Ruby M. Cusack

When Gramp carried the wood into the kitchen, Gram remarked,” The upturned leaves on the poplar tree and blackbirds huddled on the hydro wire plus dark rolling clouds are signals that a wind storm is brewing. I think you had better brace the big barn door.”

He replied, “Are you related to Lieutenant Saxby?”

I must have looked puzzled, as she explained to me, “In 1869 Lieutenant Saxby had written a letter to the London Times warning  that on October 05,  the position of the moon  in relation to other heavenly bodies, would cause a gale of immense and devastating force.” The storm did come and was known as the Saxby Gale. The Atlantic Provinces certainly felt its wrath.

According to Eric Allaby, the author of “The August Gale”, another very destructive storm hit the Atlantic Provinces on 24 August 1873 and possibly one thousand Nova Scotians lost their lives mid the wreckage of their wooden vessels, as it was especially severe in Cape Breton and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  In his publication he gives information on more than three hundred vessels that were lost in this storm.
 The schooner “Alice” sailed from Ten Mile Creek, August 23, for Saint John, was stranded near Digby, lost masts and sails and sustained $2000 damage.

 The “Assam Valley” of Saint John was abandoned at sea. Two persons were lost. She was owned by S. Bond & Co. of Saint John and was built in 1854.

 Schooner “Ferguson” of Miramichi was driven ashore at Pictou.

 The schooner “Good Intent” of Arichat was probably fishing near the Magdalens. Five bodies were taken from her hold.

 The brig “John Richard” broke from her moorings at Richibucto.

 The schooner “Rambler” was cruising off Miramichi and never heard of again.

 The schooner “Vernon” of Saint John was sailing from Boston for Sydney and all six crew were supposed to have been lost.

 The “Rebecca Ann” of Sydney had brought a cargo of Coal for T. W. Binney, of Moncton, to Point du Chene and left there with boards and planks for Sydney. She was driven ashore at Cape Bald, New Brunswick and the crew were able to jump to the sand and make shore.

“The August Gale “ - A List of Atlantic Shipping Losses in the Gale of August 24, 1873 was authored in 1973 on the hundredth anniversary of the gale by Eric Allaby and is available for viewing in several Research Institutions in New Brunswick.