The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-01-12
A BLOW IN JAMAICA
Things That Happen When a Big
Storm Breaks Loose There.
A WEST INDIAN HURRICANE.
Il Win Leap Out Of . Clear SKY and
Level Almest Everything In Its
Path = Then Comes Torrsntial
pownpour That Ends In a Flood.

Lever Alfnest Everything IN Its
Path = Then Comes Torrsntial
powppour That Ends IN q Flood.
"Have you ever been Though a West
Indian hurrieaneY said a man who
has lived in the tropics on and of for
a number Of years DO you want to
know what the experience is like2
"a hurricane viii leap OUT Of clear
sky, swoop down on a city. blow ev-
erything in its path Fat ana pass on.
Then follows the tain OF the hurricane,
steady breeze blowing in the same
direction, but at much lower veloei-
ty This is likey to continue for
many hours, sometimes for many days,
and Is always accompanied by a tor.
rental downp0ur Of rain.
y was Ia Kingston. Jamaica. at the
time Of the hurricane Of 1908 Az 3
O'Clock ID the afternoon was ii my
Office on the top floor Of rickety
wooden building. As suddenly as
clap Of thunder the room went dark
Il had a pretty good idea Of what
was about to happen and, going to the
window, looked out across the roofs.
A black cloud had whirled up out OF
the southwest, obscuring the sun. but
the mountains buck Of the city were
still golden with light
In less than a quarter Of an hour
the wind reached us. The first struc-
ture that went was wooden watch.
tower about 200 feet high that had
been used IN the old days to locate
ships approaching the harbor Il bad
weathered an previous hurricanes. but
this time il went down ike house Of
cards spars Of lumber from that
tower we're carried Us far as twenty
blocks before they came TO the ground
'Then the splre Of the church went
the roofs Of d good many residences
were torn OF. and some fine palm trees
in the public gardens snapped of about
halfway from the ground Buildings III
Kingston. however. are calculated to
stand q pretty severe blow. They are
built only a few stories high. and the
roofs present a broad and compare
lively fat surface q the wind Consid
erlng the velocity at which that hurri-
cane was travelling. the damage was
not great. Even my crazy Office build
ing withstood it, But the tail Of the
thing followed. with a heavier rain
than have ever seen before or since
TO say that 1t came down hi bucket.
fuls would be mild It was as II the
clerk Of the weather had taken the
plug out Of some huge vat suspended
above our heads and allowed the wa
ter to plump straight down On u.s.
I'm three hours tile macadam on the
streets had been washed into the har
Dor. The street outside my window
was a rushing river as much rs four
feet deep in places, saw cart try
to cross 1t. but with the water above
The axle Ok the wheel and the horses
legs being washed away from under It
it was an Impossible task. and the
driver turned back Big casks and
packing cases were dancing on the sur
face like corks.
"As you can imagine did not get
home 70 supper that evening. II was 8
o'clock before the rain stopped and the
water ii the streets had drained into
the harbor Even then traffic had not
begun to reorganize itself
"The trolley car tracks had been /
washed out, and no cars were run
ming. Cabs, however were doing Q
roaring business. and eventually | got
a cabman to drive me home for three I
times his customary charge
"The damage 10 property In King |
ston mounted up to hundreds Of thou /
sands Of dollars, but the real destruc- /
ton was wrought in the country dis
tricts. Floods wiped out many negro
village and sent the tiimsy houses
floating down The rivers. The railroads +
were tied up for nearly a week. every /
banana tree ia the path of the hurri 4
cane was uprooted oh, yes, a West
indian hurricane can do a lot Of dam
age when 1t gets busy
Loss Of life. did yen say? OF course
there was. Nearly 200 people we're I
killed throughout the island on that oc
easion. but we grow accustomed to
that IN the West Indies. We expect /
hurricane every once In awhile, and 1
We know that Il win take its toll OF \
human life when It comes. II you bad T
been telling the story you would prob 4
ably have mentioned that irst Of all. (
mt sudden death Is so common below (
the tropic Of Cancer that we get cal 4
l0ns, / suppose - New York sun