Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-09-18
THE SOUTHERN CYCLONE.
Details of the Destruction Wrought at
Charleston. S. C.

than they were two hours after the passage
of the storm Tuesday. The storm was .
veritable cyclone. 1t began at daylight,
coming from the southeast. The velocity
of the wind was twenty-five miles an hour
Mt / 80 o'clock in the morning, increasing
to thirty-fve, forty and fifty miles, which
was reached about eight o'clock in
the morning, finally running up to
seventy.five or eighty miles an hour. The
northern edge of the cyclone touched
Charleston and completed its passage in
forty minutes. AS early as six O'clock the
roof of st. Michael's Church was stripped.
At seven o'clock the apparatus in the roof
of the signal Office was demolished. The
last observation before the climax of the
storm showed the winds velocity to be
sixty-eight miles an hour.
The NeWs and Courier says of the storm
at this hour: "Suddenly the tin on the
roofs Of the various offices and cotton-Sheds
were rolled up and scattered like so many
rolls of paper, and the waves angrily
dashed over the pier-hcads and made
mountains and valleys in the river. The
time of high water was 7:26 a. nj. East
battery and south battery were practi-
cally impossible save by means Of
small boats. But this was not all. Mount
aims of waves, as they dashed against
the sea wall, were caught up by the wind
and tons of water were taken up into the
air and hurled against the east fronts of the
handsome buildings which line the side
walks, smashing in the windows, doors and
fences and %inundating the lawns and gar
dens. The fagstone promenade of east
battery was badly broken up, the waves
Selling large flags and pushing them
off to the opposite side of the street.
Almost the entire railway was washed
away, and many gaps were made III the
e%mbankment. The damage to the houses,
was serious. Not more than two or
three houses on either thoroughfare es-
capped, more of them unroofcd, either ell
tirely or in part and all suffered
some damage. The storm continued
to increase in violence as the day
advanced. The streets were gradually
filled up with states, bricks, signs, window
shutters and sasnes. At eight o'clock the
rain began to fall in torrents. The streets
were flooded, and the drain-pits being
choked up the water ran knee-deep in al
most every street in the city. The rain was
accompanied by claps of thunder at short
in the roar of the storm.
expended on wharves this season
putting them in order. The water
front on Cooper River suffered least
The Commercial wharves were COM
pletely wrecked. Half a dozen
yachts, two pilot-boats and a dredging
machine were sunk. Boyce's wharf was
wrecked and the pilot-boat Schreper 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. Kerr's wharf was demolished.
The steamer Planter was stove in at Ac-
Central wharf was very serious. Four
piers and three sheds OF Union wharf were
swept away. The wharf at Castle Pinck-
ney was carried away. The damage to
houses in the city can not be estimated.
The northwestern and central portions of
the city suffered slight damage compared
with that along the water front, though
the entire portion of the city west of
Rutledge avenue was submerged 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 ID. Dotterer, cutting away the
piazza and front walls, and leaving the in
terror of the dwelling exposed to the storm.
Several miraculous escapes occurred here,
but no one was injured. 1t will take
eighty thousand dollars to replace the
steeple.
About a mile of railroad track was
blown up, and freight depots were badly
damaged. Two sloops were blown out
of the water across the tracks. They
weighed thirty and fifty tons each. The
South Carolina Railway wharves and
Union storehouses were unroofed and
badly damaged. On heavy building was
fEroup ON &c ci1a ocJ <3oo%oJ n,o l,,,J.al
yards away into the marsh.
The Sullivan Island steamers Pocosin
and Sappho are aground in the harbor,
and considered beyond repair. The Union
naval stores and city wharves are badly
wrecked. On Charleston's favorite prom
enade, the.east battery, the ground floors OF
residences were from three to six
feet under water, and the hand
some gardens were covered deep with
sedge. The sea rose SO rapidly as to
have the appearance Of a tidal wave. The
steamer Monticello, of the Florida line, ell
countered the gale twenty-four hours before
she reached Charleston. She had a terrible
passage, but is not injured. The railroads
leading to Charleston are considerably
damaged. On the Savannah Road several
hundred feet OF track was washed away,
but the road was in working order again
Dy night. The freight depots Of the
Savannah and Northeastern Railroad. are
badly damaged, but the freight in the build
ings is uninjured. The Northeastern Rail-
road track for a mile and a half is covered
with water and one half of the track is
washed away. Running arrangements have
been made with the South Carolina Railway.
1t is believed that the rice crop is not dam
aged much. There is no doubt, however,
that the cotton crop on the sea islands
is seriously damaged. The coastwiss
steamer st. Helena is ashore at Martins
Point and a canal will have to be cut to get
her off. The track of the South Carolina
Railroad. from the intersection of the
Northeastern Railroad to the South Caro-
lima Railroad wharves, tloated all about and
was deposited in a zigzag shape on what
ever foundations We're exposed by the re-
ceding waters. The loss to the railroad
is estimated at $40, 900 at this point. .
The NeUs and Courier, makes the fol.
lowing rough estimate of the losses:
Wharf property. & 3,o mn
rrnntta.e 100000
CSbI,,t,Son p,esses. $4,000
a. ~ sc, 0C
H HnjhI p,1poFtJ ST. OOe
Hsht $4,000
SAAStAtSy NM