The San Francisco call., 1901-12-29
Numerous Disasters the
Result Of the Vio-
lent Gale.
Many Japanese Supposed to
Have Perished in the
Flood.
Indian Village Is Swept Out Into
the Shipwrecking Sea and An
other Vessel Has Disap-
peared Suddenly.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

VANCOUVER, B. c., Dec. 2S.-Twenty
tricably under a mass Of debris, one man
was killed in the logging woods up the
coast, while a Lulu Island farmer died
from exposure.
These are additional fatalities recorded
to-day as the result Of one Of the great
est storms in the history of the coast. A
reckoning Of the japanese residents of
Steveston was taken to-day to estimate
the number who must have perished in
the wreck of a large clearinghouse at
the mouth of the Fraser River near the
Cleeve Company's fishing station. 1t is
certain that there were at least twenty
men in the building and perhaps more
and not one escaped.
The boarding -houhe in which the men
were was built on high piles a mile and
half from shore. One by one the sup
ports were knocked from under it and
at o'clock Thursday morning the build
ing went down and entirely COLLAPSED,
The waves were running very high over
the fats at that time and the house,
when it dropped, was engulfed.
Japanese SureIy LoSC.
The falling of the house was observed
from Point Roberts, to which place tel
ephonic communication was established
to-day Nothing but hndling wood is left
of the main building and there is not
possible chance Of one of the score or
more of inmates reaching shore.
The only fatality up the coast was the
killing of George Clark, a logger He
was in a small cabin in the woods with
two men named Crockford and Cooper.
The fury of the gale at o'clock in the
morning caused Cooper to leave the shack
for higher ground, out Of the reach of
the trees, but the others stayed behind.
After he had gone Clark arose and COM
menced to lay fire in the stove At the
time Crockford still remained in bed.
While Clark was on his knees before the
fire there was a tremendous crash and
without moments warning the roof of
the cabin fell in.
Others in the camp heard the noise, and
when they reached the scene they found
the cabin smashed to kindling wood and
Clark dead, while Crockford was pinned
down in his bed by limb of tree which
had fallen on the hut. The tree was a
monster and it had two forks. One. of
these had crushed Clark to death and
the other had pinned Crockford down.
but, luckily for him, he was uninjured. IT
took some time to extricate Crockford.
and those who rescued him state that II
is miracle that he, too, was not killed.
Had the fork of the tree gone another
three inches lower his body would have
been crushed to pulp
Caught by the Tide.
This morning the body of a farmer
named Theodore Hewitt of Lulu Island
was found in pool of water half a mile
away from the river. He had evidently
been going home when he found that the
incoming tide which broke over the dykes
had surrounded him with water. He
probably laid down, and becoming be-
numbed went to sleep and died either
from exposure or from drowning by the
foot or two of water which surrounded
him.
An entire Indian village and the build
ings and plant adjacent to the Hadding-
ton Island stone quarry were blown into
the gulf, according to news brought by
the steamship Tees. The island is a mile
in extent and was formerly covered with
a growth Of fir trees clinging to the rocky
sides. There is not now even a tree re-
naming and everything above the face
of the rock was stripped clean. Fifty
natives who lived in little village all
camped under the lee side of the island
and saw their tepees carried away and
some of them blown bodily a hundred
yards from the shore. The quarry build
ings were on the exposed side and they
were demolished. The whole vicinity is
strewn with lumber and uncut logs and
navigation is difficult for that reason
The Tees put into Alert Bay, a short
distance away, and there found the
steamer Edith of Seattle. The Edith tried
to tie up at the cannery wharf, but only
succeeded in tearing off a corner of the
building with a few piles and was finally
compelled to start away for Seattle.
Smashing Of Log Booms.
Captain Moosy, master of the steamer
Cassiar, stated to-day that a great deal
of damage was caused up the coast by the
gale The float and standing boom at
Bear River belonging to the Hastings
Mill camp were carried away and have
not been found yet. There are many re-
ports at different places that booms of
logs were smashed, and many logs are to
D..