New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-03
CEDAR KEYS SWEPT AWAY.
,,,,cK BY 4 TIDAL WAVE FOLLOWING
THE HURRICANE.
-uryrY BODIES ALREADY RECOVERED AND
MANY MORE BURIED IN THE RUINs-AP-
FALLING LOSS OF LIFE AMONG
SPONGERS AND FISHERMEN
on TIE GULF

FALLING LOSS OF LIFE AMONG
spoNGERs AND FISHERMEN
on TIE GULF.
,..,.orvi,le Fla, Oct Cedar Keys is a
80 of desolation and death. On Monday it
-. a thriving town of 900 inhabitants To-
sov many Of the people are dead, scores of
s,hsrs are injured and few houses left
leading Twenty bodies have been recovered.
"a i. is known that many other persons have
s..r killed But few of the bodies have been
,,ortiNed so mutilated were they by falling
timbers.
The storm struck the town at 800 o'clock on
ruesday morning and continued for several
hours At a. III. it blew a perfect hurricane.
The wind suddenly changed to southeast. orihs-
ing in a deluge of water. the tide rsihs '"o
,eet higher than 1t did in the menoraoie gaze "i
1904 which was at the tire said TO ne 'he
everest storm record.
AZ O'clock an immense tidal wave came in
trom the South carrying destruction win IT,
poats wharves and small houses were hurieu
from the shore and broken into fragments COW
.r,ne the streets with wreckaSe and rendering
them impossible. while the torrents or water
rushing through every open space TOOK the
s,rongest men off their feet This tidal wave
.aused the principal loss Of life. many houses
he,ng swept from their foundations. and the in
mates drowned
OF the twenty bodies recovered, twelve are
xh,te and eight colored OF the whites. Ska
,rother four children ana young woman ViSi-
,or-helong 10 the Whitson family. The other
tour white victims are men. and have not yet
hon identified. OF the colored people only one:
n.nr Woodson has been identified. Most OF
, ths victims were buried deep in mud ny the tldal
wave and many OF the p"uo' VIII p''
never be recovered
MANY FISHERMEN PERlSHED
Deporable as is the loss of life in Cedar Keys II
,s nothing in comparison with the number OF
snongers and fishermen who were drowned Ihe
Mary Eliza a spongins schooner reached Cedar
Keys Yesterday and reports that at dark on Mon
d.r NIGHT nearly one hundred vessels were an
chored on the spong" bar, Just below Ceoar NJ =
and that nearly every one of them was sInS -.
the hurricane AS these vessels carried from four
N ton mon each the loss of life is horrible 10 con-
template 1t is possible that many 81 me vessels
were blown into the Gulf and rode OUT tie hu'i !
cane but the Mary Elias captain thlnks ina. os
far the greater number are penea'h th' va
with their crews There was not one chance III d
thousand he says for such iran craft % I'VE ="
such storm. 49,, ,ha
coast returned to Cedar Keys late YESTERDAY
afternoon and reported finding the bocies "l
eight men washed ashore These men e'.s W. "lt ~
crew of spongng vessel and the crews .!
most Of the other vessels have undouhtedl! ihel
a similar fate. Four men reached Cedar NtSS
in dingy. They were part OF the crew OIL ,l.
schooner Rosalie and report the vessel sunk
and eight Of their companions droWneu' lh,
schooner Gertrude is dismasted and anandoneu
hfteen miles south of Cedar Keys. The NAL
lorv Is fast in the Suwanee River swamps.
The steamers Belle of Suwaree and c. d. owens
were both wrecked in the Suwanee River; Inc me
Owens is fast in the river sWampS "hlle the
Belle steamed slowly into Cedar KEYS Yesterday
afternoon with both smokestacks and all her
upper works gone.
Those who escaped death in Cedar Keys had
terrible experience when the tidal over
whemed the town. Many of the people foated in
the water. clinging to pieces OF timber while
others clung to treetops for hours until the water
receded They buffeted by wind and wave,
and many still missing.
FIRE IN THE MIDST OF THE GALE.
While the gale was at It's height fire broke out
In the Bettini House, and 1t burned The
force Of the wind demolished the large and hand
some Methodist Episcopal Church the Cedar
Keys High School building. the Christian Church,
three colored churches. many private houses and
all the 1shhouJes except one. The Suwanee Ice
factory, Wolrs cedar mill the Eagle Pencil Com
pany's mill. the large lumber mill Of V. j. Her
long and the planning mill OF Meyer & Sons Just
completed ana ready for work. suffered consider
ably.
The Florida Central and Pennsular Railroad is
aheavy loser. all the trestling Is washed away
for a distance of three and half miles. II Will
probably be a month before trains run through
The adjoining island of Atsena Otie also suf-
fered considerably. the Faber Company being
the principal losers Their storage room. with
about 3. 100 cases Of cedar ready for shipment
was washed away and the cedar has gone TO sea
They also lost the Office buildings and contents
wharf and cedar logs.
Cedar Keys Is village in Levy County Florida
near the mouth OF the Suwanee River, on the Gulf
coast. 1t is built Way hey lnl .Atsena one
Key and Is l55 miles from Fernandina and IA
miles from Tallahassee 1t Is the principal distrib-
uting point the Gulf coast Of Florida. Large
Quantities OF pine lumber manufactured there.
and II contains the factories OF the Eagle and
Faber pencil companies II Is on he Flori1a CcL-
tral and Peninsular Railroad.