Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-02
BY STORM N FIRE.

BY STORM AND FIRE.
a >u.nber of Oyster Boats Capsized on
the Chesapeake bay, and Forty Sailors
Drowned-Three Young Girls Perish in
N Turning Candy Factory at Detroit.
| Mich.
BALTIMORE, Md, Dec. 13.-The first In
| formation of a terrible loss IF life during the
| storm OF Tuesday night on the Rappahan--
mock River and the lower bay was received
here yesterday upon the arrival of the
| steamer Mason l.. Weems, whose Off
| catastrophe. The victims were, for
the most part, colored men, who were
longing for oysters in the Kappa
| hammock when the gale burst upon them.
! The wind blew a hurricane and the waves
| quickly rose to a height of twenty OF thirty
feet, tossing the small canoes. in which
the men We're clinging, like coclSle-shells.
The loss is estimated as high as forty, and
seventeen dead bodies have already been
recovered.
Up to noon the weather had been per-
fectly calm, and there was no indications OF
the approaching hurricane until about wv
o'clock, when a stiff breeze began blowing,
and before the occupants of the frail boats
could seek ports of safety the gale burst
over them with terrific fury. One after am
other Of the canoes was swamped and the
unfortunate occupants swept away
in the turbulent waters. Many OF the
men chung to the upt,nned boats
with a desperation that only the knowl-
edge that death was staring them
in the face could give. But one by one
their strength was exhausted, and they were
.>x,lrol rFh, x,,o},r s,,,c froovinr Gold
A few of them-powerful swimmers-man-
aged to breast the waves and swim ashore,
but such instances were rare. The fleet Of
canoes numbered fifteen in all. The men
started from the Lancaster side to sell their
oysters. Among the party were three or
four white men. Two Of the corpses were
found near Mill Point.
The latest reports place the loss of life at
fully forty. The storm ragged fiercest in
the lower bay and on the Rappahannock
River. 1t approached from the northwest,
striking the lower portion of the bay. Its
track from the west shore continued across
the bay and up. the Rappalannock River,
sweeping every vessel in its wake. The
greatest loss OF life occurred near Monoskin,
on the Kappahannock River. At the time
several vessels were hard at work and their
small craft We're almost filled with oysters.
The men tried to scud before the wind, and
managed to Go SO, but for a FEY! minutes
only. Many of the boats filed with water
and others capsiZcd. During the storm the
people Of the village gathered along the
shore. but nothing could be done to save
the unfortunate men, and fully twenty-five
were drowned in sight of the village.
One colorcd man, whose name is said to
be Hawkins, was saved ny clinging to the
sde,of a capsiZcd pungy. He was at first
supposed to be dead, but he recovered
shortly after being found. -Four men We're
discovered in the Carbonon branch and
three on the MiddleseX shore of the Kappa
hammock. James Scott, colored. was
drowned by the capsizing of a canoe near
Folks wharf in Cockerill Creek, Virginia.
Incoming steamers report wrecks all
along the shore in the wake of the storm.
Captains who were in say that it was the
most severe storm they have met for many
years. The wind blew at the rate of sixty
miles an hour and the waves ran fully thir-
ty feet high. Captains of the Bay Line of
steamers say that not half the loss of life or
of the damage done by the storm has been
reported, The tug Ehrman. Of this city,
rescued Captain Zciglcr and his ere W of five
men from the sloop Augustus. Two min
utcS after the rescue the vessel sank.
bEI1tolI, MICH, Zee. lo.-SnOIE.t alte1
five o'clock last evening the girls en-
ployed i'll the second story of Gray,
Tcynton IL Fox's candy factory, cor
her of Bates and Woodbridge streets,
were terrified at the discovery of fire
breaking Out III the rear of the room where
they worked. a rush was at once
made forthe front of the building for the
tire-escape. In descending the ladder one
girl fell and was Slightly hurt. Three were
seen standing by the window. but the
flames burst through and drove them back,
and they were not again seen until the
flames were subdued, when their bodies
were discovered lying near the window.
Their faces were burned black, but their
bodies had not been touched.
The names Of the girls burned are Fran
ces Mcssmore, aged fourteen; annie Lynch,
aged tWenty-eight, and Ellen Colgate, aged
seventeen. The loss and damage to adioin-
ing buildings is s., 900, fully covered by i'll
sulancs. The fire originated in Il cellar
where there wasa quantity of packing ma
tcrlals, but the cause of the fire is unknown.
There had been no fire in the cellar. The
Coroner impaneled a jury and adjourned
until Wednesday afternoon.