Morning journal and courier., 1885-08-28
THE CYCLONE AT CHARLESTON.
Terrible Work of the Storm In the
 City.

City.
 CHARLESTON, s. O., Aug. 27.-Tuesday's tornado commenced properly at daylight from the southeast, with frequent gusts. As early as o'clock the roof of St. Michaels church was stripped. At 7 the apparatus on the roof of the signal office, the flagstaff and the weather vane were demolished. The last observation before the climax of destruc- tion recorded the wind at sixty-eight miles an hour. The fire bells tolled at intervals, indicating breaks in the alarm wires. The water in the river came over the granite wall on the battery, breaking the fagstones and washing away the railways, and tons of sea- water were hurled upon handsome resi- dences, breaking windows and smashing doors. The last time the battery was torn up was in 1976 At o'clock the slate roof of the county court house peeled. At 8:30 the gilt ball and the weather vane which for century adorned St. Michael's steeple, a high and historic point, were blown down. The climax of the cyclone was about o'clock. Everything is in ruin at the wharves. The fence and the outhouses of the Roper hospital were blown down and the roof of the jail was injured. The convent of the Sisters of Mercy was seri- ously injured and was unroofed. The col ored church in Cromwell's alley was com pletely demolished. In Franklin street a large tree was riven in three parts from top to bottom, but remained standing. The whole street is barricaded with fallen trees. The south battery was the scene of great oOnfJ1a and 6anaOa tn Sbinninp The streets were flooded with water and craft of all descriptions were washed ashore and were floating in the streets at high tide. The fshermen's boats were destroyed and the wharves piled high with incongruous wrecks. The northwestern and central DOT tions of the city suffered slight damage com pared with that along the water front, though the entire portion of the city west of Rut- ledge avenue was submerged with salt water from one to three feet deep, in many cases covering the first floor of houses. 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. Cotter, cut ting away the piazza and front walls and exposed to the storm. The Plymouth church on Pitts street was completely unroofed. The St. Phillip synagogue was also unroofed. The Church home in Lawrence street was badly damaged and the Avery institute un- roofsd. The Trinity Methodist Episcopal church in Hazel street and the chapel of the citadel were unroofed. The Charleston High school and the Catholic central school were damaged. The Mt. Zion Presbyterian church, colored, in Calhoun street, was unroofed and badly wrecked. The spire of the German Lutheran church was in jured. 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 track. On Sullivan's Island many houses were damaged to a great CT or less extent. The Casino was lifted en- tirely from it's foundations and dashed to the ground. The News and Courier of Charleston makes the following rough esti- mate of losses: Wharf property $35O, O,00o, pri- vate property $30O,000, cotton presses ESQ., 900, churches $50, ,O00, city property (streets and parks) s35, ,O0O, railroads s5O,0O0, Ashley ber M mills sso,ooo, miscellaneous sioo, ,ooo; to- tai S1 123 000