Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1899 — NEARLY 1,000 DEAD [ARTICLE]

NEARLY 1,000 DEAD

Awful Destruction by tbe Great West Indian Storm. AMERICA SENDS AID. % Thousands Rendered Homeless and in Danger of Starvation. Ponce la Wholly Destroyed and Other Porto Rican Towns Suffer Great Lose —Five Hundred Bodies RecoveredFears that a Plagne Will Follow the Doom that Has Devastated the Country—l he War Department Takes Prompt Measures to Relieve the Distress.

Nearly 1,000 lives and millions of dollars’ worth of property are now known to have been destroyed by the hurricane in Porto Rico and the adjoining islands of the West Indies. Over 500 bodies have been recovered. Gen. Davis telegraphs that 100,000 people are destitute, and the full extent of the fatalities is not yet known. Not since 1876 has a storm of such fearful violence visited these islands. The War Department took prompt measures of relief in the matter of food for the stricken inhabitants of Porto Rico.

The track of. the hurricane lay a little farther north than that of the storm which damaged Barbadoes and Martinique last year. Martinique seems to have escaped entirely, but Dominica and Guadaloupe, a little farther north, suffered severely. From these islands westward and slightly northward the hurricane swept with terrific force. The small British Islands of Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christopher’s, and Antigua report a total of ninety-six fatalities, of which over three-fourths were in Montserrat. Guadaloupe lost over a hundred by death in the storm. Coming up toward Porto Rico the wind destroyed most of the houses and churches in the Danish Islands of St. Croix and. St. Thomas, with thirty deaths reported from St. Croix. It is practically certain that when the smaller and less accessible islands in this Leeward group are heard from the total death list will be greatly increased. The storm struck Porto Rico squarely on the southeast coast, doing its worst at Humacao and at Ponce, though at San Juan, on the north, much property was destroyed and several deaths resulted. The city and the port of Ponce are reported as total wrecks, with a loss of life estimated in the hundreds, and a damage of half a million to property. The fatalities here seem to have been > caused chiefly by drowning in the river flood that accompanied the storm. As all interior communications have been cut off it is impossible to tell how much more damage has been done throughout the thickly populated eastern end of Porto Rico. After wrecking the southern coast of this island the hurricane continued its westward and slightly northward course, devastating the northern coast of San Domingo and finally passing out upon the Atlantic with modified force at Cape Haytien. Along the whole track of the storm there now exists much suffering and starvation. A large amount of local shipping has been swept upon the shore and totally destroyed. When one remembers that only a trifle over a year ago Gen. Miles and his expedition were entering Ponce the thought gives cause for thankfulness that those crowded transports were not caught in such a storm.

The terrific nature of the West Indian hurricane has been famous for centuries. This is one of the things we have annexed in Porto Rico, and one of the things we cannot reform. But the signal service can be extended and madff so efficacious in the Caribbean that the whole region will be thoroughly prepared for every such storm, so far as preparation is possible. The weather bureau does not appear to have done much in the present case. The Government should take steps to equip the West India weather service as completely as possible for this work. These hurricanes can be predicted many hours as is done at the Manila observatory, and their direction can be determined at the start. Though the whirling motion of the air is incredibly swift, the progressive advance of the storm is comparatively slow, and with improved cable communication between the islands tbe whole archipelago can easily be warned of what to expect. The only other palliative that the American regime can offer to Porto Rico regarding this scourge is by extending aid and succor to the homeless victims. Gen. Davis, commanding in Porto Rico, telegraphed asking for food, clothing and money to help the unfortunate inhabitants get on their feet again, and the President indorsed the appeal. In accordance therewith the Secretary of War sent out an appeal to the Mayors of cities for help for the destitute. The Secretary also took steps for immediate relief by- ordering the distribution of rations to the sufferers by tbe army in Porto Rico. The Secretary instructed the commissary department to load the transport McPherson at New York with 600,000 pounds each of rice and beans and have it proceed to Porto Rico at once.