The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1910-10-21
CUBA SWEPT BY STORM
PROPERTY LOSS MANY MILLIONS.
TOBACCO AND SUGAR.
THOUSANDS ARE DESTITUTE
Havana Did Not Escape-WaVes Roll.
ed Mountain High at Moro
Castle.

Havana.-The island OF Cuba has
probably sustained the greatest ma
terial disaster in all her history in the
practically continuous hurricane which !
began with light rains on Thursday
morning, developing into torrential
floods and devastating hurricanes and
continuing until Monday evening. The
western half of the island suffered
more severely than the east.
The first hurricane Of which there
was some warning had hardly abated
on Sunday night when suddenly the
wind, which up to then had been
southeast, changed to southwest and |
with renewed fury the hurricane
blasts swept over Matanzas, Pinar
del Rio and Havana provinces, COM
pleting the destruction wrought by the
first storm.
It is impossible to estimate even
roughly the amount Of damage which
, will doubtless aggregate many millions
of dollars. In addition to the great
destruction to sugar and tobacco plan
tations, many thousands of peasants
I. in the three western provinces nave
= been rendered homeless and destitute
bv the loss Of their homes and the
"a food crops, especially corn. 1t now
ID seems probable that the republic may
be compelled to request international
o. .. aid
~, I'll Havana's Loss Great.
sin the city of Havana the losses
As ntobably will exceed million dollars
n mainly due to the destruction OF the
( customs house sheds which were I'LL
cd with perishable goods, the SINKING
of scores of lighters, many OF then
ng' containing valuable cargoes whlcI
"" !" had been unloaded from steamers all
- the submerging Of about one squar
. mile of the residential section Oh III
. city facing the sea.
But Few Fatalities.
in Few fatalities up to the presel
ice have been reported Three men wei
drowned in the harbor, but no deati
we, from the storm occurred in the CITY,
of The American consul genera,
len, linn Rodgers. succeeded in reachll
,ely Artemisia, thirty-fve miles southWe
ST Havana. He reports that the COT
you trv has been devastated by the moo
ked end conditions from Artemlsla
Cane San Antonio, # is stated
'olo- oven worse than in the territory
nlored by Consul Rodgers. All
girl, tobacco seed beds and barns hs
been destroyed. The prospective q
ach' II is asserted, will not exceed ~
=, cent of the normal 49,,
GIRL The sugar plantations suffered
orcu- severely, but great damage mas y
dome to standing cane by the cna
If the wind in the second storm.
,es'., over the Ramparts'
inted A. the height of the storm the g
AMER waves went over the ramparts OF N
nents castle They rolled with terrlhc 81
20, 900 IN the harbor, tumbled over the
this walls, inundating the stiee'e 49,
the lower part of the city and carried
used manv of the small craft along
only shore and swamped many iisl
The which escaped the blow during
con- earlier hours.
center Maine Raising Delayed.
S'I pad A barge containing all the out
- t ao, Divers working on the wreck o.
sign Is old battieship Nc" 49, rocks off
Water and stranoeu W -a,d;ors of the
as Castle. Latei INV o oonside
ress succeeded in saving conS la
~ the machinery, but all Oh wv
ret. &C ers' buoys, stakes and other
Of four around the Maine were sweep
e's ex. which probably will seriously
tho work of raising the SNIP