The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1889-10-02
Waves WILD WORK.
Big storm Along the Eastern Coast

II was great storm. For q long time it
will be referred to in the meteorological an
nais as the great cyclone Of September, 1880
1t was one of those merry -go-round storms,
generated in the West Indies, where the
wind goes whirling around in circle per-
haps 500 miles in diameter, and The nearer
the centre one gets the harder the wind
blows, until one reaches the heart Of il,
! where there is calm. This storm has been
travelling along the gulf stream for q week.
and for three days the northwest quarter Of
| its arc has been over the northeast corner of
! Uncle Sans domain. The wind has howl
ed. as il always does when a cyclone is
around. and there have been stirring times
along shore. Such waves as are seldom seen
have disturbed the beaches, and the people
who owned boats and ships and bath houses.
The ruin has been particularly great between
Cape Cod aud the Delaware breakwaier
No lives were lost in Atlantic CRY, nor
was any serious destruction wrought there
! by the storm, except along the beach. The
greater portion of the boardwalk and most
of the structures along il we're damaged or
destroyed, and at one time nearly the whole
OF the city was flooded by the high tides
Lees Ocean Terrace property, already dam
aged by the waves, was destroyed by fire.
A number OF yachts are reported to have
been wrecked il. thoroughfares and creeks at
Atlantic City. 1t is learned that at Sea Isle
City two hotels and about dozen cottages
"a,
were Hooded to their third stories Efforts
are being made to repair the railroad so as
to get provisions to the place.
Reports of destruction and damage to
properly come from all portions of the New
Jersey and Long Island coasts, but the only
serious loss of life is reported in Delaware
Bay. Three sehooners have been wrecked on
Fourteen Foot Bank, and it is feared that 81
lives have been lost The ship W. R. Grace
is ashore on the point of the Capes and has
had her masts cut away. At Lewes. guar
dian City of Cape Henlopen, twenty
vessels, broken aud forlorn after their buffet
ing with waves, lie in dismal line along
two-mile stretch of beach, with the storm
still furiously lashing them.
The total loss along the Atlantic coast is
nearly two millions.
The ocean hammered away at the Sandy |
Hook Peninsula opposite the foot of the |
Highlands of Navcsink, until it succeeded in |
reopening the passage into the Shrewsbury
River which has been closed since the.days /
Of the Revolution. The waves tore ont /
bulkheads, carried away the beautiful lawns |
which were the pride of the summer cot 4
tagers, and toppled several elegant cottages,
down into the boiling surf, where they were
almost instantly knocked to pieces.
One the saddest features of the storm /
was the encroachment of the sea along the
front Of Long Branch Here the storm car
ried away bathhouses and pavilions and cut
huge gaps in the bluff which skirts Ocean
avenue the famous sea drive. On Thursday
night perfect reign of terror prevailed
among the cottagerS from Highland Beach
as far south as Monmouth Beach, Many of
them sal up all night, almost wild with
terror. 1t was pitch dark, and the storm
raged so furiously that even strong men were
unable TO face it.
At Asbury Park the loss was not as severe
as it was further north. James A Bradley,
the founder Of the town. had his asaons
wooden ocean promenade badly damaged
and one of his big pavilions was partially
undermined by the surf. The sand was cut
out from the beach from Deal Lake south,
through Asbury Park and Ocean Grove to
Avon-by the-Sea
The same story of wrecked walks pavilions
and bAthing-houses comes from all parts of
the coast below Ocean Grove as far as Sea
Side Park on the narrow line. of sand that
lies between the ocean and Barnegat Bay.
AT several places between thej head ofthe
bay and Sea Side Park the ocean broke over
into the bay, carrying with it hundreds Of /
feet Of the track of the Long Branch and
Philadelphia Railroad division of the Penn
sylyania Railroad Company.