The New York Herald Newspaper, September 22, 1875, Page 5

A CITY DESTROYED _—-—__—. Terrible Effects of the Recent Cyclone in the Gulf. INDIANOLA SWEPT AWAY. Dead Bodies Strewn for Twenty Miles Along the Coast. Awful Destruction of Life and Property. A NIGHT OF HORROR. A Cry for Help from the House- less and Homeless. (CITIZENS ORGANIZING FOR RELIEF. -History of Past Storms Along - the Gulf Coast. SKETCH OF THE UNFORTUNATE CITY, Ganvestox, Texas, Sept, 21, 1875, ‘The purser of the steamer Harlan, which has just arrived, states that the town of Indianola was almost entirely destroyed by the late cyclone, Lighthouses | wharves, business houses and dwellings were broken to pieces or swept away. There are only three houses remaining which are not damaged. ‘The telegraph office is gone, the signal office damaged and the telegraph lines down for miles, The railroads are washed away, and houses, fences and trees are piled up in broken masses in the streets. . LOSS OF LIFE. ‘The reports of loss of life aro conflicting, but all agree there were from 100 to 150 lives lost. The purser gtates that on account of the great excitement it was impossible to obtain the correct number. The steamer returned with her cargo and goods, as there was no place where she could land, MATER AND ADDITIONAL DETAILS OF THE TERRI- BLE CATASTROPHE, Gaxveston, Texas, Sept. 21, 1875, The Morgan steamer Harlan came into port this morning with her colors at half-mast. A large crowd gathered on the wharf to learn the fate of Indianola, The destruction there is almost complete. Only five ‘Dusiness houses are left standing. These are H. Zehg- gen & Co.'s, H. Runge & Co.’s, D, Sullivan & Co.’s, Casimir Villeneuve’s and D. H. Reagan’s, The people are suffering for food and clothing. The beach for twenty miles is strewn with dead bodies. The follow- mg note has been received :— CALL FOR HELP. Inp1aNond, Sept. 20, 1875, To me Epirors or tne News:— We are destitute. The town is gone One-quarter of the people are gone. Dead bodies are strewn for awenty miles along the bay. Nine-tenths of the houses are destroyed. Send us help for God’s sake. « D. W. CRAM, District Attorney. The following was received by business firms here fom their correspondents in Indianola:— DETAILS OF THE CATASTROPHE. On Wednesday, the 15th inst., the winds were from gastward veering to north. On Thursday forenoon they became more steady and increased toa gale. Every man, woman and child was secking a place of safety. | The wind blew fearfully and the situation was awful. The screams of women and children could be heard in svery direction. The water was six feet deep on the streets. About two o’clock Friday morning the wind veered to northwest. HOUSES WASHED AWAY. The waves then became chopped and houses were ‘washed away or tumbled to pieces. The wind toward ‘daylight began to lull a hittle, and the water was getting ‘Dower until the wind veered north. Then came hope until daylight began to Wreak, and then did we behold THE AWFUL DESTRUCTION around and thanked our God that we had been saved, ‘and that our perilous condition was as nothing com- ‘pared with the sufferings of our neighbors and the citi- gens along the bay. Broad daylight revealed a scene ‘that was terrible to behold, The town could not be recognized as tho Indianola of the day previous. Ruin—total roin—everywhere, People were seen walking and jumping over one gully mand another. Neighbor met neighbor and told the ‘troubles of the previous night. Death and destruction ‘were all around us—nouses crushed to the ground, sothers swayed around and leaning over, the wind finally dying down and the water disappearing from | laces in the street. Those who could sallied out to ‘earn the news, THE DEAD. Bodies of men, women and childron were found in all Mirections. Police and guards wore organized and wearch was made for missing relatives and friends. {Mow many have lost their lives in this fearful storm it 4s impossible to learn, but upto this time sixty or «woventy bodies Imve been found and buried. Women ewere found and men also, who had floated off on idoore or anything they could get hold of, «miles away. Some were beneath the roofs carried away long distances. The escape of so many of | our citizens is almost marvellous. The search for "Dodses is still going on and the number of human beings «Growned wil never be known, as there were a largo ‘number of strangers intown. We estimate the num- | ber of ‘lives lost at 150. THE Loss, AH. J. Hack lost everything but his house, ‘W. Westhoff lost all