The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-03
Great Destruction of Property by the
Blizzard in New England and
Along the Coast.
MANY VESSELS WRECKED
THE BEACH sTREWN WITH DEBRIS
FROM SHIPS DRIVEN ASHORE.
At Least a Score of Sailors Drowned
Nearly u Million and Half.

BOSTON, Mass, Feb. "A score of per-
sons were drowned and $2,00O,O00 loss in
fiicted by the storm that swept over east
ern Massachusetts and Rhode Island Mon
day night and Tuesday morning. -Four I'M
identified bodies lie IN the coroner's office in
Gloucester. Five more are in Lynn, brought
over from Little Nahant, where the
schooner Charles II. Briggs was wrecked.
Twelve unidentified corpses are reported to
be at Bakers island, in Salem harbor.
They too, must have manned some of the
schooners which were lost in Gloucester
harbor. That there are others in the waters
of the bay seems almost certain. Wreckage
is strewn up and down the coast from Cape
Ann to Cape Cod. Thirty schooners We're
wrecked in Massachusetts bay. On land
the loss by the storm seems to have been
confined entirely to property.
Twenty-four hours elapsed before direct
Geographic communication was restored be-
tween Boston and the rest of the world
The electric car service in this city was re-
stored by noon, but in most of the smaller
towns the trolley lines are still crippled.
The cost of the storm in this city is estl-
mated as follows: Boston Elevated Rail-
way Company, 1924 900; City of Boston, 49,
Co., Western Union Telegraph Company
$4,000; Postal Telegraph Company, $lU'OOO
Long distance Telephone Company, $o.OOO
New England Telephone Company, $lO,OCO;
electric light companies, $4,000 flre alarm
and police signal service, 5000; hre losses
due to disabled equipment ana detective
wires, 500 600; steam railroads, damage TO
property and loss to income, $l25.cOO; loss
to shipping interests, about $25O,OOO; loss 10
Boston business interests, at least SSO,0OC-
total, $1428,00O.
With clearing weather the fleet of storm
bound vessels made preparations to leave
port and several got under way. The pilot
boat Varuna reached here to-day after an
awful experience in the storm, during which
Cant. William H. Fairfield was seriously
injured. The first information from Vine
yard Haven since the storm was received
to-day. 1t says that violent easterly gale
with a velocity of fifty-five miles an hour
swept over that section Monday night and
caused an extremely high tide. Yesterday
morning the gale changed to a northwest
~erly blizzard with drizzling snow. Tele-
graph and telephone lines were Frustrated
and considerable damage done along the
water front. A fleet of vessels harbored at
the Vineyard lay safely at their anchorage.
The tug Ice King with wrecking scow
and apparatus engaged in raising the barge
Pine Forest, sunk in Quick's Hole, was
obliged to abandon the scow, and she was
left with two men on board. The fate of
the men is unknown
Advices from Magnolia. Mass, say: Four
of the six schooners which We're anchored
in Freshwater cove On Monday and which
were either blown ashore or out to sea by
the blizzard, have been definitely located,
but the fate of the other two is still I'M
known. There is enough wreckage on Dol
liver's point TO account for these two yes
sells, the James Holmes, of Belfast, and
the Marcellus. of Bucksport but nothing
has been found that can be said TO identify
them. What remains of the Jewett lies on
the beach at Delivers Point Gloucester
but the four bodies which are at Gloucester
have not been identified as those of the
men who formed part of her crew. The
Clara Jane lies high and dry on the Great
Brewster, at the entrance of Boston harbOr.
The crew of the Clara Jane are safe.
There is great interest manifested in the
report that the bodies of twelve men had
been picked UP just off shore and are now
at Bakers island, about three miles from
here. An effort will be made tomorrow
to reach the island and have the bodies TAX
EN- to the mainland for Identification