El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-08
TERRIBLE TROPICAL STORMS.
The West Indian Tempests.-They Fol-
low Certain Tracks.-Fearful We
locity.-The Speed of Hurricanes.
Storms in the Orient.

The wear Those with which whic
Americans are most familiar generally
occur in august. September or Octo-
Der. and make their first appearance
near the West Indies. AT this period
the trade winds have caused an accu-
mutation of hot surface water at the
western limit of the ocean in low lati-
tudes and out OF this steaminS caidron
whose temperature ranges from 80 TO
81 degrees are generated storms like
that y hich has just almost annihilated
Galveston.
These hurricanes show a disposition
20 follow a certain typical track. At
first their NOV ement is nearly west
ward. under the influence of the trade
Winds. but they seek to push north
ward and having done so. they are
caught by the great eastward upper
current of atmosphere and turned in
almost the opposite direction The
curve described is-a gentle one. and is
sharpest in about latitude 25 or 30 de-
<rees Sometimes the storm continues
on its westward course until II reach
- the Gulf OF Mexico. but more often
IL ''recurves so as TO follow the At
Iantic coast from Florida TO Hatteras.
Thence. is a rule. IL swings away to-
ward Northern Europe. following the
gull stream very closely.
In exceptional cases these tropical
hurricanes are diverted to the left hand
sufficiently to be felt seriously on the
New Jersey and Long Island coasts
Sometimes the center keeps just inside
the coast line. Again. the recurvature
Dsy occur SO far to the eastward that
the Bermudas suffer and the United
States is entirely exempt.
Velocity of 1873 Miles an Hour.
What was known as the Nova SEQ
Tia cyclone" and what Greedy de-
scrlbed as the most destructive storm
Of this rpe known to America. &C.
CURED in 1875. and did practically no
damage on land. but IL DESTROYED no
less than .223 vessels OF different
kinds and caused the death of six hun
bred people The Chief characteristic
Of tropical hurricanes Is their high
wind velocity No storm of temperate
ATTITUDES ever develops such appalling
fury.
There are few places in the interior
Of the United States where the wind
ever blows more than forty of fifty
miles an hour. but in a West India cy-
clone yelocities OF eighty. ninety and
100 miles are not uncommon. and In
1897 az Cape Lookout. N C.. the anem-
5ulefer registered 13S. At sea this
means destruction OF small vessels and
often proves fatal to large ones; on
land IL means demolition of weak edi-
fee, and damage to crops, and where
the contour OF the shore favors such
an operation continued gales of excep-
tional force bank up the sea five. ten
and even fifteen feet higher than us
nal
This last phenomenon should be
distinguished from the mysterious IT,
daI wave that sometimes accompanies
a hurricane. but which is a momentary
r-fasrr frnr
nifty feet will sometimes rush in toward
land when tropical storm is prevail
ing. working inconceiyable disaster.
within a few minutes. Ships are torn
from their anchorages and hurled
ashore to remain high. If not dry. hun
dreds OF yards from the water Small
vessels have thus been landed in tree
tops in the Bahamas. A storm wave
that swept the Gauges delta in 1864
drowned $1,000 persons and another in
1870 no less than 100000.
Slow Advance of the Storm
During the early stage of their his
tory tropical cyclones rarely advance
more than eight or ten miles an hour.
At that time their diameter is small.
generally between 100 and 200 miles.
After reaching higher ATTITUDES and re-
eurs-ing they expand somewhat. and
full days elapsed after the recent hur-
ricane was detected to the South of
Porto Rico. before Galveston felt il.
popularity about this class OF
is the remarkable fall in
the barometer that accompanies them
From the outside OF the center. or
csfm eye Of the storm" the distance
Nzy not be more than fifty miles and
yet the barometer may fall during the
passage of the hurrican over a given
SPOT from the vicinity of 30 inches to
-ss- Greedy mentions case in which
The barometer at Guadalupe fell from
rs To- 27.9 in seventy minutes. Much
ioWer readings than this have been
observed. however. Few storms of
ien1D~rate ATTITUDES ever effect the ba-
roEeter to- a greater extent than half |
I'm inch. and even this change is far |
more gradual than with hurricane |
J~Ing 10 the much greater breadth OF |
northern depIessions. Torrents or |
-.zfno often amounting To three or four |
inches a day. and sometimes even |
more. usually fall while Il tropical |
'5Orm il prevailing
West Indian hurricane Is circular |
"a form. Hence Piddington applied to |
hem the name cyclone derived from |
Ire. same root "a that found in "bi-
-yefe.' Some fierce discussions have
ven conducted over the direction of /
hr wilma with reference to the center
and Redfield thought that
he wind blew in circles around the |
sfter. Epsy held that IL aimed
Sraight for the center The truth lies
the two suggestions. The air
moves in an inward spiral. and its
ourse forms a considerable angle. with
tangent to the circle. Elliot. who
lss carefully studied the storms of the
uAisn ocean. and Toynbee. OF the
british naval service have made very
areful computations of this angle.
Storms in the Orient.
The question is one OF immense prac-
tcaf Importance to- the mariner who