44 - USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
house unroofed. In the harbor of San Luis de Apra the U. S. S. 
Brutus was torn from her anchorage and blown upon the reef, with- 
out, however, suffering serious injury. 
On the 13th of November following oceurred the hurricane which 
caused the loss of the U.S. S. Yosemite, which was lying at anchor 
in the harbor. This vessel was swept from her moorings and carried 
out to sea, where she foundered. Five of her crew were lost. The 
sea overflowed the lowlands and flooded the streets of Agana. Crops 
of all kinds were destroyed and most of the vegetation was stripped 
bare of foliage. Government buildings were injured and many native 
houses destroyed. Of the 255 deaths which occurred on the island 
during the year 1900, 34 were caused by the hurricane. This destruc- 
tion was followed, as is ‘always the case, by a dearth of food. It 
caused our Government to expend nearly $10,000 for the relief of the 
natives, who received the proffered aid with expressions of deep grat- 
itude.*. Among the most serious results of hurricanes of this nature 
is the stripping of coconut trees of their leaves. The inflorescence is 
formed in the axils of the older leaves and if these are injured the 
flower buds shrivel up and the tree fails to produce. During the year 
which followed the hurricane not one ounce of copra, which is prac- 
tically the only export of the island, was produced in Guam. Coffee 
and other shrubs and trees soon recover from the effects of a storm, 
and maize, tobacco, and rice may be replanted. Cacao, however, is 
often killed outright, and several years are necessary for new plants 
to begin to bear. 
The records for 1902 show that hurricanes passed near the island of 
Guam in May, July, September, and October. In examining the 
Philippine weather records Doctor Abbe was able to identify the 
stormy periods of Guam as days when typhoons must have passed 
close to the island. Many of the typhoons which sweep the Philip- 
pines apparently have their origin in the vicinity of the Marianne 
Islands. Doctor Abbe has suggested in his report that a station be 
established on the island of Guam for meteorological observations, to 
be connected by telegraph with Manila. This could not fail to be of 
great benefit to vessels about to put to sea, giving warning of approach- 
ing blows and indicating what kind of weather is to be expected. 
HY DROGRAPHY. 
CONTOUR OF THE OCEAN’S BoTTOM.—In taking soundings with a view 
to selecting a cable route across the Pacific the U. S. 8. Vero found the 
ocean bed between Midway Island and Guam to he a great plain from 
3,100 to 3,200 fathoms deep, somewhat broken in places by submarine 
reefs and mountain ranges. The first thousand miles from Midway, 
» 
“Annual Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1901, pp. 75-76. 