his lumber. HK. Runge & Company and Sullivan lost heavily, M, Paget dost 2,500 sheep. J. Mitchal’s stock of goods was lost. Dr. John H. Leake, Mr. A. Coffin, his mother and family; nesrly all of Mr. J. Morrison’s household, twenty-one in aumber, and Rey. Mr. Jope and family | perished. c Eighteen bodies were found yesterday, and the search ‘will be continued until all the dead are deposited in aheir last resting place, You cannot imagine the full extent of the disaster, Nothing short of its fall detajls ‘will give you a proper knowledge. A number of persons were out on rafts for hours, and dn many cases wore saved, ESCAPE OF A MURDERER, William Taylor, on trial for murder, was let out of jail to prevent his being drowned and made his escape, THE CHURCHES GONE. All the churches in the town are swept away; 80 is the Masonic lodge, The Court House is saved, FRIGHTFUL PATALITY. Out of fifty-five persons Captain Sam. Brown and two of his family Only are saved. They took refuge in the lighthouse. Brown is now the only surviving pilot at the Pass. All of Captain Decrous’ family at Decrous’ Point were lost. THE DESTITUTION. Groat dentétution prevails. The Victoria people, hearing of it, nobly sent assistance at onee. Out of the entire force of pilots only one at Indianola js alive, Manager Sanbora, of the Western Union Telegraph Company, is reported safe, put the office is utterly de- Biroyed, * NEW YORK HER ALD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1875—QUADRUPLE SHEET. THE STORM ON THE MEXICAN GULF RRA Annan Map Showing the Devastated Portions of Texas and the Coast from Indianola to Galveston. BRAZORIA ce Bmp "eis un Liverpool P.s} Longitude HAMBERSIA abun P pdiinss if CM xi West from “Washington PROM CORPUS CHRISTI. Information from Corpus Christi reports that town safe, They escaped the heavy gale, A TOWN WASHED AWAY, ‘The town of Salurea is entirely washed away. ‘THE TELEGRAPH. The telegraph lines are prostrated for miles. The citizens of Galveston are organizing for the relief of the survivors at Indianola, and clothing will be sent there. ADDITIONAL DETAILS OF THE DESTRUCTION AT INDIANOLA. Sr. Lovrs, Mo., Sept. 21, 1875. Colonel Clowry, Assistant General Superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company, has received the following from Galveston :— Additional accounts of the Indianola disaster say the loss of life and suffering are terrible, THE DEAD BODIES, Dead bodies are strewn for twenty miles along the beach. Over 100 bodies had been found and buried up to the time the steamer left. ORGANIZING FOR RELIEF. The citizens here are organizing for the relief of the sufferers, and will send them food and clothing. THE TELEGRAPH MANAGER SAFE, Mr. Sanborn, manager of the telegraph office, is re- ported safe, but the office is destroyed and the lines down for miles. HOW COMMUNICATION WAS CUT OFF—FURTHER DETAILS OF THE STORM. New Orveans, Ta., Sept. 21, 1875. The Bulletin extra has the following regarding In- dianola:— ' The first of the storm, it seems, carried away the tele- graph lines, and thus communication hetween Galves- ton and Indianola was cut off, Indianola is situated on Matagorda Bay, and there is no protection in front of it, It has about 1,000 inhabitants, and the loss, it seems, is fully one-fifth, Fears are entertainod that Rockfort, Matagorda and Corpus Christi have su‘fered, Over 200 lives are lost, The steamer could not dis- charge, SOL. LEVI. REPORT PROM SARINE PASS, ‘A Picayune extra has the following:— Samtve Pass, Via Onanan, Sept. 21, 1835. This city is submerged and considerable damage has has been done to wharves and buildings by the terrific storm through which we have just passed, Much loss of stock is reported and crops in the sur- rounding country have been considerably injured; but no loss of life happily has so far been reported. A MAIL STEAMER WRECKED, The little mail steamer Pelican State was wrecked in Sabine Lake, but the passengers and crew were saved. A pilot boat was damaged two miles back in the marsh, and many small c®tt were blown off and cap- sized, SCHOONER ASTIORR, Captain Gibbs, of the schooner Truman, from New York, for Indianola, with an assorted cargo, arrived here to-day and reports his schooner ashore, fifteen miles west of the Pass, and a total loss. The gale caught him off the passes of the Mississippi, and he lost his reckoning. ‘The crew were in the rigging for twelve hours, but were all saved, FRARS FOR CALCASI#U, No news has been received from Calcasfem but the worst is feared, as much higher gales