The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-09-11
THE TEXAS STORM.

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The tropical storm now prevailing IN
Texas is the first one Of the present sea
son. It was first observed early iast
week on the Southern coast Of Cuba, Wnere
it was producing terrible rains, ana since
then has been moving slowly nortn-WestE-
ward and increasing in violence. Inese
storms are usual during the late sum
mer and early fall months. but5lt.sls rareiy
the case that they advance So lar TO Tue
westward as has the present one. Orls1nae-
ing apparently in the calm, moist, anu
heated areas lying north OF the equator
they generally describe a parabollc curve
during their progress, moving first west
ward or northwestward until the easterly
rotation of the earth begins to defect them
to the northward, and finally recurring 10
the northeast and passing up the coast Oh
the United States It OCCASIONALLY nap
pens, however, that one enters the TERRI
ritory of the United States, and when this
occurs, it is nearly always attended by
loss of life and great destruction to prop
erty.
The enormous energy required to de-
zyelop and maintain such a storm is almost
beyond comprehension. Professor Davis
states that .'the Cuban hurricane Of Oc-s
tober 5-7th, 1914, is calculated on very
moderate estimates to have worked dur
ing the three days Of its progress along
our southern coast with an energy Of at
least 473 million horsepower" But we
have more recent example Of the power
Of these storms in the one that prevailed
in Virginia on the night Of September 29,
1896. The area of its greatest violence COM
prised the central two-thirds Of the
State and it left death and destruction in
its wake.
It is estimated that million dollars
would hardly cover the loss in that portion
Of the State visited by this storm, to say
nothing of the human lives lost
There are some noteworthy features con-
necteu with the storm which has just
created such havoc in the city of Calves
ton and the surrounding country. Instead
OF recurring to the northeast after it
entered the Caribbean Sea, it continued
on its northwestern course, until it reached
the Texas coast, having a slow progressive
motion, but a violent rotary one, as evi-
denced by the immense masses Of water
piled up in advance Of it. On Saturday it
passed inland and is this morning QOth)
central in Northern Texas and Oklahoma
Territory.
Its future movements are problematlcal.
It may do anyone Of three thnSs-either
get into the eastward drift Of the atmos-
phere and move to the northeast with lit
tie loss of energy, move northeast with
diminishing energy, or remain stationary
west OF the Mississippi River and grad
ually lose its energy, fill and disappear.
The conditions over the eastern portion of
the country are not now favorable for the
rapid translation Of the storm in this di-
rection. The high pressure area now en-
yeloping all districts east of the Missis-
sippi River will have to give way before
the storm can make progress eastward
or more probably the two operations will
be coincident. In any event, theirs is no
immediate danger from the storm, and if
it be long delayed, none at all. It is
rarely, in this latitude, that such storms
are of an exceptionally violent charac-
ter, and while, if reports be true the
record of the present storm in loss of
lfea nd property is an appalling one,
yet should it move in this direction, it
is more than likely that its compensation
would be found in the blessing of gem
erous showers for our parched and thirsty
1,,5 o,,3 burnt ton