The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-27
The Beautiful City Literally Laid Waste by
q Gale Moving at the Tremendous
Speed of Eighty Miles an Hour.
Ground Floors of Elegant Dwellings
Covered by Six Feet of Sea Water.
Enormous Damage Along the Water Front
Vessels Blown from the Water to Dry
Land-Loss More than $1,OO0,OOO.
AUGUSTUS VERSION.
Damage Along the Water Front-The Ire
mendUus Force of the Wind.

Damage Along the Water Front-The Tre-
mendOus Force of the Wind.
AUGUSTA, Ga, Aug. 26.-Yesterday's storm
in Charleston was a cyclone in the proper sense
of the term. The wind was blowing twenty five
miles an hour at 1:30 in the morning, increasing
to thirty'fve, forty and fifty, which was reached
at 8 o'clock in the morning. the gale finally
running up to seventy-fve or eighty miles an
hour. The northern edge of the cyclone touched
Charleston and completed its passage il forty
minutes. The streets of Charleston were not
more desoate at the end of two hours than
after the bombardment during the war. The
storm commenced properly at daylight, from the
southeast, with frequent gusts. AS early as 6
o'clock the roof of st. Michaeps Church
stripped At 7 A. Nj. the apparatus
in the roof of the signal office, the flagstaff
and weather vane, were demolished. The las
observation before the climax of the destruction
recorded the wind at sixty eight miles an hour.
The climax of the cyclone was at 8 clock.
Only single shed is standing at the wharf.
Everything is in ruins at the warehouses. At
y o'clock there was sudden lul but
soon the gale increased, and continued till l
o'clock, when the great storm of 1885 was over.
on wharves this season, in putting them in order.
The water front on Cooper river suffered most,
and the southern wharf suffered the least The
Commercial wharves were completely wrecked.
half dozen yachts, two pilot boats, and a
dredging machine were sunk. Boyce's wharf
was wrecked, and the pilot boz, Schroper and a
number of fishing smacks and yachts sunk. -Four
piers and sheds of the Atlantic wharf were blown
away. The Cotton Exchange building was also
damaged Kerrs wharf was demolished. The
steamer Planter was stove in at Accommodation
wharf. The dam age to Central wharf was very
serious. The four piers and three sheds of
Union wharf were swept away, and the wharf at
Castle Pinckney was carried away.
The steamer Delaware. from New York Satur-
day, came in all right last night. She reports
fearful storm at sea-
The damage to the houses in this city cannot
be estimated. The pleasure boats Oh Rutledge-
street cake were piled upon the northern shore
in a confused mess of broken hulks. Along
Ashley river there were many casualties to
shipping, vessels being grounded all along the
river. Two sloops have not yet been found.
The convent of the Sisters of Mercy was Sc
riously injured and unroofed. The plastering is
down, the library badly damaged, and the build
ing temporarily unfit for use. The colored
church in Cromwells Alley was completely
demolished. In Franklin street, large tree
was riven in three parts from top to bottom, but
remained standing. The whole street is barri-
caded with fallen trees
III South Battery was the scene of great con-
fusion and damage to shipping. The streets
were flooded with water, and crafts of all de-
scription were washed ashore, and were floating
in the streets at high tide The fshermens
boats were destroyed, and the wharves piled high
with incongruous wrecks
The northwestern and central portions of the
city suffered slight damage compared with that
on the water front, though the entire portion of
the city west of Rutledge avenue was sub
merged with salt water from one to three feet
deep The spire of the Citadel square Baptist
Church, one of the tallest in the CITY, was blown
across the fOur-story dwelling of Thomas d.
Dotterer, cutting away the piazza and front
walls, leaving the interior of the dwelling ex-
posed to the storm Several miraculous escapes
occurred here, but no one was injured. 1t will
take $4,000 to replace the steeple. The Ply
mouth Church was completely unroofed. The
st. Phillips street Synagogue was also unroofed
The Church Home, in Lawrence street, was
badly damaged, and the Avery Institute un-
rooted Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church
and the Chapel of Citadel were unroofed. The
Mt Zion Presbyterian Church (colored) was un-
rooted and badly wrecked. About mile of
railroad track was blown up, and freight depots
were badly damaged Two sloops were blown
out of the water across the tracks These yes
sells weight thirty and fifty tons each. The
South Carolina railway wharves and immense
storehouses were unrOofed and heavily dam
aged. One building was thrown on its side and
foated one hundred yards into the marsh.
The News and Courier, of Charleston, makes
the following rough estimate of losses.