The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-10-15
THE STORM IN VICINITY OF NEW
YORK WAS THE SEVEREST
IN YEARS.
THE SUMMER RESORTS SUFFERED
High Tides Flooded Hotel Floors and
Swept Cottages Away-The Gale
Blew Furously-Coney Island
Suffered Serious Losses.

New York, Oct. PA veritable hur-
ricane has swept over this section of the
country yesterday and today. The wind
Sandy Hook velocity of seventy-fve
miles an hour last night. Tides rose to
height many feet greater than has been
seen for years, and the waves all along
the Atlantic coast swept in with force
that carried everything before them and
did damage to the amount of many hun
| dreds of thousands of dollars. Sandy
Hook and points along the New Jersey
coast felt the fury of the storm most of
all, but the Coney Island experienced, so
| far rs has been learned, the most direful
| result. Pavilions were overturned and
| carried southwark: bathing houses and
boarE walks everything not rar inland
on the famous island was torn up and
piled high beyond the coast line, or were
carried out to sea.
At Brighton Beach the stone walks
in front of the big hotel We're under
water, and towards the end of this after
noon the famous Seidl concert hall was
inundated and partially carried away.
The well kept lawns i'll front of the ORR
entail hotel and Manhattan Beach hotel
were laid waste and lower portions of
the houses flooded. Innumerable build
ings were picked up bodily and carried
away by wind or waves.
At Far ROckaway the fury of the gale
was indescribabe. There houses which
were built on piles in sand were washed
away, and those higher up, which for
years have been out of reach of the high
est tides were today flooded. Along
the Jersey coast most of the damage done
was to property, as breakwater prepara-
tons had been made, as a forecast of
the storm had been given some days be-
fore. Craft delayed sailing, and others
lust cleared returned for safe anchoring.
Coney Islands beach was swept by
the waves of the highest tides in the his
tory of the famous resort last night and
today. A large number of temporary
structures along the front were destroy
ed. The boulevard was flooded as far
as Neptune avenue. The shelter houses
at the intersection of the concourse and
the 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 pavil-
ion in which Anton Ieidles' orchestra
gives its performances. The Ocean ho-
tel, west of Brighton Beach hotel, was
surrounded by water and its foundations
were wrecked Numerous bathing pa
vilions and amusement houses in West
Brighton were either wrecked or dam
aged Among the latter was the club
house of the Seaside Athletic club. The
old iron pier that was believed to be i'm
pregnable, and that had been buffeted
by the storms of over twenty winters,
was cut in two by the mighty impact of
the waves.
At 2:3O o'clock a monster wave struck
the concert pavilion at Brighton Beach
and tore away two-thirds of the struc-
ture. The Brighton Beach race track
stables were flooded and the horses
were removed to stables along the bOule-
ward. A rough estimate of the financial
loss along Coney Island beach places it
at 100000.
The ferry house and dock. board walk
and pavilion of the Far Rockaway I'm
proyement company were totally wreck
ed. The Casino, the United States ho-
tel, the Tackapausha house and the
Dolphin hotel were among those build
ings which had at least two feet of water
on their ground floors.
At Wave Crest the damage will amount
to $4,000. Nearly all the improve
ments made by the Lancaster Improve
ment company near this place within the
last two years were washed away, piled
up in broken masses or buried under
tons OF SAND.
A great deal of damage was done at
Edgemorc, and this afternoon the tide
had risen so high as to threaten to I'M
dermine the Edgemore hotel.
At Avcrne several summer cottages
were lifted from their foundations and
completely wrecked. AT this place, also,
several thousand dollars of track was
washed away.
In New Jersey all the low lands were
under water, and several washouts on
railroads lying along the coast are re-
ported. In this particular the electric
road suffered most.
At Sandy Hook. where even the breath
of Il breeze can be twisted into a, gale,
last nights blow was a bowling hurri-
cane. 1t was n fearful night for the OBJ
server and for all who had reason to
venture within sight of the sea. The
waves broke higher than ever before,
and ut one time the tower, which incom-
ing and outgoing ships signal, shook and
tottered as though it was going to go
over. This was towards morning,
when, it is estimated, the gale was
blowing in the neighborhood of rs miles
an hour. The streets were flooded and
many hotels and cottages at Sea Isle
We're wrecked.
North of Sea Isle city the fronts of
many of the cottages have already fallen
and others are ready to fall. The branch
of the South Jersey railway is washed
away for fully half mile.
At Asbury park thousands lined the
shore today and witnessed the fury of
the waves and the destruction that came
in with every breaker.
Many houses were unroofed at Egg
Harbor City, and many people were
forced into the streets.
Tonight n mail train managed TO get
I I ....I,N
hours.
Among the craft reported sunk or dam
aged is the yacht Novelte. which was
driven ashore. The storm along the
sound was very severe, but not as dis
astrous as on the ocean coast line.
WATSON'S CONDITION..