Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-04-20
IT WAS A Big BLIZZARD.
SEA AND LAND SWEPT WITH
AWFUL FORCE.
A Vicious Storm Makes Life Miser-

the Wake of Gale.
The storm which swept over New York
City and the North and Middle Atlantic
coast for a night and day was the worst
experienced during the month of April in
many years. The most disastrous feature
was the loss of two schooners on the
treacherous New Jersey coast. From
eight to ten men were lost in each of
the wrecks. In the country trees were
uprooted buildings blown down and
on the land, did great damage to small ship
ping and to other property. The heavy wind
caused q hawser to snap on the steamer Purl-
tan at New York and five men were injured
The tug Underwater was forced against a
pier in Brooklyn and sunk her crew narrowly
escaping. The gale was extremely
severe in and around New York City; harbor
traffic was greatly impeded, and the high
tides caused considerabletroube to ferries q
number of minor accidents were reported, but
no serious damage was caused some small
vessels were driven ashore on Long Island,
The remarkable thing is that the storm was
scarcely felt north of New York City. AL
bany was as dry as a chip. At night tho
storm center was south and the storm passed
out to sea. At 8 o'clock in tho morning the
wind blew at the rate of forty miles an hour :;
an hour later it had subsidized to thirty-six ; it
attained its greatest velocity between o. ID.
and 2 p. M, when 1t reached forty-two
miles an hour. At sea, off Block Isl
and it blew al ffty-siX miles an hour. and
at Sandy Hook seventy miles.
In New York City the storm furnished a
fitting climax to the atrocioua weather of
the year. The storm was cut out for O biz
zard, but lost its icy edge in consequence of
coming along too late in the season. New
Workers who heard the wind howl and saw
when they woke up the roofs covered
Trrith ~ Ia cir,Cr
in violence, naturally thought of the
blizzard of March II, 1888, six years ago. In
mere ways than one the storm resembIed the
great blizzard. All the conditions were
practically the same, except as to the tenn
neratura Had the weather been as cold as
it was then the snow which melted as it fell
would have piled high in the streets and
been rendered for the time being immovable
by the subsequent sleet. Rain, snow
and sleet cut the faces and chilled
the hands, and draggled the skirts and
trouser tops of all who had to be out De-
laws on the elevated roads added to the
sum of misery while the Broadway cable
road had one or two stOppages. Several of
the city markets were practically deserted.
the storm having prevented most of the
farmers from coming in from Long
Island and New Jersey with truck.
Telegraph lines were crippled in all di-
rections. superintendent Humstone, of
the Western Union, said in the after
noon: "Wires are disabled in all di-
reetion, especially in the South" As if
the wind. rain, snow and seet were not
enough of baleful visitants, there was a
period of dense fogs in the morning. The
city was stepped in misery. Umbrellas were
turned inside out. hats skylarked under the
impetus of unwonted gusts. and
feet trailed over slush-topped sidewalks.
Cellars were flooded, and South and West
streets were covered with two feet of water
When the ferry boats came into their slips
they were so high that it was almost i'm
possible to make a connection with the
bridges which trucks and heavy wagons
could go up and down. Th ferry men said
that the conditions were simply phenomenal.
The wind ragged around the river front
and played mad pranks with ferry boats
which were forced to brave its fury. while
vessels at their wharvcs received such
a shaking up as they had not experienced
in many day. Some were sunk, and
there were one or two collisions. Five
members of the crew of the big Sound
steamboat Puritan received injuries
due directly to the storm. The steamboat
was warped into her dock and big tWo-inch
hawser was thrown out to make her fast to
the pier The strong wind and tide made
very heavy strain, und the hawser parted
with report like the explosion of a can
non. The end made fast to tho Puri-
tan recOiled. and cut away the rail
and iron chock, and struck the mate and the
hands who were adjusting the line. The five
men were thrown to the dock. Second Mate
Thomas Kelly had q Iacerated wound of the
head William CondOn's leg was iacerated.
John Mahoney and Harry Hau5en had con-
tusions of the leg and William Cuttings
slight wounds on the body. All but Gattings
were taken to the Chambers Street Hospital
Brooklyn suffered considerably from the
clements An unfinished house at Third
avenue and Thirty-seventh street was re-
duced to kindling wood shortly after noon.
The gale overthrew trees, unroofed houses
and tore heavy signs from their fastenings.
The ocean tugboat Underwater was sunk at
Martins Stores, Brooklyn. Her crew of
eight men had a narrow escape. A long
stretch of scaffolding belonging to the Wild
West Show, at Thirty-third street and Third
avenue, was blown down.
Many small craft were driven ashore and
buildings were damaged by the storm on
Long Island. The wind reached a velocity
of fifty miles an hour at the United States
Engineer station at Willet's Point. The
long veranda was blown from the front
of the Engineer headquarters and the build
ing rocked so that the occupants vacated it,
fearing that it would collapse. The sIoOp
William Scott was blown against the rail-
road trestle near Rockaway Beach and began
pounding with such violence that she be-
came a total wreck. Many boats lying in
Grayesend Bay off ,ot1,, the Broo6lyn KY
At Bay Ridge many bathing paviltons were
carried out on the tide. At Brighton Beach,
Coney Island, the Hotel Brighton was in
danger of being washed away. The roof OF
the pavilion adjoining the hotel was blown
off and several shanties near the Brighton
Beach race track were demolished. Mariners
declare the storm was the most severe that
had swept the Sound for many years. Not
since the memorable blizzard had Long Isl
and known such a storm. In the different
towns on the coast the tide reached the
Inv
At Greenport. L. l.. the schooner Nevada,
Captain Griffing. loaded with oysters for
NOrwalk, Conn, driited from her anchor
age and went through a building in the
shipyard badly damaging her. The
crew escaped. The schooner Lena r.,
Captain Raynor, went ashore near the
lumber yard, and the schooner Anna t.,
tore away part of the pier. Bulkheads
at East Shore were all carried away and
houses on the beach were surrounded by
water. The slOOp Carrie, lOadei with oysters
and owned by John Carle, OF ROckaWay
Beach, broke her cable drifted and sunk off
Seaside. The old mill at Northpor, L. l.,
which was moro than one hundred years
Dll, was destroyed by the wind, and tho
large flag pole in Main street, that place,
was blown down. Many persons who were
passing at the time narrowly escaped being
truck
The storm did considerable damage on the
shores Of Staten Island. At South Beach the
tide was the highest seen in many years the
sur, hrOke over the piazzas of the hotels,
threatening destruction.
Popular seaside resorts along the New
Jersey coast felt the effects of the terrific
gale and mountainous waves, while the fall
OF snow in many places throughout the state
was the heaviest known during the season.
The coast had not known 50 severe a storm
for eighteen years. The wind, which blew at
a rate of from fifty to seventy miles an hour.
caused extraordinary high seas, which made
Point Pleasant to the Highlands of Nayesink
About three thousand feet of the tracks