The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-10-03
"A SOUTHERN CYCLONE.
II Creates Great Havoc in the ISL
49, ands Along the Coast. IF
HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE PROBABLE.

Tho Conditions Now Are imilar to
Those of the Great Tidal Storm OF
1854, When There Was Such Fear
full Loss of Life.
Savannah, Ca, Oct. 3.-For IS hours,
from 8 o'clock yesterday morning until
o'clock last night. Savannah was In
the grasp of West Indian cyclone.
During that time the wind blew steadi-
iy from 80 to 70 miles an hour. While
the city escaped with comparatively
little damage. the loss of property
among the sea islands of Georgia and
South Carolina coasts Is believed to be
heavy. For miles in every direction
around Savannah the lowlands along
the rivers are submerged. Only one IA
tality has 80 far been reported, the
drowning of negro while attempting
to reach the mainland from a small
island near Thunderbolt, but heavy loss
of life Is feared on the South Carolina
sea islands. where such fearful loss of
life occurred during the great tidal
storm Of 1893. The conditions now are
similar to those during that storm.
Owing to the submerged country and
the isolated location of the Islands no
news can be had from them until the
water subsidies For eight miles north
of Savannah the entire country Is q
lake, with only the hummocks visible.
At noon yesterday the water was eight
feet above the highest tide. Driven Oh
shore by the northeast storm, 1t filled
up on the islands. swept over banks
and dams, carrying away the remnant
of the rice crop that was left by the
August storm and had not been gath
cred, and wiping out farm crops. The
loss to rice growers alone will be from
$4,000 to $4,000. OF the entire rice crop
along the Savannah river valued at
$260,000, all but about IL per cent. was
lost In this and the preceding storm.
The damage to shipping is consider
able. The schooner Governor Ames,
which was on her way to sea with a
cargo Of 100000 feet of lumber. went
adrlft In the harbof, but was secured
safely. The wharves at the quaran-
tine station, at the entrance to the
river here. were partially carried away.
The quarantine officer and his family
and servants were rescued by tug.
Four vessels which were at anchor at
the station were torn from their moor
ings and driven into the marshes.
Three of these were the British schoon-
er Syanara, bound for st. Johns, N.
B., the American schooner Millvlle,
for Millville, N. j., Fannie L. Child, for
Boston, all lumber laden, and the Ital-
ian bark Franklin. How badly these
vessels are damaged is unknown.
a L.. er1s
bee since early in the morning and
nothing is known of the damage there.
At Thunderbolt and Isle of Hope, sub
urbs of Savannah, all the lighthouses
on the banks and hundreds of small
boats were carried away.
On Hutchnson's Island, opposite Sa-
vannah, and separating the city from
the South Carolina shore, there were
many negro families rescued by boats
from the revenue steamers Tybee and
Boutwell,. One man, with child in
his arms, holding the little one above
his shoulder, started to cross the dams
with the water up to his body. His
wife. with another child, stood in the
window of their he .se. the floor Of
which was already flooded by the ris-
aug wafer, dho WAtcheo hei huSoahu
feel his way step by step along the
top of the treacherous dam, one false
step from which. or caving bank,
would throw him into a swift moving
current. Finally he was sighted from
across the river on the city side. A
towboat was put off. and after half
hours effort the family was rescued.
Upwards of q hundred people were
brought from the island to the city