Destructive hurricanes have visited Charleston on the fol- 

 lowing dates since 1850: Sept. 9, 1854; Aug. 27, 1881; Aug. 25, 

 1885; Aug. 27, 1893; Aug. 27, 1911. The 27th of August is evi- 

 dently an evil day. The hurricane of 1911 seems to be typical, 

 and though a general description is not within the scope of this 

 article, some features of special interest are given below. 



Wind Velocity 



An interesting comparison is afforded by the meteorological 

 instruments at the Museum on the western side of the city, and 

 those at the Weather Bureau station at the Custom House on the 

 eastern water front. When the wind is east a considerably higher 

 velocity is recorded at the Custom House than at the Museum, 

 while the reverse is the case with a west wind. This is due to 

 friction with houses and trees and eddies in streets and gardens. 

 The broad river and marshes on each side of the city always ex- 

 pose one of these stations to the full force of the wind. In the 

 hurricane this year the wind was east and the velocity recorded 

 at the Weather Bureau was about twenty-eight miles greater 

 than that at the Museum at 11.28 p. m. when the Weather Bu- 

 reau anemometer ceased to work accurately. The Museum re- 

 corded a maximum velocity of seventy-eight miles an hour at 

 midnight and if the same difference held the velocity at the Cus- 

 tom House would have been one hundred and six miles an hour. 

 This is, of course, uncertain but we are glad that the Museuin 

 instruments could help to fill the gap in the official records. 



Tide 



The height of the tide, as determined by the United States 

 Engineer's office was sUghtly lower than in the hurricane of 1893, 

 except in the vicinity of the Battery at the southern extremity of 

 the city, where it was somewhat higher than in 1893. This is 

 attributed to the widening of the water front by the recent west- 

 ern extension of the Battery. This seems reasonable when it is 

 remembered that Charleston, like New York, lies between two 



43 



