1000 LIVES LOST.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1617, 7 December 1912, Page 6

1000 LIVES LOST.

TYPHOON IN THE PHILIPPINES, GREAT DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. TERRIBLE OCCURRENCES. Tho Iter. J. R. Flynn Anderson, tho fighting parson who wont through the Boer War "in the fighting line," and who visited Wellington about six years ago (when ho lectured before tho Savage Club), is never happy in a civilised oountry. Ho has tho "call of the wild" rather badly, and tho spirit of those intiepid missionaries who venture bravely into unknown countries with a keen relish for tho dangers and difficulties to be overcome. Mr. Anderson was reoantly at Cebu, the capital of. tho island of that naino in tho Philippines, situated 857 miles from Manila. Mr. Andeirson has forwarded to a member of The Dominion staff a copy of the "Philippines Free Press" of October 26, containing an account of the direful visit to tho. island at 8 p.m. on October 15 of a great typhoon and cyclonic wave, which resulted in terrific destruction to life > and property. The loss of lifo was estimated to 00 at least 1000; The report reads as follows:—

A terrible typhoon, one of tho worst in tho history of tho' Philippines, struck Cebu at 8 p.m. on October 15, causing tho loss of hundreds of lives, rendering 10,000 people homeless in the city, and destroying property worth 3,500,000 pesos (Spanish dollars). Reports from other parts of the Visayas fell a lamentable lalo of destruction of lives and property. The wind reached a velocity of 140 miles an hour, and 20 inches of min fell in 12 hours. Acacia and coconut trees were uprooted as though they had been stalka ot corn.

Buildings and Steamers Wrecked. A dispatoh from Cebu reported the loss of more than 100 lives in Cebu city, the wreck of tho Hotel San Marcos, and the railway hospital,' as well as the wreck of the steamers San Rafael, Bais, Santiago, I'obo, and Gregorio. An appeal for help from Cebu was answered by th« dispatch of the Cincinatti, of the Asiatic fleet, the cutter Mindanao, tho transport Merritt, the steamer Churruca, and the coastguard Ranger. . ... The roof waa taken off tho Cebu Hospital, and the patients were transferred to freight cars on the sido track in the driving storm. The cyclonic wave which accompanied the typhoon flooded the Army Barracks to a depth of 3 feet, and drove several steamers and hundreds of small craft on the beach. The estimated damage in. the province of Cebu is 10,000,000 pesos! The typhoon came from an easterly direction, sweeping across Southern Samar, Leyte, Cebu, and passing over Northern jNegros and Panay. The oentre of tho storm passed ten. miles north of Cebu city.

Attacked by Sharks. A horrible feature of the disaster wafl the fate of three persons near Maria, island of Siquijor. An American named Jenkins and two Filipino .companions, who were at sea in a vinta when the storm struck, were eaten by sharks when their craft was capsized. The steamer Tayabas foundered off Escalante, Negros, and 19 persons are known to have lost their lives, including Captain Merz, Miss Bessie Lambert, nineteen-year-old daughter of W. H. Lambert, the welllinowa lloilo contractor, and the, son of . the Spanish Consul of Cebu. Miss Lambert was swimming to 1 shore after the ship foundered when sharks snapped off both her legs. She reached shore by swimming with her arms, and died soon afterwards from loss of. blood. _ Miss Lambert was engaged to be married on November 8 to Charles P. Clark, manager of the hardware department of the lloilo branch of the Pacific- Commercial Company. lloilo. escaped the full force of the storm, but many sailing craft foundered in lloilo Straita. The loss to the Philippine railway in Panav is about, 20,000 pesos. Seven feet of water covered the bridge at -Duenas, and there were numerous "slides and washouts north of Paria, though no bridges were destroyed. The railway damages in Cebu province are considerable, and it will be two weeka baforo railway traffic, becomes normal. : The Eastern Extension Cable Company's cable and that of the Insular Government at Cebu were destroyed by the anchors of ships which tore them up when driving ashore. The loss to Stevenson and Co. in Cebu is 20,000 pesos, and the Pacifio Commercial Co. suffered to the same extent. The Tabacalera Company's loss is placed at 25,000 pesos, not including. the steamer Tayabas. The Cebu Photo Materials Company lost GOOO pesos. Theue are but- a few losses in the total. A Terrible Night. A section of the spillway of the Osmena water works was damaged and a supplementary dam will have to be built in order to make the repairs. The expense will be 30,000 pesos. Dr. Schwartz, hia wife, and child spent a terrible night on. Kaweit Island, where Dr. Schwartz is quarantine officer. The storm took the roof off . his house and the cyclonic wave submerged the lower floor. The family ■clung together all. night, 'uncertain of .their fate, but in the morning were able to reach the city in a launch which escaped destruction in some inexptainable way. The body of a beautiful. Filipino girl, whose identity is unknown to Cebu, was picked up on. the beach after the tvphoon. The body was entirely nude, but diamond rings and earrings testified that she had belonged to a family of diatinction. ■ Many buoys were earned away, and lighthouses were damaged. After tlie work of destruction was complete a swnim of locusts settled on the town and added ,to the misfortunes of the people. Tho cyclonic wave which came with the storm was ah .unusual phenomenon, only one other-being, recorded ■ by the weather bureau, that accompanying the destructive typhoon in the Visayas .in 1897, tho year before American occupation. The Work of Relief. Relief measures were promptly -undertaken." Speaker Osmena. felt, that his duty was with the Assembly, but was finally prevailed on to accompany the Acting-Governor-General on the Cincinatti to the scene' of disaster. The Acting-Gover-nor-General and Speaker Osmoiia returned on Wednesday, having left the work of relief thoroughly organised. General Bandholtz has full charge of relief measures, and is aided by otheir constabulary officers and a corps of surgeon's, relief detachments 'having been sent to all points needing assistance. Scout and constabulary soldiers were put on patrol in Cebu city the morning after the storm struck, and have • greatly helped, in distributing provisions, anil bringing order out of chaos. There has been no lack of food in Cebu, but it is feared that in tho province the people will bo in need of supplies, because of the ruined crops. Inter-island shipping will be handicapped for some time because of the loss of vessels. The Warren has proceeded _to Cebu with mules for land transportation purposes. The extent of damage to crojjs m outlying districts of the provinces ia thought to be wry great, but it will ba several days before exact figures.can ba obtained.