Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-17
STORM AT OCEAN CITY
MARYLAND RESORT BARELY ES-
CAPPED oBLITERATIoN BY GALE.
Waters Driven Over the Land, Hotels
Damaged and People in Des-
perate Straits.
Special Dispatch to The Evening Star.

Special Dispatch to The Evening Star.
OCEAN CITY. Md. September H.
Ocean City, Md, has barely escaped obltt-
Grafton. and a few hours more of the ter
rife northeaster which swept the little
town by the Atlantic would have left only
a pile of wreckage to mark 1t. AS 1t was
the city suffered not little, and the cot
tagers who remained went through a night
Of peril and anxiety. There was no sign of
storm early in the evening, although the
fishermen were on the lookout for blow
Shortly after II o'clock the wind, which
had been blowing a good breeze from the
east. shifted to northeast, and gradually
increased in fury until the cottagers be-
came almost panic-stricken, and plans were
made for escape to the mainland. By mid
night the storm had increased in fury, and
two hours later a bowling hurricane was
sweeping over the city. A great deluge of
rain accompanied the storm. The wind
quickly made way with the electric light
poles. and the city was plunged into dark
ness.
With Hurricane Velocity.
The wind blew with increasing velocity
as the dawn approached, but at o'clock
had lulled. The storm broke with such fury
that many Of the cottages rocked until
their occupants were fearful of their col
lapse. The big peat cottage which stands
alone was in such a dangerous condition
that the family of Melville Church Of
Washington had to find safety at a neigh
boris. Their trip from the house was thrill
ing. The family were tied together with
rope. This was necessary, as the ocean
was sweeping alongside the cottage waist
deep. AS the members of the little party
were about to step into the water the back
porch. upon which they We're standing, was
swept away, and they were all precipitated
into the water. Four stout men dragged
the party through the surf which was then
running all over the island, to the Black
burn cottage, where dry clothes were pro-
vided and all made comfortable.
The flying sand cut the face. and the cot
tages occupied by the families Of Judge J.
Clements of the interstate commerce
ington were damaged to some extent. Sine
puxent bay joined the Atlantic, and they
swept everything in their path. Outhouses
were overturned and all the cottages suf-
fered more or less The cottage occupied
by Thomas E. Waggaman and family was
surrounded by water, ana the wind dam
aged the upper story. The cottage near
the northern end of the boardwalk occu-
ter, was somewhat injured about the
foundations.
Damaged Hotels.
The Mount Pleasant Hotel was also
among the severely damaged buildings. the
sun parlor on the second floor being COM
pletely demolished. The Plimhimmon and
the Atlantic escaped with slight damage.
The new Congress Hall had the entire front
blown in. and the Casino and the bath
houses in the old part of the city were bad
ly damaged. The fishermen were the great
est sufferers. many of them losing every
thing they had in the world. Some of the
sights were pathetic in the fishing village.
After the storm subsidized the fishermen hur-
ried out with their lanterns to learn the
fate of their boats. Dick Dublin lost all his
boats.
II have been fishing here for twenty
years." said Capt. Levi Bunting. land /
never saw such storm. If 1t had blown
until another high tide Ocean City would
have been swept from the map and a great
Work Of Life Guards.
Capt. Dutton and his crew of life savers
were on watch all night. Some anxiety was
felt for the man who went on the south
beat. as he did not return for some time
after he was due. He said he had to seek
the top of a sand dune for safety. The man
on the north watch also had a similar ex-
perience. During the heaviest of the storm
Strimples fish house was blown down.
There were half dozen fishermen in it at
the time, and soon the news spread that a
score of people had been hurt. Messengers
ran for medical aid. and Drs. Townsend and
]. E. Jones went to the scene of the acct
dent. While the men had received q severe
shaking up, only one Of them. Charles john
son. suffered any serious injury. His right
arm was fractured. The boardwalk Is bad
The few people who remain are packing up
Ralph Mcbride. aged seventeen. died at
Bluffton. Ind. as the result OF an ordeal
incident to Initiation into a high school
secret society last spring. The grand jury