The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-09-04
THE SOUTHERN CYCLONE.
Details of the Destruction Wrought at
Charleston. S. c. - -

Charleston, S. G. 50 ~
CHARLESTON, S. c., Aug. %. - The
streets OF Charleston were not more desc
late after the bombardment during the war
than they were two hours after the passage
of the storm Tuesday. The storm was
yeritable cyclone. 1t began at daylight,
coming from the southeast. The velocity
of the wind was twenty-five miles an hour
at 80 o'clock in the morning, increasing
to thirty-five, forty and fifty miles, which
was reached about eight o'clock in
the morning, finally running up tc
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. MichaePs Church was stripped.
At seven o'clock the apparatus III 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 Nel0S and Courier says OF the storm
at this hour: Suddenly the tin on the
roofs of the various offices and e0tt0n-sheds
were rolled up and scattered like so many
rolls of paper, and the waves angrily
dashed over the pier-heads and. made
mountains and valleys in the river. The
time of high water was 1926 a. m. 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
embankment. The damage to the houses,
gardens and lawns on this thor0ughfare
was serious. Not more than two or
three houses on either thoroughfare es-
capped, more of them unroofed, either en-
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 sashes. 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
intervals, the noise of which was drowned
in the roar of the storm.
Hundreds OF thousands of dollars were
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 dozen
yachts, two pilot-boats and dredging
machine were sunk. Boyce's wharf was
wrecked and the pilot-boat Schreper and
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-
comodation wharf. The damage to the
Central wharf was very serious. -Four
piers and three sheds of Union wharf were
swept away. The wharf at Castle Pnck-
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
WdtCl HUH Ult W OulCG Leu uCCp. Liz
spire of the Citadel Square Baptist
Church, one of the talIest in the city, was
blown across the four-story dwelling Of
Thomas D. Dotterer cutting away the
piazza and front walls, and leaving the i'll
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 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. One heavy building was
thrown on its side and fioated one hundred
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 tidal wave. The
| steamer Monticello, of the Florida line, en-
| countered the gale twenty-four hours before
| she reached Charleston. She had a terrible
| passage, but is rot 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
| by night. The freight depots of the
| Savannah and Northeastern Railroads are
| badly damaged, but the freight in the build
| ings is uninjured The Northeastern Rail-
| road track for 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 Il rice crop is not dam
! aged much. Their is no doubt, however,
| that the cotton crop on the sea islands
| is seriously damaged. The coastwise
| steamer St Helena is ashore at Martins
| Point and 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, foated all about and
| was deposited in a Zigzag shape on what
| ever foundations were exposed by the re-
| ceding waters The loss to the railroad
| is estimated at $4,000 at this point.
The Nel0s and Courier, makes the fol-
| lowing rough estimate of the losses:
| Wharf property Observation-Disclosures. 5 So, 900
| Private property. Observation-Disclosures. 100000
| Cotton presses. Observation-Disclosures. $4,000
| Churches. Observation-Disclosures. 10000
| City property. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 5000
| Railroads Observation-Disclosures. $1,000
| Ashley River Bridge. 5000
| Shipping NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 100000
| Lumber mills Observation-Disclosures. 10000
Miscelian eous Observation-Disclosures. 100000
Total ........................... 81, 123 COe
| Important Decision-Entitled to an In
crease of Pension.
New YORK, Aug. 27.-A Washington
special to the World says that Pension
Commissioner BLACK has ruled that two