Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-13
STORM ON ATLANTIC COAST
New Jersey Shores Feel the Fury of a
Terrible Northeast Gale.
CoNtY ISLAND IS GREATLY DAMAGED
Famous ScIdI Concert Hall Mt
brighton Bcnch IL Wrecked
Beach Houses aud summer
Hotels Destroyed.

NEW YORK. Oct ia veritable hurri-
cane has swept over this section OF the coun-
try yesterday and today, the wind blowing
with terrible force reaching at Sandy Hook
velocity OF seventy-fve miles an hour
last night The tide rose to a height many
feet greater than has been seen for years
ard the waves all along the Atlantic coast
swpt In with force that carried every
thirg before them and did damage to tho
amount Of many hundreds Of thousands ot
dollars.
Sandy Hook and points along the Jersey
coast. fcl the fury OF the storm most OF all,
but Coney Island experienced so far as has
yet been learned, the most direful results
The beaches were swept clean, pavilians
were overturned and carried seaward. BATH
ing houses and board walks everything not
far inland on the famous island was torn
up and piled beyond the coast line or carr
ricd out to sea. At Brighton Beach tho
stone walks in front OF the big hotel were
under water and toward the end Of this
afternoon, the famous SCidl concert hall was
inundated and partially carried away. Tho
well kent lawns In front Of the Oriental
hotel, and Manhattan Beach hotel were laid
waste and the lower portions OF the hotels
flooded. lnnumerable small buildings were
picked up bodily and carried away by wind
or wave.
At Far Rockaway the fury OF the gale was
indescrihablo Those houses which were
built on piles in sand were washed away,
and those higher up, which for years have
been out Of the reach Of the highest tides,
were today flooded
Along the Jersey coast most Of the dam
age was done to piers and to breakwators.
Preparations had been made, as forowarn-
inEs OF the storm had been given some days
before. As yet very little damage to ship
ping has been reported. for, on account OF
warnings, many craft delayed sailing, and
others that had cleared returned for a safe
anchorage.
Only five steamers arrived today, namely:
Menemsha, from Stockton -on-Tees, Aller,
from Bremen; Kaiser Wilhelm H. from
Genoa; Anchora, from Glasgow, and Ceyic,
from Liverpool. Among the steamers due,
are the Nacoochee. from Savannah; Semi
mole from Charleston; two Old Dominion
liners from Richmond and Norfolk; Al
lianca, from Colon Elmar, from New Or
leans; Schicdamm. from Amsterdam; Croft,
from Dundee; Llandah City, from Swansea,
and Istra, from Smyrna. They may be
inside the hook, but as communication Is
cut off II is impossible to learn anything
about them. At last reports from the quar-
antine station the wind was blowing a fresh
gale from the southeast, with weather
cloudy.
CONEY ISLAND SWEPT.
Coney Island beach was swept by the
waves of the highest tide in the history OF
tho famous resort a large number Of tenn
poTary structures along the water front
were destroyed. The boulevard was flooded
as far as Neptune avenue. The shelter
houses at the intersection or the concourso
and boulevard were washed away. Waves
running mountain high battered the plaza
in front OF the Brighton Beach hotel, and
tore away part of the concert pavilion in
which Antonio Seidl's orchestra gives its
performances. The Ocean hotel, west OF tho
Brighton Beach hotel was surrounded by
water and it's foundations were racked.
Numerous bathing pavilions and amusement
houses, including the Brighton, were either
wrecked or damaged, among the latter being
the club house OF the Seaside Athletic club.
The old iron pier, which was believea to be
invncible was bunoted by the storm. and
over twenty windows were cut in two by the
mighty impact Of the waves.
At o'clock the waves were still working
havoc, wrecking everything they could
reach on the beach Manhattan Beach
| shared the disaster with other sections OF
! the island. Much Of the ornaments on the
| grounds in front of the Manhattan Beach
hotel were swept away and the magnificent
lawn in front of the swell Oriental hotel
! was made dismal waste.
At 2:30 o'clock a monster wave struck
the concert pavilion at Brighton beach
and tore away two-thrds of the structure.
! The Brighton Beach race track stables arc
| flooded and the horses have been removed
| 10 STABLES alOnB lne DOuleNdIu, n TOuBu
! estimate of the financial loss along the
! Coney Island beach places it at $500, 600.
Hog Island, during the afternoon, added
another big section To that portion which
! had previously gone out TO sea and another
! such storm would wipe IL and several other
adjoining districts out of existence alto
| gether. The ferry house dock, board walk
! and pavilion OF the Far Rockaway Improve
| ment company were totally wrecked. The
| Casino, the United States hotel and the
] II, IL pl,a nd hA IPl hnt tal
we're among those buildings which had at
least two feet of water on their ground
! floors.
At Averne several summer cottages we're
! lifted from their foundations and COM
pletely wrecked. In New Jersey all the
! lowlands we're under water and there are.
as usual washouts of railroads lying alor
! the coast. At Sandy Hook, where even
! the breath of a breeze can be twisted into
! a gale last nights blow was a bowling
| hurricane. The waves broke higher than
ever before and at one time the old tower
which incoming and outgoing ships signal
| shook and tottered though 1t would be
/ blown over.
WORsT IN SEVEN YEARS.
Tho storm was the most devastating that
has visited Sea Isle City since the great
| storm OF 1889, which was accompanied by
a tidal wave. Tho streets were Hooded and
many hotels and cottages along the narrow
! strip of sand between Townsend and Cor
son's nlets were wrecked or badly damaged.
/ Last hight the sea attacked the beach in
! front of the Brunswick hotel, the finest
| structure on that portion OF the coast. To-
day 1t completed it's work. Early In the
afternoon, the front Of the building began
to sag 1t dropped '~ycr and lower as the
waves beat up against 1t and in the middle
OF the afternoon the structure fell in,
| mass Of ruins North Of Sea lHle City tho
fronts Of many of the cottages have been
undermined Some OF the cottages have all
ready fallen and others are ready to fall.
Many catasirOphes must come when the sea
resumes its pounding at high tide
At Long Branch the now iron pier which
many times during the day was affected to
! its very foundation. has thus far stood the
test. IT is thought 1t may go before morn
| ing II the force of the waves Is not abated.
! All day the gale blew fifty miles an hour
at Asbury park. At high tide, noon, IL
seemed to be at the maximum. Thousands
OF people lined the shore and watched the
fury Of the waves and the destruction that
came with every breaker Every movable
thing That came within reach OF the water
was used aB battorlng ram to break down
the structures on the beach. The great walk
was pounded TO pieces in many places. From
Leal Lake to the boundary line II Is a, COM
plete wreck. The marble monument which
marks the spot the New Era went down
in the early days Of Asbury Park was un-