have in tho past swept the place, with much loss of lite, DISCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF INDIAYOLA. Indianola is one of the few towns of Texas that can boast of its antiquity. There, long before it was ceded to the United States, a Jargo trade in hides, furs and other products had grown up, and although in the latter part of the last century, and in this century, it has beon partially or wholly submerged by the tidal flow, 80 fatal to the Gulf citieg ang towns, nhowix-likp. it has always recuperated from the effects of tide, and war and wind, and remained the key of tho inland waterway that extends from Cony River, im Brazoria county, Texas, to the Rio Grande del Norto that divides Texas from Mexico, This mland sea, or waterway, is formed by the Mata- gorda, Corpus Christi and Espiritu Santo bays, and the Laguna of the Madre. It is divided from the Gulf of Mexico by a low, sandy bench, extending all the way from the mouth of the Sabine River at Sabine Pass, Louisiana, to Brazos Santiago in Texas. A vast amount of commerce yearly centres along the line of this inland sea. Indianola and Corpus Christi being the chief shipping points for exports of the products of all the counties between Austin, Benham, Balena and the Gulf, as well as the chief ports of entry, Indianola is the chief port of entry of the district Salmia, and before the railroads tapped the towns that fed it, it was aplace of considerable importance commercially and topographically. THE SrtUATION, It is situated on a peninsula, where the Laiacca River empties to Matagorda Bay, the county of Cal- houn, of which itis the county seat, forming the pe- ninsula. Owing to its low situation it 1s subject to inundation alike from the immense body of water that overflows Matagorda Bay and the tidal waves from the Gulf that occasionally sweep over the narrow beach that separates it from the Gulf. Indianola is 140 miles southeast by east of Austin, and 120 miles southwest of Galveston. In 1870 it had a pop- ulation of 2,106, which has increased to nearly 3,000, Of these nearly 500 are colored. It is the terminus of the Gulf, Western, Texas and Pacific Railroad (completed in 1873 to Cuero, in De Witt county, a distance of sixty-six miles), which is to connect it with Austin. Steamers run regularly to Corpus Christi and Gal- veston, The commerce of the place is quite important, there being entered in the year ending August, 1872, in the country trade, 242 vessels of 188,453 tons, of which 149, of 174,270, were steamers. It cleared in the same time 250 vessels, of 194,896 tons, of which 146, of 170,052 tons, were steamers. THE RECEIPTS were 5,808,000 fect of lumber and 2,750,000 shingles. It shipped 27,461 head of animals, 11,549 bales of cotton, 330,875 hides and 3,234 bags of woolin 1870. The value of imports was in 1870 $82,463 and of exports $58,658, Of the recent gales, that of July 18, 19 and 20, 1866, did the most damage. Four vessels in that storm were utterly annihilated, and remnants only of others in port leit to tell the tale of the loss. On land the damago was little less severe, and, while wharves were sub- merged, houses swept from their foundations and either scattered in fragmentary parts over the beach or bodily swept into the angry torrent, there remained on the afternoon of July 20, 1866, sufficient enterprise implanted in the inhabitants to begin the work of re- building and reconstruction. People like the residents of this inland town, who have beon ravaged by war, pestilence and hurricane, and recuperated from their effects, will not in this later calamity sit down and weep, but arise in the conssious ness that they have a future before them, and rebuild upon asurer foundation, that will not be affected when the rains descend and“he floods come. PAST STORMS ON THE COAST. ‘The telegraphic announcement of the great cyclone at Galveston by which so much property was destroyed will not surp#ise any one familiar with the topography of the coast and the details of similar disasters in years gone by. No one who has spenta yearin the tropics but will retain a vivid recollection of these cyclones that ever and anon sweep over tho Gulf, carrying death and disaster to those who ‘go down to tho sea in great ships.” Within the past fifteen years every portion of our Southern coast has been visited by these cyclones, but those who have studied tho laws of storms will have noticed that while they are equally ag severe on the Atlantic coast, between the mouth of the Savannah River and tho Chesapeake, as