The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-10-03
CEDAR KEYS GONE
TOWN AT THE MOUTH OF TIE
sUWANEE OVERWHELMED.

day Moraing, which Swept Away tn
Wharves, Inundated the Town ant
Played Havoc Among the spongers ant
Fishermen Ont on the Gulf-Dsath AND
Destruction at Inland Towns and VII
lagss-FsIlowed by q Half-Denial of the
Worst Features of the reports.
Jacksonville, Fla, Oct Cedar Keys
Is place of desoIation and death. Some
eorty-eight hours ago it was a thriving
town of 1,5o0 inhabitants. Today many
Of the people are corpses, scores OF
others are injured and there are but few
houses left standing. Twenty corpses
have been recovered, but few have iden
tifed, so mutila;ted were they by falling
tmbers. Many of the corpses were dug
put of the mud in which they were
buried by the mighty tidal wave that
swept over the town Tuesday morn
ing.
The tovr Is situated at the mouth OF
the SIrw-anee on a number OF small keys
connected by a number or bridges. 1t
had no protection and went TO pieces
when the West India hurricane, with
velocity of eighty miles an hour, came
roaring from the gulf. The storm struck
the place about 800 O'Clock Tuesday
morning and continued for several hours
Though warning had been given, moth
ng indicated a blow OF unusual severity.
Up to IL o'clock the night was calm
and quiet. At that hour moderate
,crrr
Increasing gradually until a thirty mile
wind was blowing.
TIDE TWO FEET HIGHER.
About O'Clock a. m, 1t blew a per-
tect tornado and suddenly changed to
the southeast, bringing a perfect de-
luse OF water, the tide rising two feet
higher than in the memorable gale of
1894, which was at that time said TO
be the worst storm on record AT z
o'clock an immense tidal wave came in
from the south, carrying destruction
with II. Boats. wlIarves, small build
lngs were hurled upon the Shore and
broken into fragments, covering the
streets with wreckage and rendering
them impossible. While the torrent CT
water was rushing through every open
space it would take the strongest man
of his feet Tt was this tidal wave
that caused the principal loss OF life,
many houses being swept away and the
In mates drowned.
Of the twenty bodies recovered twelve
are white and eight are colored. OF the
whites, six belonged to the Whitson J
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 eight negroes only |
ho
OUT ON THE GULF
The loss of life as Cedar Keys proper |
b as nothing in comparison with the |
pq1niber of spongers and fishermen who
were drowned. The Mary Eliza came
In thFs morning disnlantled. She re-
ports at dark Monday night nearly 100 !
vessels were anchored on the spong bar
below Cedar Keys and that all these |
but twenty were lost. AS these boats
caTrsed from four to ten men each, the |
loss of life was great. The schooner
RosaTe was sunk and eight Of her crew
drowned
The handsome church building Of the
Methodist Episcopal church (south), the
Cedar Keys High school building, the
Christian church and three colored
churches, The Suwanee Ice factory. !
Wallis cedar mill and the Eagle Pencil
companyS mills, also the large lumber
mill OF v. ]. Heriong and Sons, all ready
for work, besides scores of private resi-
denoes, were wrecked by the wind and
waves. Some of the handsomest and
apparently most substantial buildings
are damage beyond repair.
HUNDREDS DESTITUTE.
Reliable news OF the storm from the
western part of Levy and Alachua coun
n he'd To
less THAN 200 families are left destitute;
ali their homes. fencing, crops. etc, are
totally destroyed and what they had
gathered was blown away with the
buildings
Then, too, most of the victims were
buried deep in the mud by the tidal
wave and many Of the bodies will pro-
badly never be recovered.
Beyond the bar there are a. score Of
nas'ts visible just above the water, and
each top indicates the burial place of a
sporgfng schooner and its crew It 1.
possible that many of the vessels Were
blown out into the gulf and rode out
the hurricane. but the Mary Elizas cap I
tain says that by far the greater num-
Der are beneath the water with their
crews. He says that there was not
one chance in a thousand for such fral
d |
CORPSDS ASHORE.
Two gentlemen who went down the
coast a few miles this morning return
81 TO Cedar Keys this afternoon and re-
ported finding the corpses of eight men
washed ashore These men were the
crew of a spong1ng vessel and the crews
Of most Of the other vessels have I'M
doubtedly met a similar fate It IS
cS-3hls, rT,ait Of <-aScaYS ! 7
that for days to come corpses 1
DE- the spongerS Will be found along the d
,oafs. The steamer Gertrude is dis
11an6led and abandoned fifteen miles
south Of Cedar Keys. The Mallory is [
last in the Suwanee river swamps. The G
steamers Belle Of Suwanee and c. d. {
owens were both wrecked in the Suw- I
lnee river. The Owens IS fast in the S
liver swamps, while the Belle steamer /
anne into Cedar Keys this afternoon o
With both smokestacks and all upper v
work gone. 2
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES. (
In Cedar Keys those who escaped
ieath had a terrible experience. When
he tidal wave came and overwhelmed {
he houses. many of the inmates floated v
n the water clingfng to pieces of TIM I
ser-s; others chung TO tree tops for hours Z
Until the water receded. They were 1
'uffeted by the wind and waves and ii
many men tainted ciinging even while n
with a death grip TO the II
uccunbing limbs. All show the effect r
n their clothing and bruised flesh. but Il
re thankful 10 escape with their lives /,
fany others are still unaccounted for I,
nd families and friends are filed with u
hoping for the best. but fear. "A
ng the worst, in view Of the utter de- n
-,,si,f hr- l..