, 1908-09-23
T HE AVIS.
0hristiansted, St. Greix,
Wednesday, 23rd September, 1898.


In the last number of this paper we men
toned our having received a valuable con-
tribution to our knowledge of the cyclone
which passed us on the night Of the 9th
inst, in the form of a weather report by the
Captain OF the q. s.. r. G. Itasca, forwarded
us by Mr.. Lightbourn. The ship was on
her way from Madeira to st. Thomas and was
about $50 Eng. miles from st. Thomas When
she was ovettaken by the storm. The OBJ
servations, which are noted in a small book
furnished by the Weather Bureau, Washing
ton, commenced at 6 p. N. on the 9th and
continued to s a. M. on the 10th, thus COW
ering So hours, during which time the wealth
or conditions were noted hour by hour.
We know that our islands. were on
the south side Of the storm. and what
makes the Hasca's record especially interest.
ing is that she was on the north side. hence
it is plain that the track must lie some
where between. We also know that the
track was about parallel with the line joining
st. Croix and Antigua.
Before trying to form q nearer idea OF the
position, We may take q look at the ships
experience. The wind blew at first as o
moderate breeze from E by N, then shifted
through n E by E to N e, from which point
it was blowing. still as a moderate breeze. at
midnight on the 9Th. During the early morn
ing the wind shifted back again and gradually
increased in force by 4 a. m. IN the 9Th
it was blowing from E by n. as a strong
breeze. which by 10 a. M. was a strong gale.
About this time the ship was hove to, and
the next hour the wind increased, varying
from 8 to IL Of the Beaufort scale. which
means q "fresh gale" to a ''storm" and a
high sea was running from east. During
the morning there had been frequent heavy
showers, with lightning" from IL a. M. to
4 p, m. were hours of heavy weather. The
wind, which had gone round TO E. 8. E. T..
varied from 8 to IL the whole time, there
was a heavy sea, and heavy driving ram
squalls u, in short the vessel was on the edge
of q hurricane. Then matters began to mead.
the wind, though still high, began to fall. the
sea also, and the barometer to rise. BY .
q. IN. on the 10th the wind had dropped to
Sc, that ia to say q fresh to strong breeze,
the sea fell to '.modesaAe" and the barometer
stood at S.98. which was aboutssthe same as
before the storm began.
The lowest barometer was Of 5 /. n on
the 9th, when it stood at 29.68, but the worst
was then past and we may perhaps better ges
At the centre'a position. by taking the MD
die point of the heavy weather. AS this last
ed from IL q. M. TO 4 p. m. we may per<
haps take 2 o'clock as the time when the
centre was nearest. The barometer was then
at 1884, or allowine::a correction noted l in the
report, it stood at 1881.
Now at Antigua. about 230 miles to 5: Q:
E., the barometer, a few houra later, stood %
about the same point. This appears at hrss
sight to make it easy to place the centre.
namely about half way between the ship ana
Antigua. On the other hand the isobars
may have been much closer on the north
side of the storm than on the south, and 10
is hardly likely that the ship would have felt
the storm so severely at a distance OF over .
hundred miles. The question must therefore
be left over: but IL il at ell events certain