THE ENTRANCE, MT. EDGCUMBE PARK.
"On the hill overlooking the ruins of the old castle, all but one of the umbrella pines, so well known to all visitors to the park, are rooted up, and scattered. In the laurel walk, dozens of fine trees are down, quite obstructing the pathway, but the saddest scene of all in this portion of the park is the fall of a fine silver beech, which stood just at the end of the walk. Strange to say, this tree has fallen in the opposite direction to every tree in the park, as if its sole purpose had been to crush a beautiful camellia tree that stood exactly opposite, and that has yearly yielded a thousand blooms. Close by is still standing a fir, the tallest tree in all the park, looking as though, through all the stormy night and day, it had reared its proud head in defiance of the tempest.
"The greatest havoc of all is in that part of the park known as Beechwood, situated on a slope facing almost due east. This slope was exposed to the full fury of the gale, and quite four hundred trees were blown down. Our illustration, from a photo by Mr. Heath, pourtrays some of this fallen grandeur. A gardener, who lives in Beechwood Cottage, far more familiarly known as Lady Emma's Cottage, relates, that on Monday night, when the storm was at its height, which was between half-past seven and eight o'clock, he with his wife and young family were in the house in an awful state of suspense and apprehension. Momentarily they were dreading that a fallen tree would crush in their cottage, and yet they dared not venture out among the crashing timber, nor face the blast that would in all probability have blown them over the cliff into the sea. Their terror can be well understood when it is stated that from time to time the branches of falling trees actually brushed the walls of the cottage. As if by a merciful dispensation of Providence, a huge beech, standing almost due east to the house, remained standing, while other trees, less exposed, were blown down. If the beech had fallen, the fate of the cottage with its inmates must have been quickly determined.
BEECHWOOD, MT. EDGCUMBE PARK.