THE HONGKONG TYPHOON

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 6046, 2 November 1906, Page 5

T HE HONGKONG TYPHOON

TERRIBLE DESTRUCTION, LOSS OF LIFE APPALLING. SCORES OF VESSELS WRECKED OR DAMAGED. Hcngkong awakened from it® slumber® on the morning oi Scpce.i.ber 18i.li with no idea of what was in store for it within tho next lew nouns. The cable new® ha® already told in a brief way of the awful destruction and mortality wrought by the fierce typhoon. Tho "South China Morning Post,’’ copies of which are now to hand, supplements the cabled message® with lengthy accounts of the disaster. Some extracts are given below* About eight o’clock the sky was overcast, and it drizzled. The. wind rose somewhat, and necessitated tlio closing of window®. Tho glass fell rapidly, and about 8.30 a typhoon signal went up—a black signal indicating a typhoon within 300 mile® —and preparations were hurriedly commenced by tho boat population to secure the safety of themselves and their craft. Tho signal was a belated one, how late is now beginning to be realised by the story of death and disaster which unfolds itself as the hour© go by. Shortly afterwards the typhoon gun, that dreaded signal which announces that a typhoon is just upon us, boomed over too Colony, and ere it® echoes died away the wind had reached almost cyclonic force and rain was lashing the mountain sides into torrent®. On the higher levels as the wind grew in fury, chimney top®, tree®, branches went flying through the air like so many scraps of paper on a gusty day. At about ten o’clock the noieo made by the elements as they swept in blinding fury from west to oast resembled as near a® possible the deafening noise of a midnight express speeding through a tunnel. It was impossible to eee for more than a few yards, it seemed as if tho clouds had opened and let the rain fall solid. On the hillside many miniature Niagaras were raging and carrying every obstruction before them. The usually trickling gulleys formed by the Government through, the West End Park were asight, nothing could have lived in them a® the water thundered along < in magnificent cascade®. It wa® seen that several ve.seo’s were in difficulties in the harbour. The Johanno was awash by the stern; far over at Kowloon was one of the Standard Oil Company’s sailers high and r[ry; at her wharf the Kwongchow foundered, and left nothing visible but her funnel; again on the Kowloon side the passenger steamer Monteagle was badly ashore. The Chipshing had a narrow escape of fouling m she dragged her anchor,; launches and native craft were faring badly, , 4 The storm having abated about noon, it. was possible to venture forth and view the damage. Telephone and telegraph wires formed an. entanglement at points which would most effectively have ended the advance of a storming party, the roads were washed up and flooded in many part® and blocked by the wreckage of roadside greenery. Trees that had withstood the dements for many years were ignominiously uprooted and spread in tangled l confusion across the roadways. The different hill roads leading to the city were a eight, strewn as they were with all manner of wreckage, including broken rickshas and chairs, pieces of Venetians, lanterns, birdcages, sheets of corrugated iron, shoes, boards, .brick®. In place© great holes were washed up in the roadways. The huge netlike scaffolding over the new Post Office work, which it was predicted long ago would succumb to an extra blow, was piled up and scattered just as matches are when a matchbox is inadvertently opened wrong side up. The "Star Ferry” wharf was rudely treated. Its beautiful roof of corrugated iron, was crushed and crumpled over tho wharf like nn old bonnet. Murray Pier was cut in two by a rather forceful junk which came to grief after it had done the damage. All that remains i® tho outmost portion standing in solitude like a dilapidated diving platform, ■surmounted by the remains of a twisted lamp-post. A steam launch deserted by her crew', was pounded on to the seawall by wind and wave® and went down in so many splinters. The Naval Yard Works sustained considerable damage. Many people, how many is not possible to ascertain at the hour of writing, lost their lives. Tho Praya wa© strewn with wreckage right along beyond Observation Place. The typhoon shelter at Wanchai was crowded. West of Blake Pier there was a similar scene of wreckage. Sampans, wharves, junks, etc., were piled up in a confused mas? of eo much firewood. Hundreds of people, many with cameras, went along about the tiffin hour and viewed the scene and the gallant efforts of the unfortunate Chinese to save what they could of their belongings. It was remarked how philosophically, they took their misfortunes.. There was -no sign of weeping or wailing, one and all seemed to have left their sorrows b** hind, for the time being, in order to be of material assistance to themselves and to' others.

