, 1911-10-18

avery shallow depression even at It's lowest, in
st. Croix on the 3rd, in the other islands on
the 2nd. Small as it was we asked as usual
where the centre was to be found, and turned
first to the high clouds; but they were coming
from a westerly point, which was normal, no
immediate Information was therefore to be
got from them, and the depre sion had
reached It's OWest without any information
from the islands, the sen or The Sky. Was
1T possible that the centre was in the west, hid
ing away, 50 to speak, under this normal drift
OF the hlgh clouds? Then we remembered that
those clouds for several days had been unusu-
ally abundant and beautiful. How could the
secret be got at? Perhaps by waiting a lit
tie, for we knew that if the cyclone sus-
pected were to take a nOrthwesterly cOurs, >,
as was likely, the fact would be revealed by
the radiant point of the high clouds passing
round through northwest and north to an
eastern point. There was n thing to be
done but "wait and see. In the meantime
something happened in the lower air which
strengthened the suspicion that the cyclone
centre was to the west Ga the All heavy
thunder storms occurred III the early morn
ing and again in the forenoon; great masses
of cumulus clouds were piled up, and i'll the
latter Of the two storms they were seen to
be moving from the south, which is Just
what might be expected with a cyclone to
the west and moving off northwards.
The morning of the 5th brought a vaIu-
able hint; the high cloud direction had
shifted to NN.W, as observed at 8 am.
after which a blue sky gave no further posi-
1--WE information. Tn mex day, the (6th),
however, completed the proof that our su5-
picion was correct, that is to say if the high
clouds are to be trusted, for they were COM
ing from N.NE. at s am. and from N.E at
II m. and 2 pm; on the It'll they were com
ing from NE; on the 9Th from n E. by f.;
at I am. on the 9th from north.
This last move was a backward one. Why
had it been made? Ordinarily we should
reply, Because the cyclone, which had
brought the radiant point Of the high clouds
round from a westerly to an elster'y point,
was losing its power and allowing the high
clouds to return to their normal direction.
But in his case we pause before replying,
because we have in the mean time concluded
that there is a second cyclone moving past
and waiting, as we suspect, to take away the
command from the retiring cyclone, and we
are much interested IN watching to see
whether this will be done and how it will be
done. OF one thing we may be quite sure,
if the first cyclone is simply giving up aud
allowing the return OF the high clouds to
normal conditions, the swing which has
brought them back to north will continue
westward, but if the second cyclone takes
command that swing will be reversed and
they will 90 back eastward. Which was it?
We shall see presently when We take up for
examination the stony Of the second cyclone.
In HE mean time it seems desirable to add
a few remarks about the first cyclone, To
many Of our readers it must seem ridiculous
that we wlite about cyclones passing, while the
weather here is calm and the sky blue nearly
all the time. Well, we 90 back SIX yeurs, to
October 1905 \ cyclone was forming in
the Caribbean from about the Bird. On the
9th it went out on to the Atlantic, being, as
we learned later severely felt at Nole st.
Nicholas. On the 18th and Sth the steamer
Fontabelle, Oh her way out from New York,