Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-14
IN THE HURRICANE.
The Terrible Storm That Swept Over
Sea Island.
THIRTY THOUSAND PEOPLE DESTITUTE.
Thrilling Description by a U. S.
Government Officer.
GOOD WORK OF THE RED CROSS

From the Journal and Courier Little Falls, N.Y..
November Is.
Our readers will. we are sure, be inter-
ested In the following account of the ter
rible hurricane which swept over the Sea
Islands on the South Carolina coast in
August. kindly furnished US by our towns
man. Captain L. A. Beardslee. who IL in
charge of the United States naval station
at Port Royal. Capt. and Mrs. Beardslee
are making a short visit at their old home
here. and their friends have been greatly
interested in the account Of their expert
ences during the great tempest and flood.
Captain Beardslee says:
Mrs. Beardslee and l were participators
In the events and shared the dangers
brought to the Inhabitants of the Sea Is
lands Of South Carolina by the terrific West
India hurricane. with accompanying tidal
wave, which desolated those unfortunate
islands last August.
Since our recent return and while on the
journey, and at New York, friends whom
we have met. and new acquaintance. have
almost universally exhibited much inter-
est in the description Of the situation of
affairs on those islands, before during,
and after the storm. and to many the simple
details which were to us but household
words. brought the first realizing sense of
the magnitude of the calamity. I"
Miss Clara Barton, the president Of the
American branch of the International Or
ganization of the Red Cross who has the
management of contributions and Of the
dispensing of aid among the Sea Islands
now, and occupied similar position at
Jamestown. has made Of US her agents to
dispense ON one Of the islands, where week
ly we feed over four hundred persons. and
L know We are but doing as she would WISH
in continuing SO to act, during our brief
respite from our work. Therefore 1 most
cheerfully comply with the request, and
trust that my efforts to interest and revive
interest will not be in vain.
Geography of the Coast.
I will premise with a bit of geography
The coast of South Carolina is bordered
for over a hundred and fifty miles by an
archipelago consisting Of hundreds of is
lands and islets from a hundred square
miles to as many yards in area. These
are nearly all well wooded with pine. oak.
magnolia and gum trees. Many of them
consist largely Of arabic land. which, be-
fore the war Of the rebellion. was divided
by hedges into great plantations, wherein
the rich planters, aided by their hundreds
of slaves, cultivated. beside vegetables of
all kinds. the famous long staple sea Is
land cotton" The islands are separated
from each other and from the main land by
arms of the sea, here called rivers or creeks
according to their width and depth. some
as Beaufort. Broad and Coosaw rivers, from
one to three miles In width and thirty feet
in depth, and others, which, at low tide
are but marshes. with q thread Of water.
After the War. -
After the war the large plantations were
o,,hd tvtd 81 inf z Fo
which were by the government distributed
among the heads Of families" generally
of the slaves who were left on them, and
these negroes, with their descendants, still
occupy these farms. living in comfortable
cabins. each plantation having its own
hamlet or colony. After the first shock Of
change was over these negroes developed
into orderly, Industrious. thriving Christian
communities. Each farm was Thoroughly
cultivated. and there was produced every
year good crops OF potatoes, sweet and
Irish, peas. corn, melons and one or two
bales Of cotton. which, mortgaged to the
local storekeeper. generally a white man,
furnished them with groceries All raised
and owned horses, mules. hogs, cattle, tur-
keys, domestic fowls and ducks. All were
owners Of one or more buggies. carts, plows
and other agricultural implements, and
those who lived near the sea owned one or
more boats, with outfit of nets and fishing
gear, ana from spring until winter the sea
yielded abundant harvest Of good fish, tur-
ties. crabs. shrimps, prawns. clans and
oysters. and the marshes furnished terra
pin, which sold at very remunerative fig
ures, as l well know, for the storm took
from me nearly 800 Of them. Every cabin
was comfortable. from their point Of view,
furnished, and in many were sewing ma
chimes, house organs and melodeons, and
for every member of the family, however
slightly attired on week days. a fine. often
gorgeous. suit Of Sunday clothes-and they
are all church-goers. The great barn like
structures that they build for churches are
race-''reverence doctor" is the title-and
are crowded. They have also smaller places
of worship, called praise houses" where
they assemble once or twice a week in the
prayer. responding. singing, and when
spirit dun come pow full" a wild, waltxing
sort of dance, such as I have seen in
Africa. They have schools which troops Of
are lots Of children, and but a very small
portion Of those under twenty have not
quite a fair common school education. Said
an old aunty to lady friend Of mine:
Has yer children, honey?" Yes, aunty
I have three boys and one girl" rs dot
all?" Eyes, isn't 1t enoughT' Dots as
the Lord wills. honey; to some he sends
little filters. and to some big ones. Use got
thirteen head and Use dun loss four head"
The Disastrous Storm.
The climate Is perfect, very little labor
produces good results and I think that
without going more into detail you will all
admit that the Sea Islanders were a happy
contented, very comfortably fixed set of
people. So 1t was at the going down Of the
sun on the 9th day of last August. When
the sun rose the next morning hundreds
of those cabins had been swept from the
earth, with all they contained. Over thirty
thousand Of those people were homeless.
clotheless. foodless with no resources Over
eight hundred were dead 0he figures are
from actual census). A hurricane on its
way from the Gulf of Mexico, to the north.
had swerved somewhat from the usual
course of these storms, it's center, instead
of following the Gulf stream, had come in
over the land, and the great uprising of the
surface of the sea, which always occurs at
the calm center of these storms, caused by
the low atmospheric pressure, as shown by
low barometer, had, instead of dissipating
itself on the surrounding ocean, inundated
our islands to depths varying from one to
ten feet according to the height of the land,
the average height of the tidal wave, above