nineteen miles. Another August tornado swept almost forty miles through the Jura Mountains in France and Switzerland in 1890 before running out of steam.
England experienced her highest ever rainfall in August, when more than nine inches of water fell on the town of Cannington in 1924. Seville, Spain reached her highest ever temperature on August 4, 1881: a shockingly uncomfortable 50° Celcius, or 122° Fahrenheit.
For the Banks fishermen of Newfoundland, late summer also brought the threat of August Gales. They said little, but every fishermen feared them. These gales were always in the backs of their minds as they walked to their schooners, sailed to the Banks, and went into their dories to haul trawls. When they were out there, whether it was drizzly, foggy, or even sunny, they kept their eyes on the sky and the horizon, ready for a sign, any sign at all of hurricane-fed winds.
Some of them had their worst fears realized on August 25, 1927.
Chapter Twenty
R ichard was still fishing with the Mannings out of Oderin when they bought the schooner Tancook in 1924. Captain Paddy had retired, and John Manning was now skippering their vessels. The Tancook was modelled after the famous Nova Scotia schooner, the Bluenose , and was built by the same people. Most schooners were made with âgreen wood,â but the Tancook and the Bluenose were constructed with steamed timber. Although the Tancook would end up as a Banks fishing vessel, she was originally destined for a New York millionaire. Eventually she was sold to Jack Cheeseman in Fortune Bay, and then to the Mannings of Oderin.
The Mannings had done well in the years after World War I. The price of fish was good, and theyâd enjoyed healthy catches. They sold their fish to and did business with Bairds of St. Johnâs.
The Tancook was forty tons and carried five dories. It was Richardâs favourite ship on which to sail, perhaps because of her beauty, perhaps because of the closeness he felt to his in-laws, the Mannings, who made up much of its crew.
As Richard baited his hooks with squid on August 20, 1927, he looked up from his work, noted the balminess of the day, then carried on.
*
In tropical Africa, a sea storm was developing. On August 21, fierce winds swept across the Atlantic, over to the Caribbean. Then they passed northeast of Puerto Rico, turning to the northwest, howling all the way. Over the next couple of days the gale snaked and screamed its way along the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Lacking ship-to-shore communication of any kind, the crew of the Tancook knew nothing of this. There seemed to be nothing untoward in the atmosphere, as is the case with most hurricanes. They kept baiting hooks, setting trawls, hauling them, unhooking fish, pitching them on deck, then counting, washing, gutting, and dressing them. They did all this like clockwork. Then when the Tancook was loaded down, theyâd start the long trip back to Oderin. August was almost over. Captain John Manning was glad of it; he had his fatherâs morbid fear of August and her gales.
Before dawn on August 24, the winds swept just east of Cape Hatteras in the United States. Then the storm passed by Cape Cod in Massachusetts. By now it was trapped in prevailing westerlies, typical of gales and hurricanes. It kept heading north, through New England and past the coast of Maine. Thus far it had caused minimal damage. Then it went through mainland Nova Scotia. It destroyed orchards, fruit, vegetable, and hay crops in the Annapolis Valley to the tune of one million dollars in losses. More than 250,000 barrels of apples were written off. The gale brought torrential rain around mid-morning on the twenty-fourth which lasted until mid-afternoon. One estimate was that more than four inches fell in this time. Roads were washed out and railway journeys made impossible. From the first night of the storm until one oâclock the next afternoon, only one wire between
England experienced her highest ever rainfall in August, when more than nine inches of water fell on the town of Cannington in 1924. Seville, Spain reached her highest ever temperature on August 4, 1881: a shockingly uncomfortable 50° Celcius, or 122° Fahrenheit.
For the Banks fishermen of Newfoundland, late summer also brought the threat of August Gales. They said little, but every fishermen feared them. These gales were always in the backs of their minds as they walked to their schooners, sailed to the Banks, and went into their dories to haul trawls. When they were out there, whether it was drizzly, foggy, or even sunny, they kept their eyes on the sky and the horizon, ready for a sign, any sign at all of hurricane-fed winds.
Some of them had their worst fears realized on August 25, 1927.
Chapter Twenty
R ichard was still fishing with the Mannings out of Oderin when they bought the schooner Tancook in 1924. Captain Paddy had retired, and John Manning was now skippering their vessels. The Tancook was modelled after the famous Nova Scotia schooner, the Bluenose , and was built by the same people. Most schooners were made with âgreen wood,â but the Tancook and the Bluenose were constructed with steamed timber. Although the Tancook would end up as a Banks fishing vessel, she was originally destined for a New York millionaire. Eventually she was sold to Jack Cheeseman in Fortune Bay, and then to the Mannings of Oderin.
The Mannings had done well in the years after World War I. The price of fish was good, and theyâd enjoyed healthy catches. They sold their fish to and did business with Bairds of St. Johnâs.
The Tancook was forty tons and carried five dories. It was Richardâs favourite ship on which to sail, perhaps because of her beauty, perhaps because of the closeness he felt to his in-laws, the Mannings, who made up much of its crew.
As Richard baited his hooks with squid on August 20, 1927, he looked up from his work, noted the balminess of the day, then carried on.
*
In tropical Africa, a sea storm was developing. On August 21, fierce winds swept across the Atlantic, over to the Caribbean. Then they passed northeast of Puerto Rico, turning to the northwest, howling all the way. Over the next couple of days the gale snaked and screamed its way along the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Lacking ship-to-shore communication of any kind, the crew of the Tancook knew nothing of this. There seemed to be nothing untoward in the atmosphere, as is the case with most hurricanes. They kept baiting hooks, setting trawls, hauling them, unhooking fish, pitching them on deck, then counting, washing, gutting, and dressing them. They did all this like clockwork. Then when the Tancook was loaded down, theyâd start the long trip back to Oderin. August was almost over. Captain John Manning was glad of it; he had his fatherâs morbid fear of August and her gales.
Before dawn on August 24, the winds swept just east of Cape Hatteras in the United States. Then the storm passed by Cape Cod in Massachusetts. By now it was trapped in prevailing westerlies, typical of gales and hurricanes. It kept heading north, through New England and past the coast of Maine. Thus far it had caused minimal damage. Then it went through mainland Nova Scotia. It destroyed orchards, fruit, vegetable, and hay crops in the Annapolis Valley to the tune of one million dollars in losses. More than 250,000 barrels of apples were written off. The gale brought torrential rain around mid-morning on the twenty-fourth which lasted until mid-afternoon. One estimate was that more than four inches fell in this time. Roads were washed out and railway journeys made impossible. From the first night of the storm until one oâclock the next afternoon, only one wire between
Similar Books
