better than Hong Kong.
address
11.
Ishall
Your
Lordship in a
fuller
Report, as
in
گا
arn
possession of the necessary
nformation.
measures
to remedy
disaster.
12. All needful
are
or
being taken
mite gute the
fe
Shave (sil) AE. Kennedy
Governor
Honble
Carnarvon
The
Right The Eart
of
Ke
Le
Ko
The
Daily Press.
HONGKONG, SEPTEMBER 24TH, 1874.
TERRIFIC TYPHOON,
On Tuesday night and yesterday morning, Hongkong was visited by the most awful ty. phoon which has ever been recorded is the history of the Colony. the weather during the day had been threatening, the barometer having fallen very considerably during the forenoon, and still remaining low in the evening. About six o'clock the wind began to threaten, and shortly after 8 o'clock was blowing a strong gale. This increased rapidly and in the course of an hour it was evident that a typhoon of a severe character was to be appreåended, and this proved too soon to be the case. The read- inge of the barometer were as followe:-
AT THE HARBOUR MASTER'S OFFICE. Readings of Barometer reduced to sea level. 22nd.-7.45 r....29.63 23rd.--2,00 A.M....28.88
...29.57 9,15, 10,15 ...29.45
AT MESERS, GEO. FALCONER & Co.'s.
Meourial.
22nd 9 A.M. 29.852.
1 P.M. 29.770.
3.00
...29.04
31
3.35
...29 22
10.30 ...29.40
4.10
...29.82
12.80
...29.12 23rd.-1.00 A.M...29,05
5.00
J7
...29 49
5.40
...29.58
57
1.12 ...29.00
8.15
1.30.28.95
9.30
...29 80 ...29.84
Aneroid.
22nd 9 P m. 29.500.
10
29.408.
$1
5 29,704.
11
29.325.
*
29,634.
12
29.100.
23
+3
31
8 29.602.
23rd 1 A.M. 28.897.
10
29.500.
2
24.760.
уя
+3
11
29.345.
2.15
53
28.727.
12
29.200.
2.30
13
**
23.735.
3 28.990.
28.870.
3.30
73
"
2.15
28.752.
4
29.184. 29.320.
2.°0
28.810.
13
3
29.235.
29.286.
29.315.
23rd 1 A.M. 28.950.
3.30 4
As may
be judged from the above readings,
the storm steadily increased up to 2.15 a.m. when the barometer was at the lowest, but it raged with great severity till fally balf-past three o'clock, when it began perceptibly to abate, and subsided between 5 and 6 a.m.
The Chinese had, as usual, daring the Tues- day anticipated the danger, and the sampans and junks cleared out in large unmbers to acek shelter. Some doubts were however felt among foreigners as to whether there would be more than a gale, though the preponderating opinion on Tuesday evening was that a typhoon was to be anticipated. In fact the indications were strongly in that direction and the doubts pro- bably only arose in consequence of there having already been several false warnings of typhoons this year.
THE PRAYA AND SHIPPING. An eye witness of the terrible occurrence sends us the following description of the scene on the Praya
"I had been out dining with a friend and started to return home at a little after eleven, It was then blowing very hard, but neither I nor any of my companions bad an idea of the reverity to which the gale was destined to reach. I accordingly went with a companion to the Praya to see the eight, and certainly never saw anything more striking in my life. Although I have seen many typhoons during a atay of over fourteen years in Hongkong, I do not know of any which has caused so much injury to the Colony and so much loss of life. By the time we had arrived at the Praya the wind had freshened rapidly, and the typhoon was raging with full vigour. The seu was breaking over the Praya with terrific force, while the roar of the wind was deafening.
The waves broke bright with phosphorescent light and presented a striking and awful sight. The lights on abore flickered through the darkness and seemed only to render it the more intense, Gradually the swell increased and the waves rushed first half across the Praya and afterwards quite across, and before I bad reached Pustau's wharf, towards which I
82 12872
was going westwards, they were more than i across the Praya, and I had to push my way knee deep in water. Clinging to such projec- tions from the houses as were within my reach I endeavoured to continue on my course, but soon found that it was too dangerous to persevere as the wares were coming in with such force that there was every chance of being washed away, while tiles and bricka were falling in all directions from the sbaken houses. It was about 1 o'clock when I was thus forced to beat a retreat, and I may mention that up to that time none of the ad casualties which have been recorded had occurred; and as the gale began to moderate by 3 o'clock, it is evident that the havoc must have been the work of little more than two hours."
The scene presented on the Praya from West to East yesterday morning, was melancholy in tbeestreme. Coming onto the Praya at Peddar's wharf, or what was Peddar's wharf, for it is now almost a wreck, and proceeding Westward to few piles Douglas wharf, of which only a remain, we first come across the wreck of two ressele, one the Spanish steamer Albay, which arrived only yesterday from Manila with three hundred passengers on board, and the other the Spanish steamer Leonor, which was to sail yesterday, and had also a large number of passengers on board. At high tide only the masts of the unfortunate vessels could
but be seen,
later in the
day their decks were above water and presented a melan- choly spectacle, as attempts were made to get at the unlucky inmates and at the papers, bag. gage, &c. It was stated that in the Albay sonie 90 passengers were lost, bat this it is hoped ia more than the actnal number, but the fact can- not be ascertained, as abe bad not as yet handed in ber papers. Out of 47 who were on board the Leonor, 36 were saved by Mr. Tanffer, of the Engino House. It appears that this gentleman most gallantly went off at the risk of his life in a small boat and brought back small batches of passengers each journey to land. A number of the crew, we are glad to say, saved themselves by swimming ashore. It appears that the im- mediate cause of the disaster to these two ressels was their having drifted aabore and collided when close upon the Praya, This took A little to place between one and two o'clock. the East of these two vessels was the ship Lizzie H., which was more fortunate, but only She bad a little more so than the steamers. drifted exactly on the wharf, against which she lay. She did not sustain much damage beyond From losing her mast and making some water. the Bank wharf up to the Oriental Bank there was a vast amount of timber which had been wasbed up by the sea, and all along the Praya were huge blocks of debris, the massiveness of which testi- fied to the violence of the gale. Close to Bank whart lay a mass consisting of five of the pun- derous granite blocks of which the Praya is composed, linked together by iron couplings, which had been thrown bodily considerably more than half way across the road. Farther on was a large mass of piles which bad formed part of one of the wharves, and which was also thrown more than half way across the Praya. The height to which the sea rose was greater i than within the recollection of any residents in the colony. All the shops and stores not only along the Praya, but a long way up the abut- ting streets, were flooded to the depth of se- veral feet-the water being actually three feet
From high in Messrs. Frickel & Co's, stor this some idea may be formed of the loss of pro- perty which has been sustained. The Office of the M. M. Company was still flooded yesterday morning. A few piles only remain to sbow where the Canton wharf stood. The British barque Mindano was driven up against it with terrific force and went right through. She then struck the Pacific Mail wharf and sank. It is not known bow many board of her when sse wont down. Between the Canton wharf and the Harbour Mas- ter's office four houses have been completely blown down. The P. & O. office was not very heavily damaged, but the iron railings in front of it were bent and displaced in several directions. he godowns of the Pacific Mail Company have sustained considerable damage. The front of them was entirely blown in and the cargo Iny exposed to view. Large parts of the Pacifie wharf were carried away and washed ashore three hundred yards distant. From the Paci-
were Ou
74