Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1896-10-03
CEDAR KEYS
Almost Wiped From the Face Of
the Earth by a Tidal Wave.
The Loss Of Life and Property Re-
ported to Be Enormous.
Dead Bodies Found Sticking Deep In the
Mud. But No One Knows How Many
Are Dead-Many Sponging Vessels.
With Their Crews, Lost.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla, Oct. Cedar
Keys is a place of desolation and death.
Tuesday it was thriving town of
1,5oo inhabitants. Thursday many of
the people are corpses, scores of others
are injured and there are but few
houses left standing. Twenty corpses
have been recovered and it is known
that many others are dead. OF those
recovered but few have been identi-
fed, SO mutilated were they by falling
timbers.
Many of the corpses We're dug out Of
the mud in which they were buried by
the mighty tidal wave that swept over
the town Tuesday morning.
The storm struck this place about
$3.50 o'clock Tuesday morning and con-
tinued for several hours. Though
warning had been given, nothing in
dicated blow of unusual severity.
At o'clock an immense tidal wave
came in from the south, carrying de-
struction with it. Boats, wharves and
small houses were hurled upon the
shore, and, breaking into fragments,
covered the street with wreckage and
rendered them almost impossible,
while the torrents of water rushing
through every open space 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 foundations
and inmates drowned. OF the 90 bod
les recovered IL are white and col
ored.
The Mary Eliza, sponging schooner,
reached Cedar Keys at ten o'clock
Thursday morning, jury rugged, hav-
ing had to cut both masts away to pre-
vent capsizing. She reports that at
dark Monday night nearly 100 vessels
were anchored on the sponge bar just
below Cedar Keys and that nearly
every one of them was sunk by the
hurricane
Beyond the bar the tops of scores of
masts are visible just above the water,
ana each top indicates the burial place
of sponging schooner and its crew.
AS these vessels carried from four to
ten men, the loss of life is horrible to
contemplate.
When the tidal wave came and over
whelmed the houses many of the in
mates floated in the water, clinging to
pieces of timber. Others clung to tree
tops for hours until the water receded.
They were buffeted by wind and
wave, and many women tainted.
clinging, though, even while un-
conscious, with death grip to the sue
coring limbs. They all show tho ef-
fects in their tattered clothing and
bruised bodies, but were glad to escape
with their lives. Many others are still
unaccounted for, and families and
friends are filed with anxiety, hoping
for the best, but fearing the worst.
Reliable news of the storm from the
western part of Levy and Alachua
counties mas just reached Jacksonville.
Not less than 2G0 families are left desti-
tute, All their houses, fencing and
crops are totally destroyed What
they had gathered was blown away
with the buildings.
The town of Needmore was demol-
ished. The post office building at that
place was completely demolished, and
the postmaster can find no part of the
mail or post office fixtures Every
house at Yular, Judson and ChieAand
was destroyed with one or two excep-
tions, killing people at both the former
places
r JAcKsoNyILLE, Fla, Oct. Q. 1t is re-
ported that the. fatalities at Cedar
Keys will reach 900 ~