New-York tribune., 1903-02-10
4 SOUTH SEA HURRICANE.

The experience of the Paunotu Islands with
a tropical cyclone last month, of which news
has Just been received from Tahiti, Illustrates
once more the rule that heavy mortality Is dh
indirect and not a direct consequence OF such
storms Shipwreck, prostration of bulidlhgs
and other damage to property are usually 1rn-
mediate effects of the wind but any consider
able loss of life is almost invariably the result
of floods and tidal waves caused by the hurri-
cane Such was the case at Galveston only
few wears ago, when something like ten thou-
sand deaths were reported within day or TWO.
Even more appalling disasters of the same chaf-
acter have occurred on the shores Of Bengal bay
after the visit of an East Indian typhoon to
that part of the world.
That Hikuero and her sister islands should
suffer so severely from such meteorological
disturbance is easily explained. They are moth
ing but vast coral reefs, rising only to the lever
of the sea from unknown depths and covered
with a little sand Had they originated from
volcanic action. as have most of the Society
Islands and the Marquesas and Samoan groups,
they would undoubtedly have stood out or the
water hundreds or thousands of feet. only
their coasts would have been affected. y wave
twenty or thirty feet high might make good
deal Of trouble, but it could not travel TAR III
land It Is doubtful if the Paumotu Islands
were more than ten or fifteen feet above the
level of high tide. No wonder that the great
navigator Cook should think Dangerous" an
appropriate name for them.
Large as was the destruction of human HE
from this cause last month, 1t probably creates
less of a sensation in the metropolis of the New
World than a more trifng sacrifice nearer
home 1t is no exaggeration to say that the
Westfield accident fortnight ago, which was
+jt1r, Of
deaths produced much greater shock in this
community The difference is partly one OF
mental perspective. 4 hand held at the dis
tance of only two feet from the eye covers
wider angle than a cathedral mile away. SO,
too the Importance of events depends upon
their geographical nearness. Then, again, the
victims of the New-Jersey accident were more
closely akin 10 the readers of The Tribune in
their civilization and social and business en-
vironment than the unfortunate islanders in
question. 1t is natural and proper to feel a
livelier sympathy for the former than the latter.
No one possessing the average amount of sensi-
bility can view with Indifference the sudden
extinction OF a thousand lives, but he might
we'll be stirred more deeply by single death in
his own immediate environment and sphere
Among those Paumotu islanders who survived
last months visitation the most pressing need
would He lOE lOOu AT IAe pIestul t1ue Su41AlicI
weather prevails in the Southern Hemisphere.
Besides, the scene of the calamity lies within
fifteen or twenty degrees of the equator. Cloth
ing is needed there only for decency. Even
roofs could be dispensed with for weeks with
out serious inconvenience. Yet in the most
genial of climates man must eat. 1t is not
likely that all accumulations of grain and fruit
and nuts existing before the recent flood were
swept away thereby. Sickness and starvation,
therefore may possibly carry off many who
were not drowned.