New-York tribune., 1907-09-25
GREAT WAVE DID COME.
But 1t U7as Dry. IHundating East
Side zcith the Thirst of Fear.

And the great wave didn't come"
That was the comment all over the East Side last
night and II hard TO tell whether the Populace
said II with relief than disappointment for
they had been sitting up nights waiting for II
Besides. the East Side has been strong for waves
First there the crime wave, and that lasted
about all summer. with would-be Iynchings and
riots But this latest actually 10 be wave
of water tidal wave and. accordingly. the dwell
ers in the pur1feus Of crooked streets along the
lower coast the East River were duly frightened
II all came about through a feast Of several
prophets who Will predict battle. murder and sud
den death by the day. week or job According TO
the DISPATCHES the scattered members OF the
prophets union agreed thar lower New York was
10 be inundated in the night time OF Septe1n-
ber "a the news from Rome ana Parls.
while Jersey prophet was more spec1Hc. ana s1i
uounced the tidal wave would sweep Manhattan
Isla,d from the Battery 10 66th street Just why
he specffed that street not clear. but at any
rate il made IL appear that Harlem was the CHOSEN
land.
,rhsra Was no northward moving the part
of the downtown office tenants but the East SIDE
was hard hit The prophecies were printed In the
Italian and Yiddish papers with the details as
10 the height the wave would attain since the
designation Of the time not clear. the polygor
population turned out on Monday nsnt For
didr.t tna prophets say the water would come IN
tb nirb+ time OF September "a. and wouldn't any
time between midnight OF the 2Sd and daybreak
fill the bill? Sure ii would. and hence there were
anxious groups the roofs Of the tenemenrs
when midnight came
Although il seemed that nearly everybody n re
teneu1ents took the prophecy seriously there was
q certain fatalisu about their belief They made
no attempt TO escape by the elevated or surface
lines The dOwnpOuT OF rain on Monday night
caused the wise elders 10 waS their boards and
cav Fl was the forerunner Of the calamity S0r1ls
of Them braved the weather without umbrellas.
nossfbIv to get in training for the wall Of water
that was 10 sweep northward even as high as the
top of the Singer Building
When dawn broke yesterday morning and Moth
ing had happened except rainstorul the follow
a-s Of the prophets decided that last night the
time meant by the and oracles- So all day
there was an air Of gloomy expectancy Many
man set M the slivovitz for the first time IL
We are To die by water. let live yet awhile oy
a little schnapps" the sentiment Of one group
~ q second avenue cafe And they did this being
the reason why many sweatshop was running
,.,,b onIx half it's usual complement of workers
Tbe,, waited for sunset. since any time between
that and midnight might mark the debut OF the
1avs And SO as the fated hour drew near, the
groups broke with many tareNeiis anu sa0h
man hied himself his family
When the heavy. driving rain came last even
INC they could almost feel the wave The women
rraved the men became more serious than ever
and The only persons enjoy IL were the children
who thought how IL would be great fun TO have
50 much water in the thar they could swim
from, one roof 10 another. So they waited and
when midnight came with nothing doing they con-
tented themselves by thinking that even prophets
might make mistakes in these modern times