notice OF an approaching
storm Before midnight this hrocz" had increased
IN velocity. until the wlnd-gauge showed that its
soecd was nearly eighty miles an hour Tho Brit'sh
weather Service promptly Issued warnings 10
mariners rot 10 leave port ana as these Warnings
we're generally obeyed tho amount Of damage done
was considerably diminished.
Cne az tho Caribbecs passengers, who was IN
Brldcctown. Barbados during the storm. gave n
Tr,hune renorfer n stirring description ~ the tor
nodo which by the way. carried on the roof OF
the house IN which he was staying The storm,
no said was preceded by exceptionally hot wealth
Or on the evening Of September 10 heavy banks OF
d,rk-erny clouds filed the sky. while thick storm
mis-, spread over the earth. People whose business
,orcod Them TO he ont 81 doors made for their
homes terror depicted on their faces on every
hnnd could be evidences That an unusual storm
was approaching At g o'clock darkness set IN. me
wind rore and n heavy rain began 10 fall AZ tho
evening wore on the storm increased In intensity.
and flashes OF lightning. combined with the weird
nd eH n OF
neopIe OF tho town. When the wind had become
gallo the roofs Of tho less soidly built houses be-
gan 20 be carried on. and occasionally the boom OF
falling walls would lend variety 70 tho horrible
concert Of the elements. majority Of the houses
I'm the colony frhil structures Of wood. and on
such the wind showed no pity. Not one in Ave
escaped damage and at least one IN three was de-
stroyed. either by wind hr" or me HOODS OF water
which overilowed Tho streams In many cases tho
nhahans Of these houses as, TSge Killed ba IN d he
phone and telegraph poles ON the island were all
down ana II T oss ~ lie or tho damage to prop
erty II was estimated AT the office OF the Colonial
Secretary that At edst o one h snnd d @ per
aIone Near Brdgetown forty deaths regis
|aTed. were e'0" =, 1870 ,, -,
aoy IN not one Of tho chGrche opened
lis doors save to afford relief to some unfortunate
, whose hone p nS " s the h
IN wbom ws4e of the xmey poo on ns
following day although the storm had considerably
aha ted business In the city was at stanistill.
Most OF the business houses remained closed and
those which were opened were patronized only by
clerks who came to estimate the damage done.
From the estimates Of the damage done TO prop
ertv on the island. reported to the authorities Il
is likely that 81 10000 will not cover the loss to
crons houses and live STOCK"
A Telegram to a Barbados newspaper from ST.
vincent another Of the group. stated that tho
entire island had been swept by wind and wave.
and Thai one hundred and fifty lives had been lost
The extent Of the damage 10 property could not be
sscertained but II Is known 10 be extremely heavy
81 Lucia and st Kits also felt the force OF the
hurricane but IN lesser degree. The pauciiy Of
invormation az To the amount Of the damage done
throughout the group Is accounted for by the fact
that the cable lines on the Panama and West Indies
Tho hut containing the instruments was DESTROYED
and the shore end carried away