The morning call., 1893-10-05
DEATH IN THE NIGHT.
Experiences of Some Who
:. !: - =: .Liyed-Out the Storm.

NEW ORLEANS. Oct. 4--The disaster at
Grand Island and ChenieTe is unparal-
iefed in this section. The first authentic
flews of 1T came this morning, when sew
efal survivors reached here. They tell
heartrending stories. a tidal wave swept
over the island. destroying lives and prop
:. erty on all sides. One hundred and forty
i've families are said to have perished. and
:the death list will run up into the hun
dreds. Among the dead are DR.. Frey, a
prominent physician. and his wife. The
etea meF Joe Weber was blown to pieces
tltd several of her crew lost. Cheniere,
eDpositB Grand Isle, was less exposed than
the :lattef. 1t is the home of quite settle
mept Qf.fshermen. has Catholic church,
g. sscho0lhouse in the course of construc-
ton and several stores.
:. Matthew Schurtz of Gouldsboro. one of
the survivors Of the Cheniere-Caminda
calamity: arrived this morning. He
brought a narrowing tale of the loss of
life there.:. He was engaged in construct
ing a: :sehoo1house, and boarded in house
where twenty-five people were lodged.
5FtIe house was demolished and it is be-
!: HeHed about all the inmates were killed.
.: Sehurtz himself was frightfully knocked
bruised. and his clothes torn to
sHredss He estimates the loss of life on
Grande Isle, Cheniere, and in Grand and
Adams: Bay anc Cook, Chalton and Oyster
Bayou settlements, at 300 to 1000. When
he: left: Cheniere Island yesterday he
: counted but FIVE houses standing out OF
tetsl.of about 800. The land was covered
: with corpses:
:.:Ae the wind increased in severity the
honses began to go to pieces. The wind
=. picked the roofs off as though they had
.. been shaved from the rafters with a great
!: carving knife. Then the buildings began
: TO- rock violently and one by one they were
: torn. to pieces. crashing down upon and
killing the occupants. then rapidly drifting
away: with the terrible current sweeping
across the lands. The shrieks and groans
Of the unfortunate people were heartrend-
ing as they were buried 10 the ruins of their
. fraif homes.
:. After the house in which Schurtz re-
sided, had been swept away he clung to the
floating debris until be saw 8 light twink
ling in a house not far away. He swan
to 1t: and was admitted. He had hardly
entered, however. when the structure also
went to pieces, and of those in it Schurtz.
g LADY aud a child escaped. Schnrtz sue
ceeded in getting the woman and the baby
into a tree, where they remained all night.
: the high waves con tinually dashing over
them. The~wind was blowing hurricane
and the rain falling in torrents.
When Day light broke the picture Of DESC
lation was awful to behold. Only here
and there stood house, and everywhere
there were merely foundations to mark
where houses had been. Furniture, bed
ding and clothing were scattered about in
proIniscuous confusion, and everywhere
were ghastly faces turned upward to the
skies. many still bearing evidences Of the
terrible agony they had suffered before
death. Some lost their lives in the wreck
of their homes, some were drowned after
ESCAPING from their houses, ana many
who were m0rtalIy wounded lived through
the might with nothing to quench their
thirst and no medical assistance at hand.
There were broken arms and legs, bruised
and battered bodies, faces slashed out of
all human form.
The Cheniere settlement was even more
thickly populated than Grand Island. 1t
comprised colony of 400 souls, the
Spanish race predominating. Hundreds
of hshIDg smacks owned by the residents
were either beached or demolished. The
prleSt.wbo looked after the spiritual well
1are 'nt the islanders was among those
saved. and the lady who occupied the
mouse with him as housekeerer was like
wlse:spared. The fate of DR.. Frey and
family IS 'unknown, but he is missing and
probably the; entire family has persisted.
Ihe BODY. CT Miss Annie Douglass, the
scho oiteacher, was found among the
SCORES of. bodies were lying around,
beginning to show signs of decomposition,
and for the:safety of,the rest of the colony
1t became necessary to bury them imme
diateiy: There was no time to make
cofdns. nor was there material or imple-
ments, so the living dug trenches in which