The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1910-10-22
CUBA SWEPT BY STORM
PROPERTY LOSS MANY MILLIONS.
TOBACCO AND SUGAR.
THOUSANDS ARE DESTITUTE
Havana Did Not Escape Roll
cd 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
foods 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
w>th renewed fury the hurricane
blasts swept over Matanzas, Pinar
del Rio and Havana provinces, COM
pleting the destruction wrought by the
first storm.
1t 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
in the three western provinces have
been rendered homeless and destitute
by the loss OF their homes and the
food crops, especillay corn. 1t now
seems probable that the republic may
be compelled to request international
aid.
Havana's Loss Great.
In the city of Havana the losses
probably will exceed million dollars,
mainly due to the destruction OF the
customs house sheds which were fill
ea with perishable goods, the sinking
of scores of lighters, many of them
containing valuable cargoes which
had been unloaded from steamers, and
the submerging of about one square
mile of the residential section of the
city facing the sea.
But Few Fatalities.
J Few fatalities dp to the present
have been reported. Three men were
drowned In the harbor, but no deaths
from the storm occurred in the city.
| The American consul general, j.
Linn Rodgers, succeeded in reaching
Artemisia, thirty-fve miles southwest
of Havana. He reports that the coun-
try has been devastated by the foods
and conditions from Artemisia to
/ Cape San Antonio, it is stated, are
plored by Consul Rodgers. All the
| tobacco seed beds and barns have
been destroyed. The prospective crop
I it is asserted, will not exceed 10 ref
t cent of the normal.
| The sugar plantations suffered less
! severely, but great damage has been
done to standing cane by the change
of the wind in the second storm.
!! Over the Ramparts.
| At the height of the storm the great
waves went over the ramparts of Moro
| Castle. They rolled with terrific speed
| up the harbor, tumbled over the sea-
walls, inundating the streets in the
/ lower part of the city and carried away
many of the small craft along the
shore and swamped many lighters
| which escaped the blow during the
earlier hours.
| Maine Raising Delayed.
| A barge containing all the outfit OF
divers working on the wreck OF the
old battleship Maine was carried away
and stranded on the rocks off Moro
! Castle. Later the soldiers OF the fort
ress succeeded in saving considerable
of the machinery, but all of the div
ers' buoys, stakes and other marks
! around the Maine were swept away.
which probably will seriously delay
the work of raising the ship.