Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-02-21

# ~.
/ the Central Railroad, had been demOl-
I ished. with a number Of surrounding
/ villages. and that several lives had
been lost About the same time
I Superintendent Rogers received infOr-
nation that the train from
/ Augusta to Savannah had been blocked
T al AicBean's station, thirty-tnree miles
above Millen on the Augusta Division,
and left with a force Of men on the 10
I O'Clock a. IN. train.
W. W. Gordon & Co.. owners Of extern
/ siye property at DayisbOrO, also received
+ adyices Of the disaster there, and in the
( absence Of Capt. Gordon at Washington
Mr.. +. ID. BlOOdwOrth left on the same
rain with superintendent Rogers.
/ DESTRUCTION OF THE WIRES.
/ The destruction Of the wires rendered
/ the news Of the disaster difficult to obtain,
and up to two O'Clock very little relia-
Jle information could be had. Later
i'm the afternoon some Of the wires Of the
. Western Union Company were repaired,
/ and through communication tOAtlantaand
Macon. and points in the West and North
was obtained. The extent Of damage 10
I the cOmpany's property cannot
vet be estimated. About seven
+ miles Of wire between Savannah
and Augusta are down, but in other d.
rectiOns the amount Of destruction can
not be ascertained.
AT THE WESTERN UNION OFFICE.
The delay in business caused an accu-
mutation Of messages and the hooks and
/ files on the operators tables in the office
{ last night piled with kilograms, recalled
I the days Of the strike.
\ MORNING NEWS reporter found Man
/ ager Dillon seated on table overlooking
the Office and attending TO the transac-
+ ton Of its business.
EsN u
I eleven years 1 have been in
I this Office" he said, Il have never
/ seen such a time as this, and that was
Z during the great storm Of August. ISL
I st looks something like the strike"
The difference between the difficulties
/ Of the strike and now is that during the
/ strike we had plenty Of wires and no Ope-
+ ratOrs. and now we have plenty Of opera
I tors and no wires"
I Most Of the business. however, was
worked of during the night. The wires
to leading points We're in operation and
+ there viii probably be little delay to-day.
+ THE SOUTHERN TELEGRAPH COMPANY.
i The wires of the Southern Telegraph
Company were demolished west Of the
CITY. and communication was entirely cut
/ of. No messages were received during the
/ day. Manager Gustiu left last night on
+ the 1870 Central train to secure the re-
pairs Of the lines to Augusta.
I A sAYANNAHIAN AMONG THE KILLED.
The Atlanta express, which passed
I DavisbOrO at 10 o'clock yesterday
morning, pulled into the Central Railroad
/ car-shed at 1925 p. IN. The news had been
I telegraphed ahead that the remains Of
] William ii. Nereen, young man former
I ~ Of this city, who was one of the
victims of the disaster, would be brought
/ TO Savannah. and as the train came 10 a
Afsf~ f.rarr
+ gage car, and, accompanied by the wife
| and mother, was removed TO the
! Weter mansion, corner Of South and West
/ Broad streets, where the funeral Will be
! held to-day.
The mother Of the young mans wife
/ stated to a MORNING NEWS reporter that
/ he was standing in front of the house in
I which he lived, near the railroad
/ track, when falling tree
/ struck the building, crushing in
the roof and walls. 4 timber from the
/ house fell upon him, striking him
| in the breast and across the head,
inflicting injuries from which he
/ died in about half an hour. The deceased
/ was brother Of Thomas +. Vereen, an
/ employe OF the Central Railroad in this
/ city. He was formerly a conductor on
\ the Central, but for the past two years had
/ been in the employ of Wadley Il Bro. in
| their wood yards at DayisbOrO.
WHAT A CONDUCTOR SAW.
Conductor GrOvenstein stepped from
his train as soon as it came to a stop, and
was approached by a NEWS reporter
with an inquiry for news Of the storm.
1--WE passed DavisbOrO at 10 o'clock
said the Conductor, land what there was
of the place was lying in ruins. The
railroad warehouse, a substantial stcuc-
ture by the side Of the track, was nothing
but pile of bricks. Ten or twelve houses
and stores were demolished, and the place
looked as though it had been bOmbarded.
The place contains a number OF build
ings, but only those near the road were
demolished. Around and along the track
the devastation was complete. Trees
were snapped off above the ground and
torn up by their roots. Boards and rails
and bricks-the debris of the ruins-was
piled up or scattered about where il was
left when the wind subsidized, and every
thing told the story Of destruction"
The train left Atlanta at O'Clock, and
at that time the storm had fully subsidized.
None Of its results were visible until
DavisborO was reached. A short stop
was made there, and the train was held
but a few minutes. The excitement of
the passengers on board to catch a glimpse
Of the place was the cause of a few min
utes' loss of time, which was made up
before the next station was reached.
At McBean's Station on the Augusta
Division the wOOdsheds and agents
house were blown across the road, block
ing the track and delaying the down train
several hours. The distractions were re-
moved in time for the train 10 reach Mil
len and transfer the Savannah through
car, which is regularly attached to the
Atlanta express.
The track Of the storm was not
visible to any extent below
Dayisboro until Brewer was reached,
thirty-fve miles from Savannah, where
. house belonging to Nj. 4. Powers a
weIl-knOwn lumbeTman Of that place, was
blown down and totally demolished.
Az ENGINEERS STORY.
Section 4 Of the down day freight train
from Macon arrived in savannah at 10
o'clock last night. Engineer William 4.
McGloiD said to NEWS reporter: 8 We
were at DavisbOrO about l:35 O'Clock this
afternoon. and remained there about ten
minutes. and / would not have believed
that a storm could do so much damage
and vet act so strangely, judging from
what / saw"
1.Did YOU see any trace of the storm
elsewhere on the rOad?
ssNO: il seems TO have made dip at
Davisboro and where it struck the earth
it swept everything before it. The
storms track there seems to nave been
about a quarter OF mile IN length, per-
hans little more. and about one hum
dred feet in width 1t crossed
the railroad at right angles from
the south or Ogeechee side, first
striking a cotton gin south of the track and
partially wrecking it, when it took up the
main street of the town. Where that
street crosses the railroad the company
had a handsome brick warehouse, one
story in height and measuring about 100
by 60 feet. In this warehouse was guam
fitv of guano. The building was completely |
leyeled to the ground, and the mortar
and bricks mixed with the guano. After |
crossing the railroad it took uD large |
tro. Inv fhe roots and threw it on a small |
store. The building was not blown down,
but its roof was crushed in"
Chow many buildings were there IN the
ssAbout fifteen or twenty, as near as
can judge" -,
.sHow many do you think were demol-
ishedr'