The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-09-06

,r,.at fury of the storm Of Sunday night.
li,',ses we're found Whole and in pieces
:niles away from their foundations;
steamships were resting upou dry land;
trees were twisted, plated and scattered
about, while at intervals dead bodies
we're found, and ever aud anon the waves
would cast up one or moro liteless forms,
swollen, distorted and bruised.
At first no one thought OF giving atten-
ton to anybody or anything outside of
bis own needs, but as the dead bodies
multiplied, the Good Samaritan feeling
grew, and by noon every one on the
chain of islands about this place had be-
come grave digger. 1t was the pick and
the shovel alone which were in demand
and the number of dead prevented any
unstinted use Of these tools.
All during the day Monday the bodies
began to multiply so rapidly that the cor
| ouer was compelled to swear in half
dozen deputies-one for each Of the is
lands where death was reported. One of
these deputies held an inquest over sew
enty-eight people, and while the inquest
was being held seventy-eight graves
were being dug and seventy-eight dead
bodies, swollen and fast decomposing,
were waiting interment at the hands OF
their white and colored friends who es-
capped death so narrowly.
A glance at the map will show that
| around this place are some twenty
islands. Somo of these are very small,
with only one or two families living on
them, while others are larger and accom-
| modate as many Inhabitants as 4,50O.
Some of these have not been heard from
at all, while on those which have been
| ''spoken," there was single one which
did not increase the dead roll. On some
of these the death rate WAS large, but in
many instances the names OF the dead
cannot be ascertained, many Of them
being beyond recognition when found,
while others were buried as unknown
| because no one was present who could
| identify them.
There are only two boats here now, and
both are chartered by the Port Royal and
Augusta railroad. This prevents passage
between the islands, and that, too, is an
obstacle to the Identification of the dead,
as many of the bodies are picked up on
| an island where they did not live, and
| thereby are unknown.
The coroner, however and the collector
| of the port, ex-Congressman Smalls, are
com piling the information as fast as it
can be obtained and are making record
| of the dead as rapidly as possible. The
book they are compiling will show that
st. Helena has population of 4,50O
Lady's Island has 1,500; Dawtha's Island
| Is, Coosaw Island 600; Beaufort town has
$500. Port Royal Island, embracing the
towns Of Beaufort and Port Royal, has
| 5000, Now, as far as reliable informa-
| ton which has reached the officers goes,
the dead will reach 400, and they are
located in this way: At the Pacific Works
seventy-nine dead bodies have been
found and buried. 1t was here five
deputy coroners held the one big inquest.
On Lady's Island twenty-eight bodies
were buried on Tuesday, and others have
been found since. On Paris Island nine
teen bodies had been recovered and
buried up to Tuesday afternoon. On
Beaufort Island IL bodies have been
| buried. At Coosaw Mines 5 bodies have
been buried. At Gains Neck 22 bodies
| have been recovered and buried, and
reports are that 10 lives were lost here.
| On Eustis place, one Of the richest plan
tations on Lady's Island, 40 new made
graves were filed yesterday morning.
| At the otker end of Lady's Island dead
| bodies have been found. At Dawtha
Island, q place of about 1000 acres, so
! lives are reported lost, and nearly half
that many bodies have been recovered.
A citizens meeting was held this morn
| ing, at which committee was appointed
| to hurry the work OF cleaning up the
| town, and another committee, with Col
lector of Customs Robert Smalls as chair
man, to issue public appeal to the
country. Collector Smalls confirmed the
sad story of death and devastation. He
said: "This address embodies what 1
would say to you, and if you will send it
to the country at large, by means OF the
Associated Press, you will greatly facili-
tate us in securing the aid that is imper-
atively needed. The address is as fol-
lows:
BEAUFORT, s. c., Aug. 81, 1898.
It becomes my painful duty to appeal,
through you, to the friends of humanity
which passed over this section on Sunday
night. Every wharf and warehouse has
been demolished, windows shattered,
houses unroofed and trees thrown down.
While full accounts have not yet come
in, yet enough have come to say that the
loss of life and property hos been truly
| appalling. Within radius of twenty
miles, between 400 and 500 lives have
! been lost. On the Island of st. Helena,
proverbial for thrift and enterprise,
already over $50 have been reported
| drowned. From everywhere comes news
| of houses having been swept away and
crops totally destroyed. These sea islands
are the homes chiefly of negroes, who by
thrift and industry, have made them
selves homes, with none to molest or
make them afraid. In one night all
have been swept away. They are now
homeless and almost naked. Their bed
ding, furniture and clothes have been
carried off by the angry waves. While
writing, In this town, the rain is destroy
| ing what has been snatched from the sea.
We earnestly ask for aid in feeding and
clothing the hungry and naked.
ISigned1 ROBERT SMALL,
| Collector and Chairman of the Citizens
Committee.
The damage to the phosphate industry,
| to shipping, warehouses;, commerce, mer-
chandise and crops around Beaufort and
| Port Royal will go to two million dollars; /;
| add million for Charleston, another for
| Savannah, and the damage to the railroad
and steamship companies, and there is q
grand total of something like five million
dollars and six hundred dead bodies as
| the fruit of Sunday nights blow in
stretch of hundred miles on the Geor-
! gia and South Carolina coast. 1t is equal
| to the devastation OF war; and these are
the figures given by conservative men:
| Reports from the storm stricken dis
| tricts Increase in horror every day.
Fully 1000 lives were lost, and the living
are begging for bread. Charleston, though
badly hurt by the storm, is going down
in her pockets to help the sufferers.
There is no worthier or more deserving
object of charity than this, and 1t is hoped
the American people will heed this call
for help, and money is needed to buy
provisions and supplies.
Contributions may be safely sent to
Joseph w. Barnwell, chairman relief
committee, or to the NeVs and Courier,
in which due acknowledgement will be
made of all gifts of money or provisions
or clothing made for the sufferers by the
storm.
Here's O Hero.
Albany, GA, Sept. 1.-The Cannon
Ball train which left Montgomery for AL
bany last night met with an accident
which came near proving disastrous.