Hutchinson gazette., 1898-10-06
Heavy Winds do Much Damage
at Savannah, Georgia.
RICE CROP PRACTICALLY RUINED.
Railroad Traffic ana Telegrnphic
Communication Interrupted Coast
shipping Greatly Damaged
Loss Of Life Feared.


time the wind blew steadily from
Gfty to seventy miles an hour.
While the city escaped with com
paratively little damage, the loss ol
property among the sea islands oi
the Georgia and South Carolina
coasts is believed to be heavy. For
miles In every direction around Sa-
yannah the lowlands along the rivers
hre submerged. Only one fatality
has so far been reported--the drown
Ing of O negro while attempting to
reach the land 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 1888
The conditions now are similar ia
those during that storm. Owing to
the submerged country and the iso'
lated location OF the islands, no news
can he had from them until the water
subsidies. For eight miles nor" OF
Savannah the entire country Is lake
with only the hummocks visible, At
noon the water was eight feet above
the highest tide. Driven on 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 wipng out farm crops.
The loss to rice growers alone will
be from 10000 to $4,000, or the en-
tire rice crop along the Savannah
river, valued at $25O,O0O, all out about
10 per cent was lost in this and the
preceding storm. The damage to
shipping is considerable. Inc schoon-
er Governor Ames, which was on her
way to sea with cargo of 1,0VO,0OO
feet Of lumber went adrift in the har-
Dor, but was secured safely. The
wharves at the quarantine station at
the entrance to the river here were
partially carried away. Ahe quaran-
tine officer and his family and serv-
ants were rescued by tug, Four
vessels which were at anchor at the
station were torn from their moor
lngs and driven into the marshes,
Three Of these were the British
schooner Syanara, bound for St,
John, y. f.; the American schooner
Millyllc, for NIllevllle, n. j.. the Fam
ME Child, for Boston, al. lumber la
den, aud the Italian bark Franklin.
How badly these vessels are damaged
Is unllnown. No news has been re-
ceiyed from Tybee since early Sunday
morning and nothing is known Of the
damage there,
At Thunderbolt and Isle OF Hope,
suburbs of Savannah, all the boat
houses on the banks and hundreds
of small boats were carried away.
The extent to which the railroads
suffered is not fully known. The
naval stores and cotton and lumber
yards OF the Plant system are sub
merged, and the tracks OF the Gem
trial railroad Of Georgia and the
Georgia and Alabama railroad around
the city are covered,
The north-bound express on the
+. G. & p. railroad, due here from
Florida at noon, has not yet arrived.
Telegraph wires, except one wire
over the Western Union lines are
down and the condition Of ,"e rail-
road tracks is unknown. All other
roads are operating and the i. c, &
P. is running north of Atlanta. The
telephone, police, light and fire alarm
wires are down and the city is in
darkness.
On IIutchnson's island, opposite
Savannah and separating the city
from the South Carolina snore there
We're many negro families rescued by
boats, by the revenue steamers AlDee
and Boutwll
One man with a child In his arms,
holding the little child above his
shoulders, started to cross the dams
with the water up to his waist, His
wife with another child, stood in the
window of their house, the floor of
which was already hooded Ly the
rising water, and watched her hus-
band feel his way step by step along
the top OF the tre1cherous dam, one
false step from which, or a caving
bank would throw him into swift
moving current, Finally he was
sighted from across the river on the
city side, A boat was put off and
after half an hours effort the man
was rescued. Upwards OF hundred
people were brought from the island
to the city in boats.
All day rescuing parties were at
work. The wind has subsided, but
the water, which receded with the
ebb of the tide during the afternoon,
has again risen. Considerable anx.
iety is felt for shipping at sea. The
o. S. s. companys steamer Nacoo-
ohee, for New York, and the Mer-
chants and Miners steamer D. II.
Miller for Baltimore, went to sea
Saturday night.
The extent of the storm is un-
known, and until telegraphic oommu.
Dicati9p is restored or. .newa. il re.