ten o'clock
About daylight the next morning , the first actual warning of the hurricane , aside from the notice sent out by the Weather Bureau , began to show itself in short gusty puffs . The barometer fell low , finally touching 28 ° , lower than Eric had ever seen before . The sky clouded gradually , and by breakfast time , the wind was freshening from the southeast . By ten o'clock , the wind had risen to half a gale , and before noon it was blowing not less than forty to fifty miles an hour . The _ Miami _ made good weather , but in the afternoon the hurricane reached such a pitch of violence that it was decided to run before the storm and try for the lee of Cape Fear , possibly finding a safe anchorage in Masonboro Inlet . As evening drew on the seas became appalling . The _ Miami _ pitched her nose down in the water , shipping it green with almost every dive , while her propeller raced ten feet clear of water ; next instant her stern would settle as though she would never rise , while the bow climbed up and up as the trough rolled underneath her .