further south, there has been less damago reported north of Savannah and Cape Fear River, The secret of this is that north of the Cape Fear River there is bigh land, that serves as a barrior to the encroachments of the sea, while the further south we go the lower is the Jagd and theereater is Aig liability to bo submenu by heavy tidal waves caused by severe tropical storms, ‘The entire coast of Florida, Louisiana and Texas being only a few feet above high tide register, is more subject to overflow than higher coast lines; hence, whenever we hear of a disaster on this portion of the coast the loss of life and property is always heavy. The follow- ing is a description of all the chief storms that have occurred on the Gulf since 1860:— THE GALE OF SEPTEMBER, 1860, On September 11, 1860, began one of the most severe gales that has ever crippled the commerce of the Gulf, and it continued for several days, extending over a large territory—from the Rio Grande to Mobile. The loss on land and to the shipping was estimated at over $3,000,000. Vessels were driven from their anchorage upon the coast and many lives were lost. At New Or- leans it was especially severe and terrific in its force, as it forced the waters of Lake Pontchartrain over the marshes and adjacent plantations, carrying with it in its course many houses, The steamer Galveston went hore at the Passes in the mouth of the Mississippi, as did also six other vessels, including the bark West Indies, the entire crew of which—ten persons—wero drowned. At Belize, at the mouth of the Mississippi, every building was blown down and lives lost. The town of Belixi, Miss, was razed to the ground, and Milneburg, on Lake Pont- chartrain, was submerged, after the inhabitants had abandoned their homes and taken to boats or retreated to New Orleans, The same storm swept over the port of Mobile with little less fury, sinking five steamers, submerging wharves, forcing duwn heavy walls of warehouses 0n Water and Royal streets, unroofing houses, damaging vessels in port, many of which wero dismasted and stripped as bare of canvas as when they were first launched from the we: Several brigs and other sailing craft were driven” ashoro, and during the excitement a fire occurred which did con- siderable damage to cotton and other property in storage. About one-third of the city was flooded, and the loss was estimated at $1,000,000, As a matter of course, travel for some days by land and water was stopped, and the Mobile and New Orleans journals agreed that it was one of the most severe Gulf storms that had ever swept the coast, The storm also visited Pascagoula and other points on ¢he Gulf and spread along Mississippi Sound, but, fortunately, very few lives were lost on the land. The storm came in this instance from the east, and so severe was it that on the I6th, when it reached its height, some accepted it as a judgment from Heaven, THE STORM OF OCTORER, 1860, Following quickly in the wake of the storm we have Just deseribed came one on October 2, being even more violent than the others immediately preceding it, It was, infact, a hurricane that left little in its path, whether shipping or buildings of slight structure, It began about four A. M, at New Orleans from the north- west, and, veering to all points of the compass, at four P. M., when at its height, it came from the southwest, ‘Trees were uprooted, coffee and paper stands clevated to an extraordinary height, pedestrians lifted bodily off their fect and in some instances landed on the veran- das twenty feet above, extending out from the second story, A large number of houses in the Crescent City were unroofed or more or less damaged, others prostrated to the ground and employés buried under them, Among the latter wero Nos, 31 and 38 Camp street, on the block above Canal stroet, in course of construction, which were razed by the storm, carrying down with them other buildings on Camp and Common streets and burying persons in the rums, Fortunately the loss of life was small, but by this acci- dent much property was destroyed. ‘The water of tho river was lashed into foam, and, while buildings in the city were being stripped w shingles and shutters, win. dows driven in and chimneys scattered ‘Into the streets, lo the great terror of the people, who retreated within their houses for safety, the steamers and smaller craft fn the river tied at the levees wero grandly fighting tho hurricano, Some rode the gale in safety, although badly damaged by waves and wharves, while others were swamped, after