HURRICANE in the WEST INDIES

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 905, 31 December 1867, Page 3

HURRICANE in the WEST INDIES

UNPARALLELED DISASTERS, EIGHTY-TWO WBECKS. EIGHT HUNDRED" LIVE&' LOSt! '■ A special 'telegraphic , despatch which we (Panama Star aM Herald) have received, contains the following intelhgenee :t— . : . .? % Tlie Eoyal Mail steamship Solent arrived at AspinwaU on the 12th N'ovfember, at B*ls a.m., bringing mails and passengers from 1 Southampton. , . ; ' '" She brings also intelligence of a fearful Hurricane which occurred at St. Thomas on the '29th' September. The L.W.I. and P.S.S. Go.'s fine new steamer Columbian was lost, together with the Royal Mail steamships .Rhone, Wye, Conway, and Derwent, the two former with great loss of life. The total number of vessels lost and disabled, is stated to be 79 (seventynine), and the total loss of life, 800. The destruction of property on shore has been very great.

Since the shore was set up, wo have received the following additional dispatch : — Extract from log of Solent. " Arrived at Peter's Island at 9-30 a.m. 29th October, a gale blowing from North ; at 20 minutes past one wind shifted to S.S.E., blowing a hurricane, lost foremast during same, bowsprit also. Hurricane lasted till 3.30 p.m., then cleared. Saw Royal Mail steamer Conway ashore at Rhode Island, foremastandboatsgone.R.M. steamerTyne atTranegar Island, with foremast and boats gone. Onthe 30th saw Royal Mail steamer Rhone on Salt Island, total wreck, 130 lives lost, 25 saved. Returned to St Thomas on the 31st, found the Royal Mail steamer Wye a total wreck, 65 souls lost out of 76. The R.M. steamer Derwent is ashore at St. Thomas's harbor ; also 75 vessels sunk, including the West India and Pacific Steam Company's steamer Colombian near the dockhead ; three earthquakes at St. Thomas, dialf the town under water when the Solent left.". The foregoing was issued from our office in an. extra on : -the morning of the 12th inst., and the receipt since then of our correspondence and exchanges enables us to add the following particulars regarding the cyclone afc St Thomas : — At 11 a.m. on the 29th, barometer stood at 30.10, at 11.20 o'clock it had fallen to 27.90, . at which time it commenced to blow fearfully from the north-west until 12-30, when there was a lull for about 15 minutes, during which the mercury rose to 21.30 ; at the expiration of the lull the wind came with such force from the southeast as to sweep everything before it, and so continued with unparalleled violence until 4 p.m., when it moderated somewliat, but blew heavily until about 7 p.m., after which there was a perfect calm. There is not a dwelling house in the is- ft land that has not suffered,' and many have no roofs left. The small houses of the poor are levelled to the ground. Over 360. persons are already buried, and God only knows how many more are killed, wounded and maimed. The lighthouse is totally demolished, together with the gas works, gasometer, &c. The printing office of the Tidenda was unroofed and rendered so unserviceable that they could not print a list of the vessels lost, for the use of Lloyds. A great part of the damage done to the town was occasioned by the earthquake, which threw down the houses, while the .wind swept the debris into the gullies, and the town, being built on a hillside, the consequence was that dams were formed which prevented the natural direction of the water flow. Here the rain speedily collected in large bodies, and then burst forth in irresistable torrents, and swept over and inundated a great portion or the town, fearfully increasing the general wreck and damage. The inundation was thus occasioned by rain, and not as ha"s 4 been stated, by overflow of the sea. Some thirty or forty wrecks encumber the harbor, and so great is the damage done 1 to it, that it is believed it can never again be valuable for commercial purposes. In other words the harbor is ruined. It is also stated that owing to the immense amount of animal matter — human remains and domestic animals — lying amid the ruins, and rotting in the tropical heat, that the stench throughout the town was intolerable, and the prevailing opinion is that the next visitation (and which is inevitable) will be an epidemic. The whole effect will be to utterly ruin the island, and%linost depopulate it. It is calculated that over 500 persons are drowned alone. Not a soul was saved from some vessels. The steamer Wye lost fifty-three persons ; the Rhone, at teter's Island, lost about one hundred and fifty souls; the Camaguey seventeen ; only one was saved from the Ameor; the ship Chas. Sprague, and nearly every vessel in the harbor, reported some drowned. "The steamer Columbian sunk with 8000 packages of dry goods.}* and all the merchants suffer by rain on their goods, through roofless houses. The total loss of life on shore and in the harbor is certainly not less than 700. JLlpwards of eighty vessels were sunk or" dismantled, and a large number of smaller craft destroyed ; there is not a lighter left in the harbor, and all the wharfs and piers are broken up. The gale lasted about four hours, and destroyed, at the least calculation, upwards of 8,000,000 dollars worth of property on shore alone. Of the value of the vessels destroyed we have no estimate. . It was providential that the passengers and mails which left Aspinwall on the 22nd ult. for St Thomas for the steamship Bhone, were not transferred to that ship, and hence were saved. The Rhone had a few West India passengers on board, only two of whom were saved. We append a list of the steamers foundered, driven ashore, or otherwise injured. BRITISH. 1 Steamers.— Colombian, W.I. & P.S.S. Co, sunk alongside of floating dock, in 35 feet water, passengers and cr,ew saved. Rhone, R.M.S.P. Co, sunk near Peters Island, with boilers exploded and back broken. All hands, about 130, lost, amongst them some passengers. Wye, R.M.S.P. Co., sunk near Buck Island, in leaving the harbor. All hands drowned, about 62. Conway, R.M.S.P. Co., ashore near Rhodestpwn, Tortola Island. Derw ; ent, R.M.S.P. Co., ashore in .port. "• ■', '■". •■'-.;» ■.■ - - ■ ..>■.-■-■-'■

Solent and Tyne, K.M.S.P. Co, lost foremast and bowsprit, but tight. Eobert Tocld, Venezuela Packet, ashore, full of water. About eighty other vessels, including some steamers belonging to American, German, and Spanish owners, were lost besides the list above given. List of officers lost in the Rhone. — Fred. Woolley, commander ; Dalley Toppey, chief officer; Wm. Garrard, second oiheer; Jas. Wittiers, third officer; C. Boats, fourth officer ; — Williams, fifth officer; D. G. White, surgeon; Jno. A. Morrish, purser ; Geo. M. Bay, assistant purser; Jno. Hooper, chief engineer; Alf. Evans, second engineer ; Richard Child, third engineer, and three other engineers and about IGO crew, &c. Officers lost in the Wye. — Jas. Davis, 4th officer; Thos. 13 . Coleman, purser; Ancl. [Thompson, chief ; engineer;. Geo. Hooper, 3rd engineer, and three other engineers. This comparatively small loss of. officers Js accounted for by her .not having her full complement at the time of the disaster. . ."■ ■:'■';