5th September.
have not, so far, seen any detailed report of the typhoon which has just visited us, and cannot therefore enter upon a scientific comparison between it and the storms which have preceded it, but judging entirely from personal recollection and the opinions of friends we think we shall not be far out when we say that though an old resident might easily recall typhoons of the past whicl were more violent atmospherically, he could not remember any instance in which the water rose higher if so high. Three natural causes combined to bring about this result: first, the exceptionally high tide due to the moon being in perigee, ie, at its nearest to the earth, during which time of course its attractive power is ab its highest. Secondly, the backing up of the water in the river through the action of the gale; and thirdly, the accidental circumstance that there was an unusually large quantity of storm water trying to find its way to sea vid the creeks and the river, Rarely indeed does it happen, or is ib likely to happen that such a combination occurs. Yet there are some simple precautions which are worth tuking in view even of so uncommon a contingency, and much more worth noting when, as fre-doing similar damage to that we uently happens, we have storms
have now to deplore, though in less degree.
We take it that there are three main points in which a typhoon does damage ashore in Shanghai, We are not now considering matters afloat. They are damage to communications, to property, and to trees, We will take them seriatim, The damage to communications resolves itself mainly into broken telegraph and telephone wires, and the question is who' ler or no it is worth while to set about a gradual change by which our wires shall all be underground and therefore uninfluenced by typhoons, blow they never 0 fiercely. Ib is a long time since the Council gave strict orders to the then Electric Light Company to have all their cables Jemurred, Procrastinated,—shillylaced underground. The Company shallled, and in the meantime the Ratepayers bought the works, and no more was heard of the wires going under! We are well aware that there is considerable expense to be faced before this could be done, that there are special difficulties in the way, and thab directors will not sob about it till pressure is brought to bear, The question is whether the time has come for this to be done, or whether business men are satisfied to be at the mercy of a storm of wind or a fall of snow, As the Settlement grows and its business! increases it seems to us likely that public opinion will insist on a telephonic and telegraphic service which is as safe fron: interruption as foresight and science can make it, That is not the case at present, With regard to the damage to property there is no effective precaution possible except the raising either of land or buildings or both. Evidently at least a foot more in height will be required to make the lower floors of our lower Settlement sections safe from flood water. The raising of the land might be a costly undertaking, and the raising of buildings equally expensive, but it may be ible to raise floors even in existing buildings, and this may be worth while. It will certainly be worth while for our house-owners, architects, and builders to remember in all new construction what it is possible for a combination of moon, wind, and rain to do.
Lastly, with respect to the trees, there was an object lesson which nobody could have misunderstood. There were trees which stood and trees which fell. Why some failed while others were firm is the lesson to learnt by all who have trees their own or the care of trees for the public. We do not pretend to be able to Lay down the law on this matter, and shall confine ourselves to what our own eyes saw, And in the first place we were very sorry to see that our handsome quick-growing planes had suffered more than any other particular kind. Yet we noted that where their heads had been trimmed down yearly as in the Chinese Public Garden, there, though exposed more than anywhere else, they had stood the test, Along the Bubbling Well Road, and in certain parts of Hongkew they had suffered severely; a.glance through the gateways at the Public School showing that almost every one of this special kind had been prostrate 1. All these were untrimmed.
Now it is evident that to spend public money on trees which cannot bear an ordinary typhoon is mere waste. A few walks into the country will soon teach a newcomer which of the native trees can, and which cannot, be trusted to outlive the ordinary storms of life. We have within our mind's eye some dozen o1 more within an hour's radius of the Town Hall which must have seen many typhoons and yet are as strong, healthy, and vigorous as iff they had been subjected to no trials whatever, Most of them are of the Ginko or Salisburia type. We have several specimens o the Bund, and we can almost defy anybody to bring one single instance of failure against any of them. They are excellent shade-giving trees; their leaves are entirely out of the common, and, historically, they are possibly the most interesting of all plants, seeing that their life-history dates back to, if not beyond, the period of the coalmeastires. Why should not more of these be got? Then there is the handsome big tree in the Nursery Garden. Why not multiply so evidently suitable a kind instead of remaining satisfied with a single specimen? There is now a chance. We hope to see it taken,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.