Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-10-04
STORM RAVAGES.
Appalling Loss of Life in Lou.
iSiana.
E0RE THAN 800 LIVES LOST,
The Storm at New Orleans and Vicin-
ity Greater Than a; FRS.
Reported.
THAN 800 LIVES LOST.

Bayou Cook, Village of 800 People, De-
stroyed, and of the Total Population
Only Thirty Escape Death-The Villages
of bohemia and Shell Beach, in the
Parish OF Plaquemine, Completely Wiped
Out-Grand Island, a Summer Resort,
Thought to Have Shared in the General
Destruction, and Grave Fears for Its In
habitants Observation-Disclosures Losses
Enormous - Pensacola, Fla, Wind
Swept.
NEW ORLEANS Oct. 4-The great storm
of Monday has passed. and although the
wires are still down bits of intelligence
continue to come in from various parts
which impart the information that the
loss of life, to say nothing of the destruc-
tlon OF property, is tremendous. From
Bayou Cook, the great oyster field which
leads to the gnlf it is reported that the
settlements of the fishermen have been
completely demolished and that the loss
Of life has reached the appalling figure of
SOO Grand Isle, a summer resort lying in
the gulf, directly in the path of the storm,
is said to have been utterly destroyed and
it is known that the loss of life is large
Many people were here spending the de-
lightful early autumn season, and num-
bers OF those who had spent the late sum
mer month in their cottages here, had not
yet started for their homes. The hotel
and the two long rows of cottages which
constituted the resort are said TO be no
more, and it is feared that the loss of life
81 tins nOiDt will ha
Villages Wiped Out.
In the parish of Plaquemine. the villages
af Bohemia, on the Mississippi, and Shell
Beach, on Lake Borgue, were wiped out and
at least four lives lost in each place. On
both sides of the river the sugar, rice and
orange crop suffered a great deal of
damage and on the west side the loss of
life is reported to have been very great. 1t
will be some days before the full extent of
the damage wrought will be known. but
it is feared here that the grand total will
pale into insigniicance the number of
deaths reported from the storm which re-
Gently devastated the Atlantic coast. Ow-
ing to the fact that all wire communica-
tion is temporarily interrupted and that
no vessels of any description have ar
rived from the remote sections the infor-
nation as 90 the havoc wrought along the
Gulf coast is necessarily meagre.
Only Thirty Escaped.
Monday a lone and ragged fisherman
who had been a member of the fishing
colony at Bayou Cook where all the ovs-
tiers bearing that name are fshed, and
which is located about seven miles back of
the Buras settlement, came to the Socola
canal, which Is located on the west bank
OF the Mississippi opposite Pointe la
Hache, and reported TO the keeper of the
locks of the, Ozene Martin, that of the 800
people who composed the colony but thirty
dad succeeded i'll escaping the fury of the
elements. The fishermen had all retired
Sunday night as usual, and though the
wind was blowing pretty hard there was
no forerunner of the terrible catastrophe
that followed. AS the night grew apace
the wind increased in velocity until the
timbers in the houses began to creak in an
alarming manner and the roar of the
waves grew louder and louder The water
rose with startling rapidity and before the
unfortunates, who had no possible means
OF escape, had time to grasp some floating
object they were overwhelmed with the
awful might and found their fate in
watery graves.
He had clung to a tree throughout the
night, and when morning dawned the
scene of wreckage that appeared before his
view was simply terrible. OF the many
little cabins which had sheltered the pros
porous colony the night before, barely a
one was standing. OF the 300 or more
human beings who inhabited them about
q tenth of the number lived to tell of the
night of experiences filled with horrors
which they will never forget He de-
scribed the visitation as in the nature of n
tidal wave which swept everything be-
fore it..
While nothing definite was received
from Green Isle, there was a general i'm
preston at Point-a-LaHa that dire
disaster had occurred there, and it was
even reported that the water had swept
over the island, carrying Everything be-
fore it in its awful fury, and much con-
Germ was felt for the safety of the 200 or
300 inhabitants who were known to
have been there. The report also said
that the big hotel had been blown away.
While this has not been confirmed, such
a calamity was possible in view of the ter
rible violence of the storm at Bayou Cook
as reported by the lone fisherman. Re
port had it that the settlements at Chanier
Amanda, which is directly across the
bay from Grand Isle, had been the scene
Of a terrible loss of life. but this also
lacked confirmation.