Many residents went to the balcony of the H-ongkong Hotel to watch the grim Play of Destruction. It wa® wonderful, terrible, pathetic, .yet grand—this spectacle of elemental nature amok; indifferent alike to life and property. On the water, junk®, dismasted and battened, reeled drunkenly, their crew® struggling almost without hope against the fury of tho elements. Steamers strained at their anchor chain®, and the steamer Rubi and on© or bvo coasters seemed perilously near swinging into each other. Coming, a® it did, without warning, the typhoon took many hundred© of lives cf the poor sampan people a® toll. A visit —under difficulties to the' Praya, brought into view# 'many of these unfortunates struggling with their craft to get alongside, a few yard® of angry, swelling water between them and safety—or death. The loss of life at Yaumati was great. DESCRIPTION BAFFLED. The scene in Queen’s Road Central I baffles description. Soon after 9.30 a.m. 1 the raving® of the storm were heard, and saplings that but a few moments ago proudly bowed to tho rising wind were torn aside‘from tho parent tree and hurled against the walls of houses; Stately palms that had adorned the high; hank in Ice House Street were lifted bodily from the soil and hurled into the: street below with a crash that often-times ! was accompanied by the shatter of glass and tho bang of a rent jalousy. At 10.15 the telephone wire® parted near the Thomas Hotel, cooliee scampered through two feet of water that swept along the roadway, sign board© were wrenched off their posts and born© down tho street by the relentless storm. Business was at a complete standstill ; desolation was written in' largo letter© on every part of Queen’s Road, When the typhoon was at its height, a Chinese was blown down ..Peddar Street towards tho wharf, and, unable to stop, went headlong into the harbour. A European rushed across the wind-swept space- between the C.P.R. corner and managed to cling to a lamp-poet, and, after divesting himself of his mackintosh and coat, boldly'jumped in to the rescue. He succeeded in securing the drowning man, and with the aid of an Indian constable, and others, eventually brought the limp body ashore, .the Chinese subsequently recovering in hospital. The Queen’s Statue Wharf and Murray Pier were ruins. Under the bow of the Rubi a large junk had been carried, and one eye-witnes® o,f the many tragic scone® in the harbour says that the occupant© of this junk had sought refuge when tho crash came by trying to reach the steamer. A rope ladder had been thrown out, but it wa* not expected that a soul was saved. One man did effect a landing on the buoy hard by, but the, relentless sea washed him away and hisj tomb was tho depths of tho harbour. j EXPERIENCES AT. SEA. j Tho steamer Scandia, which arrived '

