The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-10-11
THE GULF CALAMITY.
1000 lives believed Lost.


the Gulf storm on last suaaay. given in a
Dispatch frsin New Orleans, makes IT reach
2Oeo, and damage 10 property OF S5.OeoOOo.
The principal loss OF life was on the coasi
below New Orleans and along the shores Of
Noble Bay. There were many marine dis
as.ers, also, accompanied BY loss Of life.
The death list Is &lreasy above 1856, and
NeE Orleans has heard from only portion
of the deTssIsisd ecuniry. Il Is such nat
wo,k OF Islands. bsy0ns. iskes and sxamp-
thss It vii be week before the relief boats
can lTsyerse all the waterways and discover
The fuH extent Of damage done
The loss Of Iife in The parish Of Plaque
uiae. living On both sides Of the Mississippi,
has been heavy. especially in properly, ard
10 lives. Bat the great loss was IN the in
terror settlements, on the Golf coast, and
the bayous leading 10 it. The country there
i mainly sea marsh, almost destitute OF
trees. The highest Poiat is only seven feet
above the sea level. aud the greater portion
is only three feet high. When, therefore,
the storm forosd the waves up fifteen feet
they swept over the islands and ridges Of
chemeres, carrying everything before them.
There have been several similar disasters
on the coast-at Last Island. where 2Se peo-
ple lost their lives; al Johnston's Blyou.
six years ago. when the lost were 200; but
Mondays disaster far surpasses these hor-
rors.
The fated settlements extend along the
Mississippi from Pointe "a Hache, IS miles
below New Orleans. to the Gulf on Bayou
Baratzrs, and the oyster reefs between there
and the mouth of the Mississippi and on
the islands stretching frQm the Mississippi
70 the mainland at Chemeres Caminida, Bay
ST. Louis srd Pearl River in Mississippi.
Chenere Csminada was supposed TO BE
tie safest place on the Gulf coast; buI the
fury Of the storm raised the wafer in the
bay back OF il. Early Monday morning the
water had risen fifteen feet and poured over
Crands Is,e eight feet deep. With eurren!
Of eight 10 ten miles an hour il swept every
thing before It, and Of the $40 houses in the
settlement only three were standing at sun
Use.
n tie river AID Gulf the disasters 10 ship
ping ana sailors were terrible. The steam
boai ice We5ber and the J. McSweeney, her
consort, met With total demolition, and the
entire crews Of both steamers sank in 4 wa
tery grave. One hundred and twenty
sehoOners and barges ard 90 Iuggers are
sunk, in most cases accompanied with heavy
loss Of life. some $50 small vessels are miss
ing and are supposed to be lost. The entire
Gulf coast or Mississippi and Louisiana, west
Of the Atchai4laya, IS s.rewn with wreckage-
The loss Of life at Chemeres Clminada aud
is fisheries is nov known 70 be 1 l,250, in
stead Of O40. as At first retained.
The storm wss very severe, the wind
reachinga velocity OF 100 miles an hour on
the islands lying of Mississippi Sound, par
iiculsrly Ship snd Chandelier Islands, and
nearly sll the vessels there we're sunk or
dismautled. AT Chandelier every soul, eI-
cept the United States quarantine physicians
Is supposed 10 be lost The island is g very
low one, lying only few feet above the
sea level.
NEw OELzASs, Oct. s.-The news from
every section stricken by the storm makes
It safe 10 estimate the loss Of life at fully
2.C0o, while millions Of dollars worth Of
property VAS destroyed. Besides thousands
o. people have been deprived Of the means of
making livelihood The situation is ap-
pallIng, bat New Orleans is doing all she
can to relieve the thousands in want Dr..
story, coroner OF Plaquemine parish, has
made the following report.
a good many carloads Of provisions and
clothing have been sent out, but not enough.
Men, women and children are without food
and clothing. They have become 50 des-
pelaie that they have threatened to attack
the stores and steal food. Il is a frequent
thing to see little sufferers crying and beg
ging piteously for something to eat Single
graves for the dead were impossible. Great
trenches were dug, and bodies were piled in
one on top Of the other. The earth Wss
thrown over them, and if their names weIe
asceTtained they were cut in rude crosses
above ihe graves.
PEEIsHED BY THOUSANDS.
4 DO not think I exsggeTate the facts
when l state that at least 2.500 souls we've
ushered into eternity b5 the recent storm in
louisiana This Of course includes the
Bayou Cook county, Cheniere Camanads,
Grand Isle etc. never saw bodies decom-
/ pose so rapidly ar those OF the storm suf-
ferers which were viewed by me. This was
dueto the fact that the fish and crabs in the
baycus ale ofthe remains. l believe firmly
that the marshes and other places are filed
with human forms. Il Is impossible TO get
at these, however, as no one is adventurous
enough to explore the swamps. There can
be 10 doubt Of the fact that this Is conducive
70 en- epidemic OF fever or even cholera. If
one case Of the latter disease should dsyelo2
i Bcuid spread through the country Ike
wiidtiTe, but nothing can be done 10 prevent
this
The relief party which set out from Biloxi
tells an awful story of the destiiuiion and
loss Of life in the Louisiana marshes. Tie
marshes are filled with dead and putrefying
bodies, in very few cases the corpse being
recognizable. The number Of lives lost on
those MARSHES viii never be known. The
territory covered was a distance Of 200
miles.