The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-09-20
DISASTER
IN WEST INDIES
Storm Destroys PeopIel And
Houses On Sept. 13
STORY OF SHIPS OFFICER
Steamer Siberia Has a Hard Fight In
the Gale and Changes Her Course
In Order to Dodge the Fury
of the Wind.

New York, September 19.-(Special)-
The first news of disaster on the Island
of Inagua in the West Indies, in which
the town of st. Matthew may have been
destroyed, reached here this afternoon
with the arrival of the steamship ST.
beria four days overdue from Jamaica
after terrific fight with the seas.
st. Matthew is a town of about 600
or 700 inhabitants. Along the shore, right
on the open sea, there were some 200 or
800 hundred houses. On September Is.
the Siberia came close to the island while
the West Indian storm was at its height.
William Yollmar, chief officer. was on
the bridge According to his story, which
is corroborated by other officers of the
Ship they could make out easily that
the storm was raising havoc along the
shore They saw the roofs of house after
house lifted from the walls and carried
high into the air. The houses are nearly
all wooden and the officers say they saw
many of them go down like pasteboard
before the fury of the gale
I'VE had followed our method of taxi
ing on laborers at Inagua on our way
down from New York to have them
handle bananas at the various West In
dian ports we touched further SOUTH"
Chief Officer Vollmar said.
1T is customary on our way back for
us to put the men off in small boats near
Inagua and they then row to shore. On
this occasion We could not trust any
small boat in the high seass which were
raging. Accordingly we raised the flags
of the code to indicate that We would
keep the men aboard
There is a signal station on the shore,
Mr.. Sargent, the American consul acting
as our agent. No answer, however, came
from the shore. The supposition is that
the station was destroyed. 1t is prob
able that all inhabitants living in the
houses close along the shore made their
way into the interior. 1t was impossible
for US to make out just how many houses
had been destroyed, but a long continued
hurricane near that section could result
in a destruction of the entire property
along the coast
The Siberia had a hard fight with the
storm herself. She did not remain near
the section very long but ploughed her
way along as well as she could. When
she left ST. Matthew in the distance the
storm was still rendlng its full fury on the
town.
Four times the Siberia was forced to
change her course completely on account
of the storm. On the first day out from
Kingston she passed Cape Maysi, Cuba,
and had proceeded 20 miles north of there
when the storm hit her with such force
that she was turned back and headed
south until she again came in sight of
Cape Maysi it then being midnight. By
that time the weather had abated and
the storm seemed to be over. Again,
however, Captain Tarnow was forced to
run away from the storm. This time the
Siberia was headed toward Hayti. On
September II she came IN sight of the
Elder-Dempster steamer Port Henderson,
a big passenger liner which had left
Kingston at about the same time as the
Siberia and which was receiving a terrific
buffeting from the sea. In the morning
of the following day the Port Henderson
was still in sight, which indicated that
her troubles were not little. She is bound
to Southampton, England, and the Off
GERS of the Siberia believe that the gale
probably has pursued her.
Another steamer arriving today, which
had a long fight with the hurricane, was
the Parma from st. Thomas, three days
overdue The storm struck her on Tues
day afternoon.