the crows had barely escaped with their lives, Tho loss of prop- erty in the Crescent City and at Algiers, opposite, was probably $2,000,000, The gale, however, was not con- flgod to the city, but swept all the coast parishes, pros- trapug tho srowing sum cane and other crops, es he pecially cotton. The interior parishes did not escape, the hurricane sweeping all the way inland to Canton, Miss, prostrating crops and unroofing houses, Fortunately there were not many vessels in port, and there was little loss ot life. Nearly the entire parish of Plaquemines was sub- merged by the overflow of the Gulf, that rolled its “white caps” in upon the inhabitants with the fury of the “bore” that has made the Bay of Fundy celebrated over the whole world. In St. Mary’s parish great damage was done. Indeed, all the coast parishes of Louisiana wore the greatest sufferers, and hundreds fled in alarm to the higher lands, fearing that —_ they and their plantations would be carried by the receding waves out into the broad Gulf. On the Lafourche alone twenty buildings were blown down, on Bayou Black five, in Terrebonne parish five and in Little Caillou a number were carried down, ‘with the loss of one life, As the angry waves rolled in from the agitated Gulf, old inhabitants represent that they believed the entire State was to be submerged, and, taking to the upper stories of their houses or deep rooted trees, they awaited tho worst in supplication and prayer. No estimate of the loss by this storm has ever been arrived at, but the best authorities place it at $5,000,000. THE GALE AROUT KEY WEST, OCTOBER, 1865, Key West, tho loading seaport of Florida, and the coaling station for our Gulf squadron, has been sub- jected to many calamitfes from tempest and wind, One of the most severe that ever visited the island com- menced on Saturday evening, October 31, 1865, with Tain and wind, and continued until eight P. M. Sunday, when the rain ceasedand the wind increased. Naval officers at the station, who had spent the greater part of their lives at soa in all parts of the world, represented it to be the severest storm tlgey had ever experienced, and more terrific than tho gale of 1846, when so many vessels were Igst. A num- ber of houses were unroofed, several wharves, including two belonging to the government, were sunk, the Magine Hospital and the Naval Depot were badly damaged, boat and bath houses wero carried out to sea, the United States schooner Tortugas was sunk, and the streets were strewn with uprooted trees and tho débris of buildings. More than twenty vessels riding at anchor or at the wharves were forced from thotr moor. ings ashore or sunk in the troubled waters of the bay. ‘The whole coast, as far as the glass could reach, and the adjacent keys were dotted with vessels. Every wharf in the town was destroyed or rendered useless, The United States steamship John Rico, from New Orleans to this port, encountered the hur- ricane on October 22 from the northwest, and was driven into the Dry Tortugas, where the storm wasevory sovere, having damaged Fort Jefferson, killed the post quartermaster, blown down chimneys and up- rooted trees, The steamship Mississippi and other ves- sels caught in the galo at sea reported the storm un- usually severe, Among (Re disasters was the loss of the steamship Republic, plying between New Orleans and this city, which went down off the Georgia coast, and several lives wore lost, In tho hurricano the steamer Wabash, from Philadelphia for Now Orleans, was disabled, and put into Savannah after the loss of two men overboard. This storm extended into the in- terior, swept over the lakes, and did great damage to the commercial marine of Lakes Huron, Superior and Erie. ‘Tho gale continued until the 23d, doing much damage to coasters between Cape Fear and Galveston, and ex- tending all over the West India Islands, The shipping in the harbors of Havana, Matanzas and New Provi- donce suffered severely, and probably 200 vessels were wholly or in part destroyed by it along the coast, on the lakes and in the isles of the Gulf, THE GALE AT INDIANOLA, TEXAS, IN JULY, 1866, A terrific gale began at Indianola, Texas, on the 18th July, 1866, and continued three days, Four vessels wore totally wrecked, and not a vestige of two was left. Houses, storehouses, wharves and boathouses suffered severely, The “oldest inhabitant” reported that no such storm had ever visited the port, but as the placo was then small and only @ few vessels were in port the loss was not very great, TUB DEVASTATION