in the evening, had a terrible Hue, ronscantiy icaring a cup-.:iz./. bne cam*: acrow i-.uch wreckage—cap-Azois junk-; etc. She paused cluh-e to one oi the iunhand saw a man clinging to* the wreckage. A bout was pul oil and the man was rescued. He was the onlv survivor oi a crew of twenty-six. The Scandia pae.:cd about nir- capsized junks and much other wreckage. They saw five men on a large piece oi wicckago; these were taken aboard. They were survive©® of a ciew of ten; the y.cA had been washing all over them, and they were quite exhausted. Later, about an hour before reaching Hongkong, the Scandia rescued another six men from a dismantled and waterlogged Junk A correspondent who was on H.M.S. Tamar, writes:—"Shortly after 8 a.m. the jblaclc drum, indicating a typhoon within 300 mile® and tho preparative ted burgee were hoisted on board the Tamar, and in half an hour the gun was fired, the red burgee over a white ensign (signal for all mcn-of-war in harbour to raise steam)« hoisted, and the typhoon was on u®. By this time the wind was blowing a gale from the northwest and tne ebbing tide helped it to cany along at a terrific rato all the junk© and sampans which were trying to make Causeway Bay. The wind was accompanied by sheets of blinding rain which blotted from our view® everything not in tho immediate neighbourhood of the ship. . . . There was an endless procession of junks and sampans, meetly dismasted, tearing past tho ©hip, some abandoned and others with . several wretches still on board, all very terrified, doing joss-pidgin to their gods, and throwing joss paper® into the water. The majority of them were rudderless -as well as mastless and consequently completely at the mercy of the element®. It wo© pitiable to see them passing so close and yet to be powerless to rescue them. They shouted and screamed at every steam launch that came within sight to take them off but the launches’ had enough to do to look after themselves, A party of about six men in* a loaded coal lighter was rescued by a launch just abreast tho ship. They appeared quit© cool and Hepped on board the launch and then returned to the lighter and fetched tho boxes containing all their worldly good©. About ten o’clock a succession of short blast© of a -whistle attracted our attention to a small white steam launch with a yellow funnel which was gradually Sinking by the stern and drifting towards the Astraoa. She sank lower and lower in the water, and then disappeared. Then a largo junk came drifting along our port side with an anchor dragging, which brought up when she was alongside ue and slewed her in until she was touching. Her rigging fouled one of our lower booms but cleared again after the halliards had carried away. Fortunately tho mast stood and after some time she sheered off. without doing ns any damage and drifted astern. Shortly after another came along and fouled some of the boats on her way. Several of her crew clambered up on board while the remainder passed on with their vessel. Then a large square wooden lighter drifted past just out of reach. She was sunk until her gunwale was awash and had a solitary old man on board; Lifebuoys , made fast to line® • were passed over the stem, but h© was out of reach before they* could get to him. A large junk, crowded with men and women, and laden with what appeared to be - bales of cotton came past the starboard ®ide just too far off for a lino to be thrown to ] Hera, all piteously imploring us to help i iTTem. Her mast was hanging over the bows and ©he had lost her rudder. She drifted out of sight into the rain, but when the weather cleared we saw her about half a mile astern safely anchored. S A tremendous shock forward told us {that .something had run into u®, and w© j saw. two large iron lighter© belonging to the P. and O. Co. right aerces our bows. One of the firm’s launches was endeavouring to'tow them, ami they shortly cleared u© and followed the rest. Altogether, it was a terrible experience. ‘The sight of innumerable follow-creatures ' being carried past to almost certain i death and being unable to aid them in 1 any way was too awful.” j LIST OF DAMAGED SHIPS. ' 1. —Jebsen ®.s. Aprenrado (German') foundered and looks like a- total wreck. One life lost. 2. Jebeen s.s. Johanne (German) beached, hull badly damaged. 3. —Jebsen ©.s. Signal (German) benched by the Captain in Kowloon Bay. Damage not serious. 4. —Hongkong, Canton and Macao s.s. Fatshan (British) ashore in Kowloon Bay badly damaged. Three-live® lest. 5. —C.P.R. *.s. Monteagle (British) went ashore at Kowloon and wrenched her ©ternpost. ’Will be repaired immediately- . 6. Shin On ®.«. Kwongchow (British) sunk off the Kowloon Godowns. Captain Mead and his crew were drowned. 7. McLaren and McLaren e.s. Strathmore (British) badly damaged in collision with the s-s. Quinta. 8. —Prinz Waldemar (German), damaged. _9.-rT. F. Chapman and Co.’s shin S. P, Hitchcock (American), ashore at Kowloon with her -hull badly damaged and fore topmast gone. • 10. —I. F. Chapman and Co.’s ©hip I. F. Chapman (American), a similar vessel to j above, lost her main royaimast. 1 .11.—Win.’T On is.©. .Wing Chai (British), -ashore in Kowloon with her back broken. 12. —Kwr.njj On e.s. Kong Nam (British) is 'a wreck. 13. —R. Wahl, jun., and Co.’e s.s. Petrarch (German) went ashore. . 14. —Hanscatische . Dampfer Cie s.s. Emma Lukyei*- (German) went ashore, but i© not seriously damaged, 15. —China Navigation s.s. Cha'ngisha (British) went ashore alongside the dock® at Kowloon, and i® reported to be in danger of capsizing. 16. —The old steamer Rcsario, a vessel that came from the Philippines to be broken up. was driven ashore. 17. The West River s.s. Tak Hing (British) a wooden screw steamer, wa®. driven ashore. 18. —Hongkong. Canton and Macao s.s. Kinsbnn (British) is a wreck. 19. —Hongkong, Canton and Macao s.s. Heimgshan (British) went ashore on San Chan Island. • A large rock, is projecting through Hier bottom. ' 1 29.—Java-CJiina-Japan Lin© s.s. - Tlilii wong (Dutch) was in collision with the s.s. Emma Luyken and Deyawongse, and is badly damaged on the port side. The Devawongse had her bow© stove in. 21. —Inciiausti and Co.’s s.s. Soreogon (American) foundered alongside the Kowloon Dock®, and caught fire, j 22.—The Chinese twin screw wooden | river steanler San Cheung (British), built j in Hongkong, sank alongside her wharf and broke her back. 23. —River steamer Pak Kong (British) went ashore at Kowloon, 24. —Tho river steamer Chung Kong (British) went ashore at Sarashui-po. 25. The river steamer Hongkong (British) foundered .and Captain Frederick Mansfield, the mate (Mr John Williamson) and the greater .part of the crew were lost. . 26. —The crew wooden river steamer Sun On (British) went ashore in Hnnglionx Bay. 27. —The screw wooden river steamer Shim Lee was badly damaged through washing against the Praya Wall near the Harbour Office. 28. —The s.s. Sexta, went .ashore at Hunghom Point after having lost one anchor. . 29. —Pacific ILul e.s. Coptic (British) collided with tuo s.s. Petrarch. 30. —HAL Struve’s s.s. Sul I berg (German) was damaged to the extent of about .£4Cd. Petrarch collided with her, dragged her mooring® and damaged some of her bowplates. Actual damage not yet ascertained. 31. Indo-China s.s. Loong Sang (British) w-n® damaged. 32. The ®.6. Serin Morena broke adrift from fh© wharf at Quarry Bay and was damaged. ?3.—Mo«S3gcricß Maritime® s.s. Polvncsien (French) was fouled by the s.s. Fatshan and slightly damaged, j 3i.—Tho s.s. Chip Shing fouled the ! e.©. Haimun and ®.s. Loong Sang and j badly damaged her port side. I 35, —Indo-Chiun ®.s. Kutsnng fßrifiah) ' was fouled by the s.s. Charles Hnrdouiu

