The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1886-11-12
Great Rise of the Sea at Sabine
Pass.

joinig town Of Iolnson's Bayou had a
population OF 100. Bradford ana
other towns sull more. A dispatch to
tie Times Democrat says:
"rhe village Of Johnson's Bayou Is a
high ridge on the sea coast. and the ba-
you. from which II takes its name.
runs through the inhabitable parts OF
that section OF the settlement, IN which
is also situated the post Office station
known rs Radford. They are in Cam
eron Parish. on the LOUISIANA shore
six miles east OF sabine Pass. The
BAYOU is nineteen miles 10 length
and varies from one to four miles In
width. Ridges face the Gulf twelve
feet above the sea level. and In the rear
is dense impenetrable marsh. The
The population on Monday. October
18th. numbered 100 souls: to-day
eigh'y-ave of the number are counted
with the dead. Forty.hve bodies have
been recovered and consigned to graves
In the shell reefs. while the deeompos-
ing corpses of the remaining forty-fve
lie fostering In the marshes. Radford
was very thlckly settled and populous.
It boasted OF its cotton gin, aud cotton
and cane plantations. Cotton and
sugar are the chief products Of the
ridges. which are composed OF the rich.
est aud most fertile grazing country.
and the parish had 5000 head of cattle
and horses, owned by u thriving com
munity.
At four o'clock Tuesday afternoon
the storm descended upon the people.
and everybody took to their homes and
waited with abated breath the fate
which they foresnw as doomed 10 be
theirs. The waters, rising with the
wind, swept through the lower stories
of the buildings. driving the affrihten-
ed people into the attics and upon the
r1ufs. BY ten o'clcck at night the FIRST
ridge, twelve feet above the sea level.
was ten feet under wat0r House after
house fell In or was swept away, either
burying the poor people in the debris or
hurting them INTO the kissing waters.
The cotton and the stores next sue
cumbed. and Radford and Johnson's
Bayous were destroyed as completely
as If an invading army had done the
work. The people could only cling to
each other and pray for mercy and for
the souls Of those whose despairing
shrieks rang in their ears. For twelve
hours the stUrmed ragged over the de
vastated settlements. and then came Il
lull. Hope revived as the water re.
ceded and the storm passed away, and
the survivors gathered on elevated
points. viewing the scene of dessola-
tIun around them.
The keeper of the lighthouse ut Sa-
bine Pass, who hved with his family in
a small brick house near the lighthouse
tower, succeeded IN getting all the
members of the family into the tow er
before the house was submerged. lie
says:
"By noon the wind, still holding
north and east. began to shake the
house. The water came up and things
were floating around. 1t was time for
us to leave, and with the women and
children we took to the lighthouse; the
house was going then. and we did not
get into the tower too soon, for shortly
thereafter the house went to pieces. II
was hard work getting to the tower
but we got there. We had no food no
covering, and only three gallons of oil.
Everything went with the building
| he storm increased in fury. The wa.
ter rose over the top OF the lighthouse
door. ten feet from the ground. 1t en-
tered the tower, and the drauglt as
cending upward kept lifting the trap
door leading to the lamp. The trap
door was held down by a hundred
pound weight, yet it came up so that
one of us with the Cll had TO add our
weight to keep it down. If that trap
door had given away. the Hight would
have went out, and who knows how
those would have Jared also
The spray from the seas, which with
the winds caused the lighthouse tc
tremhe from its very foundation
dashirg M through the slit. and Chat
slit Is ifiy fec, from DE crouud
Captain z. A. Hyatt and William
GnY repor, That they bad asinruusX
perieuoe as momher- % tae relief rua
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