ON THR RIO GRANDE IN OCTORER, 1867, In October, 1867, the most severe storm of the cen- tury swept up the Rio Grandy, aud a writer stajos that “a perpetual bombardment for a year could hardly have done more damage than happened from this one night’s work” about Brownsville, Texas, and Mate amoros, Mexico, Twenty six persons were killed at Matamoros, and ten killed and one wounded at Brownsville. Twelve persons perished at Brazos, further down the river; vessels were sunk or beached; all the houses at Bagdad were destroyed, and only two left standing at Clarksville. Ninety residents of the latter place took refuge on a vessel that rode out the storm, and the rest perished. In Matamoros 1,500 bets and houses, the ow Orleans Picayune re- ports, were blown down, ‘The towns of Camarjio, Mier and Corpus Christi were swept by the tidal wave, and all of the property of the inhabitants swept away. THE COAST STORM, avGuST, ll On the 19th of August, 1871, a severe wind and rain storm visited Savannah and covered all the coast be- tween Charleston and Key West. It was more severe at Savannah than elsewhere. There the streets were flooded, trees uprooted, houses dismantled of chimney# and roofs, and on the plantations sugar cape beaten down, crops damaged, embankments on the railroads washed out, rivers swollen and large quantities of pro- visions destroyed. This storm was predicted several days before by the Signal Bureau, whose officer reported ‘that it would extend north from the Florida coast, with strong east winds and rain on the South Atlantic coast. Fortunately, no lives were lost by this cyclone at Sa- vannab, although vessels at sea suffered soma damage from the freaks of the wind in their canvas and delay in being driven from their courses. On the Florida coast immense damage was done, About En- terprise entire forests of oak and pine were prostrated, and a number of bodies were washed ashore near the wreck of the steamer Lodona, and the wreckers for days rioted in the valuables they found in the cargo. A large number of vessels were beached on the Florida coast anda few were lost, The gale of the 16th and ‘17th was less severe on the Florida coast than was that of the 22d, which caused the main damage to coast, river, town and plantation, SCIENCE AND THE STORMS. The enormous strides made by modern science seem to have the great result of showing us how little wo know. This is a weighty gain. The capabilities ot electricity, the wonders of the solar spectrum, the dy- namic force of heat, all are waiting for some great mind to apply the inductive process in their special casgs and carry us forward, who knows where? Although the human race is supposed by its ultra advocates to be some millions of years old, still the discoveries of mod- ern science prove that we are only in the infancy of our knowledge. From the “e pur si muore” of Galileo to the pres- ent day the world has little more than completed three centuries, Where shall we be three centuries hence? Professor Tice contributes his mite toward the solution of one small portion of this question in the ingenious but not quite novel theory that extraordinary terres- trial phenomena are very largely attributable to the action of the. other planets on the earth, The late cyclone has given him an opportunity of putting for- ward the result of a comparison of all the remarkable phenomena which have occurred during the perigee of Jupiter for the last 2,500 years. His investiga- tion would go to prove that, of 200 well marked terres- trial perturbations such as the one we are just passing through, but three of the most strongly marked did not coincide with the Jovian cycle. Whether this be abso- lutely true or not, it is well to seo that scientific mem are going beyond their nose to account for what has hitherto appeared unaccountable. Every step thus made in advance is a gain to science—that is, to hu- manity. It may be well, in this connection, briefly to advert to visitations similar to that from which Galves- ton has suffered. eee THE LATE CYCLONE—ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS AND DEPARTURE—FACTS AND FIGURES FROM THE SIGNAL STATIONS, The efficiency of the United States Signal Service De- partment was clearly displayed on the occasion of the great storm which has so recently devastated the southern portion of Texas. The history of this storm, besides illustrating the vigilance of the signal bureau, presents several curious anomalies in meteorological phenomena, ‘ Commencing with the day before the first notice