The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-03
THE SEA ISLANDS DEAD.
Inspector Jones Says the Number
Will 90 Above 1000.

VIII 6U nDUNO lyUUUt
The Appalling Condition of the Sea
Islands-Some of Them are so Ofen-
sive They Cannot be Approached
The Great Loss Of the Phosphate
Companies-It Runs Into the Hun
dreds Of Thousands-People Crying
for Food.
Columbia, S. c., Sept. 2.-Phosphate
Inspector Jones arrived here late tonight
from Beaufort by the governors orders.
His report shows that previous reports
have only guessed at the great loss of life
on the islands. He believes that the
number Of dead will go away above one
thousand persons. The following is
summary of what he says: 'The large
wharves Of the Coosaw company We're
completely destroyed. So was the village
at Coosaw. There is not house in sight.
This company had ten thousand
tons of phosphate dried and
ready for market. Its five
dredges, sixty-eight lighters and forty
flats are stranded, many being total
wrecks. The estimated loss of this com
pany is S150,OO0. The Farmers Mining
Company lose 100000; Carolina Mining
Company S150,OO0; Beaufort Phosphate
Company $50, 900. The aggregate loss, in
my opinion, is about $35O,000. With
liberal policy adopted by the state and
concessions granted, the Coosaw, Farm
ers and Beaufort companies can resume
operations in sixty days, if money and la
bor can be secured
NOT HOUSE STANDING.
"a large number of phosphate hands
had built their own houses on Coosaw
Island With strong ship glasses we
could not see a single house standing and
not single soul There is nothing left
of the custom house. The Pacific mines
are completely lost. The Sea Island
Chemical Works lose $25, GOO We sighted
two vessels high and dry on Chisolm
Island marsh, one on South Edisto
and a waterlogged schooner in St.
Helena sound. In Port Royal sound
we say eight wrecks. My estimate
of the loss of lives on the islands ada
cent to Beaufort, and not including those
near the mouth of the Savannah river, is
between 200 and 1900, most of whom
are negroes. There were very few whites
on these islands, judging from the glasses
from the boat on which I circled. The
islands on the west side show no vestige
of life
THE ISLANDS DESTITUTE,
The islands are completely destitute and
the crops have been swept entirely away.
There is danger of a water famine all
over the islands, and even In Beaufort
county all the wells and cisterns are filled
with water. The people were killed by
houses falling on them and drowning.
Only Paris and Ladies' islands have been
heard from with any show of certainty.
At Gains Neck, Coosaw and Pacific AZ cof-
fins were used and 98 persons buried. The
bodies are being found in a decomposed
condition. They are being mutilated by
carrion and are very offensive, They
have not begun to find even portion of
the bodies Some of them are swept far
up in the marshes where man cannot go.
At Gains Neck there are deer, COWS,
hogs, snakes and all kinds of wild ami
mails piled up together, making the sec
tion so offensive that one cannot go there.
D1lNG OF STARVATION.
There are not enough provisions on the
islands to last these people a week. They
are dying from starvation. While in Beau
fort, Sunday noon, the wind was so strong
that it blew me across the street. 1 had
terrible struggle to get around back of
fence, and clinging to it got into house
on the highest point on the bluff, where
remained until a. m. The water was
ten feet deep in the town. You couldn't
hear your own ears for the roar of the
winds. The damage in the town of Beau
Tort will not be less than S250,0O0
COL. AvERILL's GOOD WORK.
Senator Verdier had his library and
records swept away and is a ruined man.
We could get no news from the outside
world until Wednesday. 1t was a fortu-
nate thing for those people that Col
Ayerill got down there. He did not
stand on expense or anything else. 1t is
not money the people want as much as
provisions and clothing. Their needs are
immediate. Lots of persons had to tie
themselves to trees IN order to keep from
being swept away. The people are like
maniacs crying for bread, some of them
nave on nothing but shirts"