The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-07-13

trade unmolested. Thus the night wort
on, until the comet passed below Tic
horizon, and the paler light Of dawn be
gan 10 manifest Itself. Many weafied
men and women had dropped astecp, and
thousands ofyoung children were swee,ly
sleeping In the arms Of their anxious par.
ents Suddenly the City Hall clock
struck six, and a murmur from the lips
Of the watchers announced that the crisis
Of their fate was at hand. The clock
however, was wrong, and not until five
minutes afterwards did Trinity and IL
sister clocks strike the fatal hour. For O
moment the most oppressive silence
weighed upon the city. Then The shrek
d o hysteflcal woman, who could noiong,
er.bear the strain to whichshe had been
subjected, or the wild prayer OF an excited
fanatic, broke the silence. Suddenly, al
precisely four minutes after six, a hardly
perceptible Earring oithe ground was felt
as though q heavy piece oil artillery had
passed along the street. The comet had
struck US and we were still unhurt.
The tumult that ensued was indescrib,
able, The vast crowds atonce separated
People broke into unmeaning laughter
and frantlcally clasped hands with perfect
strangers. Aboy detected In stealing q
handkerchief was seized upon and club.
bed with joyous enthusiasm by o police.
man who q moment before had been up.
on his knees. A general rush into the
hotels and eating houses for breakfast
took place, and In half an hour the city
resumed It's accustomed appearance.
The morning papers appeared three
hours later than usual, the presses having
been kept waiting until alter the collision.
They contained no news from Europe,
later than midnight, and consequently we
were left 10 imagine the possible result OF
the Shock on the other hemisphere.
About nine o'clock the water about the
docks began 10 fall, and as the ebb rapidly
continued 1t was evident that the sea was
recedlng. A tremendous current toward
the Narrows and tho sea swept with its
hundreds ofsmall cralt, and in half an hour
New York Bay, the harbor which had
made this city the commercial center Of
the new world, had vanished misplace
there stretched u vast mud fiat dotted
with stranded vessels, and forgotten
wrecks. The East River totally 9isap.
peared, leaving ouly q few pools OF water
in the midst OF It's channel, while the
North River wandered sluggishly through
the dreary waste Of mud where wasonce
the outer bay, and reached the sea some
three miles beyond Sandy Hook. The
vessels at the docks lay toppled over and
against one another, hopelessly stranded,
and fit for nothing but to be broken up.
New York was no longer maritime city,
but had suddenly become almost as much
an inland town as Philadelphia or POUCH.
keepsie. 1t was at first feared that this
subsistence of the sea was only prclimi.
nary to its return in irresistible force, to
sweep away the last yestisge Of the city.
a new excitement thus sprung up, and
there was frenzied rush for tho rail.
ways on the part OF panic.strlcken people
who sought TO fly to the mountains be-
You'd the reach of the coming flood.
The day wore on, however, and the sea
showed no symptoms of returning-the
sceptre of maratime New York had pass.
ed away forever.
An hour after the SEQ began to fall q
strong wind sprung up, which soon in
creased to a hurricane, and blew with
tremendous force until three o'clock in
the afternoon, when it gradually died
away to be succeeded by another hurri.
cane of almost equal violence from the
east Meanwhile from every part Of the
coast, from Canada to Mexico, and from
Portland to San Francisco, came thesame
telegraph story Of the withdrawal of the
sea. 1t was now plain that some terrible
catastrophe had followed the collision,
and the news from Europe was looked for
with painful anxiety. aaA "
The Atlantic cable, however, remained
dumb. Toward evening a dense mist
came up from the west which spread rap.
idly inland, and at night completely Oh.
scured tho heavens. In the morning there
was no change, except that the wind had
died away. The fog continued, and no
vessels dared attempt to navigate the new
channel to the sea under such disadyan-
tages. No word came over the cable, and
the operator at Hearts Content announc.
ed that both cables were evidently broken.
Various conjectures were made as to the
nature Of the injury inflicted by the com.
ct and the opinion Of leading scientific
man that the comet had fallen into the
Atlantic and by its-intense, heat evapora.
ted an enormous quantity Of water, was
generally accepted as at least eminently
probable.
The fog continued for three weeks, and
followed by uninterrupted rains for q
week longer. During that time the
White Star line sent out their small stea-
mer "Corsicat" -the larger steamers hay
ing no chance Of clearing the shadows in
the river near Sandy Hook, The Cor
sica" cleared for Liverpool in ballast and
with no passengers except three enter.
prlsing reporters, who were determined
to ascertain the nature OF the great ca.
lamity. No arrivals from Europe hud
taken place at any Atlantic port since
the collision, except q single steamer,
which reached here on the morning Of
the 10th Of August, just Before. the. sea
began to recede. The return Of the
GCOrisca" was looked for with intense
anxiety, especially on the part OF those
who had friends aboard. It was thought
she could make the voyage out and back
in fifteen days, but we were to hear from
her before that time had expired. On the
tenth day after her departure, theme
was autographed that she had arrived Of
San Francisco. 81 t3gfss rs Il
at first this announcement was receiv-
cd with utter incredulty, but dispatches
from the captain and the reporters soon
placed the fact beyond doubt. She had
steered the usual course for Liverpool
after leaving New York, but the fog,
which prevailed during the entire voyage,
rendered 1t impossible for the officers TO
obtain an observation to determine her
latitude accurately. Land was sighted on
the tenth day, and as it was believed to
be the highlands Of the west coast Of Ire
land. tho ship was headed 10 the south.
ward in order to round Cane Clear. Tho