THE COOKTOWN HURRICANE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12711, 25 January 1907, Page 7

THE COOKTOWN HURRICANE.

A KETCH MISSING. 'United Press Aaaociation—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. BRISBANE, January 24. Many persons whose residencies in Cooktown were destroyed by the hurricane lost everything. Numbers of people were cut by flying iron. The Pilot, a ketch, which was attending the beacons at tho time the storm occurred, has not since been heard of. TERRIIT FORCE OF THE HURRICANE. (Received January 2oTa. 12.52 a.m.) BRISBANE, January 24. An eye-witness of the Cooktown disaster states that it was a distressing sight to see tho houses lifted in the air and scattereu over the waters of the harbour. For two hours the wind, in cyclonic squalhsu'n rapid succession, tore past with a screech at quite a hundred miles an hour, taking with it everything moveable. Sheets of iron soared high in the air till they looked liko playing cards. Part of tho Signal Station was blown over. Tlie steamer Armac had five steel hausers mooring her, but they snapped liko thread. It was heartrending to hear the shrieks of the women and children as the houses groaned and swayed under the terrific strain.