The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-03
FATE OF CEDAR KEYS.
A Terrible Story of Death and De-
structi0n.


JACKSONVILLE, Fla, Oct. BE
ports received from Cedar Keys tell a.
story of great damage to property and
loss of life from fire and flood. Early
rumors from there spoke of Cedar Keys
having been wiped out, but fortunately
later and more authentic reports show
this was an exaggeratfon. AS it is.
however. fifteen persons are reported
drowned. In Mrs. Weidley's house
alone, five persons perished bv tbe
flood, including three Of Mrs. Weidley,s
children and her neice and the latter's
child. Bodies are being recovered from
along the coast and many fishermen.
who went out on Monday night have
not been heard from since they left.
1t is feared that fatalities will exceed
the number already reported The
Florida Central & Peninsular railway
will be compelled to build an entire
new track for distance of four miles.
All the wharves at Cedar Keys were
washed. several houses were blown
down, and six were destroyed by fire.
Cedar Keys Is a place Of desolation
and death. Forty-eight hours ago. il
was thriving town Of 1,500 inhabi-
tants. Today many Of the people are
corpses, scores Of others are injured
and there are but few houses left
standing. Fifteen corpses have been
recovered, but few have been identi-
fed, so mutilated were they by falling
timbers. Many corpses were dug out
Of the mud In which they were buried
by the mighty tidal wave that swept
over the town Tuesday morning.
The town is situated at the mouth
of the Sewanee river, on a number of
small keys, connected by a number
of bridges. 1t had no protection and
went to pieces when the West India
hurricane, with a velocity of eighty
miles an hour, came roaring from the
gulf. The storm struck the place about
$3.50 O'clock Tuesday morning, and con-
tfnued for several hours Though warn
ing had been given, nothing indicated
blow of unusual severity. Up to II
o'clock the night was calm and quiet,
AT that hour a moderate breeze sprang
up from the eastward, increasing grad
ually until a thirty mile wind was
blowing. About a. m. 1t blew q per-
feet tornado and suddenly changed to
the Southeast, bringing in a perfect de-
luge Of water, the tide rising two feet
higher than in the memorable gale Of
1894, which was at the time said to be
the worst storm on record. At O'Clock.
an immense tidal wave came in from
the south, carrying destruction with
1t. Boats and wharves were hurled
upon the shore and breaking into frag-
ments covered the streets with wreck
age and rendered them almost impass-
able. While the torrents Of water were
rushing through every open space. it
would take the strongest man off his
feet. 1t was this tidal wave that
caused the principal loss of life Many
houses being swept from their founda-
tions and the inmates drowned.
OF the bodies recovered, twelve are
Of whites and the others colored. OF
the whites, six belonged to the Weld
ley family, a mother, four children and
a young lady visitor. The other four
white victims are men and have not
yet been identified. OF the negroes,
only one, Peter Woodson, has been
identified
The loss of life at Cedar Keys proper
was nothing in comparison with the
number of spongers and fishermen who
In this morning dismasted. She reports
that at dark Monday night, nearly 100
vessels were anchored on the sponge
bar below Cedar Keys and that all OF
them but about 20 were lost. These