of the storm, September 12, at 11:12 P.M., New York time, we find the weather generally clear in Florida, and partly cloudy through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. A northeast wind, moving five ¢o six miles an hour, was generally prevailing; the average temperature was about 75 degrees, and the bar+ ometer stood at from 30.03 to 80.10 inches. Telegraphio reports showed that a storm had passed somewhere to the southward of Santiago de Cuba. The next report, September 13, 7:47 A.M., showed the barometer to have fallen .05 inch, and to stand 29.89 at Key West. The wind was a little fresher, and clear or cloudy weather prevailed. In the next mid- night report the data from Key West were missing. The barometer was 29.04, with threatening weather and a northeast wind moving at the rate of twenty miles anhour. The regular gradation of the iso barometric lines, 30.30 through Virginia and Ohio, 30,20 through Georgia, Tennessee, Northern Alabama and Mississippi, 90.10 through Northern Florida and all around the Gulf coast, 30 inches about half way down the coast of Florida and 29,90 below Punta Rassa, led to the conclusion that an area of much lower barometer existed south of the island of Cuba, This, coupled with the fact that a northeast wind prevailed all along the coast indicated the existence of a cyclone somewhere in the Carribean Sea, The signal station at Key West haying been damaged by the skirts of the storm area combined with other indications to locate it near Havana, Cuba. The usual track of these storms is arotind the island of Cuba, going off the coast in the direction of the Gulf Stream. Danger signals wei therefore, ordered up from Key West to Cape Hatteras, In the afternoon of September 14 details were wanting from Punta Rassa and St Mark’s, The area of low barometer still continued in the Gulf, showing that instead of going out by the usual track the storm had proceeded westward and was about to spend its fury upon the Texan Gulf coast, The \ signals from Key West to Hatteras were therefore lowered and those at Now Orleans and Mobile ordered to be raised. Galveston and Indianola not being cau- tionary stations, no signals were displayed. The next day, Wednesday, September 15, the storm burst on the coast of Texas with terrific violence. The previous midnight report stated that the cyclone had moved northwestward and was central near thecity of Galveston, The curious gradation of the iso-barometric lines in concentric circles shown on the map in the United States Signal Office indicates, with mathemati- cal precision, the centre of the cyclone. The centre of all the concentric circles will be that part where the storm rages fiercest, At this time the reports from Galveston showed the barometer to be 29.67 inches high, with ao northeast wind moving at the rate of thirty-six miles an hour. At Indianola the wind was moving sowwhward fifty-six miles an hour, with the barometer at 29.64, The wind hero amounted to a perfect hurricane, the speed of fifty-six miles an hour corresponding to a pressure of 15.68 pounds to the square foot, Aman standing presents a surface of about ten square feet, and would therefore, in such a wind, receive a pressure of about 167 pounds, This fact gives a faint idea of the force of this storm. The cyclono remained near Gal- | veston all that day, passing a little to the north near midnight. The report that came nearest to the scene of the disaster was that from New Orleans, where the wind was blowing to the southeast, the direction of the centre of the disturbances, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, By midnight of the 17th inst. its forco was partly spent, the area of lowest barometer, 20.66 in New Or- leans, being near that city, Tho wind there at that time was moving twenty miles an hour, The next day the storm area passed ou to the northwest, with light rain, At Knoxville the barometor marked a height of 20.58 inches. On Sunday, the 19th, the cyclone took leave ot tho signal officers, pasemg norteastward off the Middle Atlantic coast, giving a fow parting flourishes inthe way of heavy gales during the day. HELP FOR THE,TEXANS. The Heranp has received from ‘A Stranger” $2 for the sufferers by the late storm at Galveston, PAYING OFF, The Comptroller will pay on the Ist of noxy month $1,908,000 on Croton water stock of the issue of °54, '65 and '66, which become due on that date, Thiv large sum of course, payable out of the sinkil fun, and additonal taxation will, tioretive, hot ft nooded Fo supply the amount