Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-06
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
A WILD BLIZZARD sWOOPs
DOWN ON SAVANNAH.

Wind, Sand and Cold Combine to Fulfil
Hoosier Weather Prophets Predie-
ton and Make Things Ltvely-Tele"
graph and Telephone Wires Broken
| The Signal Service Cold Wave Flag
Blown Away-A House Blown Down.
The biggest wind storm that has visited
Savannah for many months howled
around town yesterday like the toothless
lion in side-shOw. 1t hailed from the
great northwest, and had all the inherent
wickedness of Dakota blizzard.
The first official intimation sayan-
nahians had of its approach was the cold
wave prediction sent out at 1 O'Clock yes
terday morning by the Signal Bureau or
dering up the cold wave signals at all sta
tions on the South Atlantic coast. The
| wave itself was not far behind, and by
/ daylight was getting in its work in good
earnest. Between and 7 o'clock the
/ wind blew a gale. The thermometer was
| evidently afraid of its boisterous visitor,
! and did its best to crawl through hole
/ in the bottom. II stuck at 40 deg, and
remained there during the day.
There were few people who read in the
| NEWS day or two ago the prediction by
a Western crank, that Savannah would
be visited sometime between Dec. and
10 with a terrific cyclone, but recalled
the prediction yesterday morning when
they saw the lnky black cloud in the west,
| and thought that perhaps the prophet
was not so much OF a crank as he was
made out to be- On one or two points,
however, he went astray. If the cyclone
should occur on the 9th, he said, it
VIII not be far from where the
great Alabama cyclone struck, but in
case il should occur on the 9Th or 10th it
will be further east. The proper place for
II, he added, is along the coast between
Charleston harbor and the gulf If il occurs
on the 10th, but the chances are very
strong in favor Of the 9th or 8th. In this
case it will be further west. The storm,
whenever it occurs. the prophet went on
| to say, will spread over a wide territory,
and Will be followed by cold winds from
! the north. In this he struck it right.
| The author of the prophecy, who rejoices
\ in the name of Samuel Love, Is citi-
| zen of hoOsierdoms' apital-Indian-
| apolis. He evidently intended it as
| a sort OF boom in the interest
of emigration to the corn stalk State,
! for he wound up with the suggestion that
| those who desired to escape the perils of
! the storm could do so by coming North.
| fbe only trouble with the prophesy was
| that the storm was not a cyclone, and il
| arrived a day ahead of time. There was
| nothing lazy about it, however, and from
! o'clock till IL in the morning the wind
! increased in velocity until it reached the
maximum of 81 miles an hour. After II
! O'Clock it Stacked off and at O'Clock it
/ was l6 miles an hour, which was the av-
/ erage velocity during the afternoon.
! The telegraph and telephone wires were
| about the first objects which received the
! attention of the blow. In few hours
they were twisted up in all kinds of
| shapes. The telegraph wires suffered
| most, but the telephone did not escape,
and the pretty girls who expand their
! lungs by shouting "Hello'' all through
| the day enjoyed an hour or two of COM
! paratiye recreation.
Manager Dillon, OF the Western Union
| Telegraph Company, is one OF the cool
headed men who never get excited, and
be watched the switchboard all day as
| the wires dropped off one by one. The
Charleston line of five wires was down all
day, and Northern business was sent via
Augusta. The break was between Har-
deeville and Ridgeand. and was caused
by tree falling across the wires.
force of linemen was sent out to
repair the break, and everything
was in working order last night. The
| greatest trouble was the twisting of the
wires in the city. The Southern tele-
| graphs lines were badly shaken up, and,
in fact, throughout the entire country,
from north to south, telegraph business
on all lines was greatly interfered with.
The blow was heavier west of the city,
and considerable damage was Done In the
country. The frame of new house Just
erected on Mr.. E. L. Neidlinger's place,
about four miles from the city on the
Teltair road, was blown down, the
timbers broken and piled up in a general
wreck. The loss is about 5000. Fences
and trees were blown down, and the
roads were INSTRUCTED in many places.
In the city there was very little damage
beyond the twisting OF the telegraph and
telephone wires. The halyards of the
cold wave flag on the post Office building
were carried away, and. for an hour or
two, the public was at loss whether the
signal had been hauled down to give place
to some other kind of warning, or whether
a warm wave was on its way. The broken
halyards were replaced with new ropes,
and the flag was soon up again to stay.
In the harbor the only damage done vas
the chalng of the sides of a number of
vessels as they lay moOred at the
wharYes. AT Tybee the highest We
locity was IS miles an hour between
D and 6 O'Clock in the morning. NOreports
OF casualties were received last night,
and outward bound vessels went to sea
without waiting for the storm TO blow
over.
The streets in the city did not present
their usual lively Saturday appearance.
The sand was hurled through the air in
clouds, and pedestrianism was anything
but agreeable during the early part of the
day. People who were not compelled to
be out of doors staid indoors as much as
possible. Towards night the wind died
down, and in the evening the streets were
full Of hustle aud business. Mercury
went down with the wind. aud the signal
service young men ventured the opinion
that there will be ice somewhere around
this morning.
The superior Court DOckets.
The civil dockets Of the Superior Court