A TORNADO AT BOWEN, QUEENSLAND.

Evening Star, Issue 4086, 31 March 1876, Page 3

A TORNADO AT BOWEN, QUEENSLAND.

extraoriAnary Occurrence. ; The ‘ Port Denison Times ’ has the following^particulars respecting the tornado that .. passed over xiowen on the 16th of February, ‘ and of which we have had telegraphic intel- :: ligOnceThe night of the 16th February will be long remembered by.thosc resident in Bowen at the time. Little did they think Oft-rising on that morning to begin-their daily Jabor that ere.midnight ruin and desolation would be in their midst; but alas'! so - ■ xt was, apjjLbefore ten o!clock at night many a house was laid low. The day passed:on, . and most, people had etoed to their, homes, little ’anticipating few hours many of them would hi ; tree - shattered, and jW l * destroyed. Shortly after 9 9 s9s dull rumbling was which, wim.thought atlrstby these 1 ■' been, dislant thiiufj er, -? Ve beating S*w Bhor !-' thenorth, and gathering strength as it swept on, the‘tor-

nado rushed with irresistible force through the town, levelling to the ground everything it came in contact with. It swept on its course like a tidal wave of gigantic size rather than impalpable air, and every obstacle went down before it. The gust, in addition to its terrible sound, was accompanied by, as some people assert, balls of fire; and Mr Marlow assures us that a thunderbolt Went through the wall of his house, leaving a round, welldefined hole. It was all over in a few ' seconds, but in that incredibly short time property to the value of many hundreds of pounds was destroyed. We ; may mention, as showing the inconceivi able force of the wind, that the roof of Mr Silber’s house—not merely a sheet of iron —was carried across the water and landed on the Newstead side of the bay. The removal of Captain Bristowe’s house, with its inmates, without dislodging an article of furniture—the lamp even remaining lighted, all the time - may be mentioned as another marvel. Trees were most carefully barked,, but not blown down. A man was carried on. a stretcher across the street from Wagner’s' without feeling any motion., The wind, having done "what mischief it could on> shore, crossed the bay, and ploughed its : way through the scrub to the open sea,; where it is to. be hoped it . met with no; unfortunate mariners. We cannot con-’ ceive a vessel living through that terribly; sudden onslaught, A gentleman residing at 5 Bowen writes to a;friend.:— ar- ! rived ; here during, a hijayy north-west .squall, raining as it only can in this'latitude, and being as dark as Erebus. Wb .had, just finished .tea (half-past 9 when.it fell a fiat' calm, still raining. SufU dehly we hpard a ; tremendous roaring. Mr ..the, owner ‘ .of ‘ the ; and ah old friend of mine,' jvas outside, and he suddenly yelled out',' *A Cyclone.; As is the custom here in such cases, all hands rushed for the beach—about 159 yards away—in; order to. .squat under the false beach. - But before we got half-way the wind was upon us. It was truly terrific—rain, timber, iron roofs, and a dull glare, ,hghtning;in.round balls, aU in a mass together. It all occupied about three minutes from the time it commenced until the end—l mean from the time we beard ,-the : first ~ roaring.. The. roaring of ithe thunderandwind was tremendous. After pll, <it only. .a whirlydnd, about’ a .quarter of a mfle in dimeter;! I don’t know •bow : four,teen people, tygetkeriis we ,escaped the tinibef,. etG. ;Ytons of it ; nmst have passed over, as the ground was ploughed ,up ; "in the track of the. squall as if grape and canister *had been fired. itfot ; a house in the . direct track had ope board left upon another. One of my; down, was cut to pieces with iron, and died next morning, .. People were buried in the ruins of different bouses, but no oqe’ has died -asiyet. _• All,the bouses are wooden. A large house,-with ’fourteen rooms, not in ; the. direct: line,- was carried- twenty yards, being lifted off, the piles and .plumped, down, proper position. A . horse undatable are nnssing altogether. . The doors of the stable, were picked, up. floating in .the bay,, but nothing else, so it ; is supposed that the rest, was blown bodily, out to sea.”