and ©everal plate® on the port were du agc.i.

1)6. — The French steel screw river ‘ilcamcr Charles HurcLuin wa® severely damaged. After colliding with the t£te.iii:eis Hoi Ching, Kwong Chow and Kut Sang in ®uccc<i®ion elic ultimately managed to moor to a buoy. 37. —The Japanese s.®. Chiukai Maru went ashore at Kellet Island. £B.—The ©.©. Quinta collided with the Strathmore. BadJj- damaged. - 39. I The Nippon Yueen KaLha 6.*3. Sado Maru, 3SSS tons, wa© caught in the gale outride . Hongk.ng and lost several of her portable fittings. 40. —The river steamer Perseverance (British) while on her voyage from Hongkong to Macao sank near Cheung Chau. Twenty cf the crew and twelve passenger® arc probably drowned. The assistant engineer jumped overboard with a lifebuoy aud was washed ashore near PAfulam, 41. The Hongkong-Mirs Bay s.s. Albatross sunk outsiae Lyemuu. Many missing including European captain and engineer. WARSHIPS. 42. —H.M.S. Phoenix, sloop, wa® piled up on tho beach at Kowloon. She was laid down in 1834 and 1© a twin-screw barqueutine-rigged vessel with a cli- per bow. Her displacement tonnage ie 10)0. 43. French destroyer Fronde went ashore at Kowloon,, and is a total wreck. Four members of tJie'crew killed. 44. French destroyer Fraucieqtie ashore. 45. —H.M.S. Taku, deefroyer, damaged. •16.—H.M.S. Moorhen, river gunboat, damaged, 47,—H.M.5. Robin, gunboat, damaged.