The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-20
DEATH HsT
In THOUSANDS
Hong SAong's Terrible
Typhoon
OF PURELY LOCAL NATURE
Chinese Dwelling on Water Suffer
the Most.
One Launch Capsixed Had One Hum
dred and Thirty-Five Aboard
Bishop of Victoria is Believed
Drowned.

Hong Kong, Sept. 19.--The typhoon
which swept this port yesterday. de-
stroying q great number of vessels and
causing much loss Of life, was of a To-
cal nature.
1t came suddenly and without warn
ing. The observatory had predicted
moderate winds. Half an hour after
the gun signal had been fred, the
storm was at its height. It lasted two
hours.
Most of the damage done was
wrought on the Kowloon peninsula.
The losses are estimated at several
million dollars. Over 1000 sampans
and junks are missing from Hong
Kong alone. Wharves were swept
away and houses collapsed. The mil
itary barracks are in ruins.
The steamers Monteagle. Fatshan.
Keung Shan. Wing Chat, Hermanla,
Castellano. TAX Hing, Emma Luyken.
Can Rosario, Slava, Pakhong. Pet
rahch, Chum Lee, Sexta, Sunon, Chang
Sha. Signal and Chinkai Maru are
ashore.
The American ship s. P. Hitchcock
was also driven ashore, as Were
many of the launches that. run about
the harbor. The steamers Kwong
Chow. San Chewing, Sorsogon. and
Kong Moon were sunk.
The steamers Apenrade and Johanne
are partly awash. The British reserve
sloop Phoenix and small gunboat,
the Dongola. are ashore. The British
In and Taku were damaged. The Sir
William ]. Ervois was sunk.
The French torpedo boat destroyer
Froude was wrecked and the Francis
que is ashore The guns of the Froude
were saved, but three petty Officers
and one seaman lost their lives.
A Chinese revenue cruised is ashore
and several Hlndoo- China and Manila
liners narrowly escaped disaster
The harbor Is strewn with wreck
age thrown on the shore. Hundreds
of Chinese boatmen and their families
were saved by the bravery of the po-
lice and civilians. but several thou
sands of the Chinese water dwellers
must have persisted. many within
short distances of the shore. The loss
es in lives and property among the
Chinese were appalling
Identifying the Dead.
Today the police stations in Hong
Kong are surrounded by Chinese iden-
tifying their dead. the families of
the Hong Kong boatmen live night
and day on the sampans and thousands
of these people are homeless. chinese
take the disaster calmly and show no
manifestation of grief.
One launch that was capsized had
1870 Chinese on board. They were all
drowned.
into collision with the French mail
steamer. The entire Chinese crew
climbed aboard the French steamer
and left Captain Thomas. VINO was IN
jured, one officer and the engineers
to navigate the Fatshan TO Sheiter
Bay where she was blown ashore.
The bishop of Victoria, DR.. J. =.
neighbering islands when the storm
broke and is reported missing. HIS
launch has been found. floating bot
tom upwards.
Many valuable steel lighters have
been lost Some of them were hurled
ashore Channels will have to be dug
to permit some of the vessels ashore
to be floated.. The force of the wind
and waves were such that some vessels
were stranded almost high and dry.
The Japanese steamer Sada Maru
rescued sixty six natives and one Eng
lish pilot as she was approaching Hong
Kong The English mail steamers Del
hi and Poona escaped damage.
The British cruiser Terrible entered
port yesterday morning and reported
fine weather up to the harbor
Sir Matthew Nathan. governor of
Hong Kong and the authorities are do
ing everything possible to render as
sistance.
Reports of fresh disaster are arriv-
ing every hour.
Only a few Europeans. are missing.
No reports are on hand to show how
the fishing fleet and the ships out
side the harbor Jared.
Public opinion is incensed at the
observatory for not reporting the APP
proach of. the typhoon. An inquiry
has been demanded. For years past
the observatory has been subjected to
adverse comment, but on this occasion
it is not believed to be blameable.