Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-12-28
TIDAL WAVE IS
DANGEROUS FEATURE
SEVENTY MILE GALE ACCOM-
PANYING HEAVY SNOW CAUSES
SUFFERING ALL THROUGH NEW
ENGLAND STATES.

NEW 1oTk, Lee. 2f.-Blgnleen per
sons in and near New York perished
in the Christmas blizzard or from ac.
cidents caused by 1t. This is the latest
estimate. Six of this number died from
e=losure after being caught in snow
drifts which they were unable to pene-
trate. Others were drowned and sew
eral were killed by trains.
Hard work all night by thousands of
men on the streets broke the tieup,
caused by the greatest December
storm In yeors In this vicinity. While
delayed incoming trains are still re-
ported on some railroads and surface
car traffic is by no mean normal the
acute phase of the congestion caused
by the ten inch fall of snow was a
| thing of the past this morning.
Two Dead at Philadelphia.
| Philadelphia, Dec. 27.-Reports re-
ceived early today showed that five
persons lost their lives during the
storm, most of the deaths occurring
during the height of the storm Christ
mas night and Sunday morning, and in
! each case death was due to exhaus,
ttion
Twelve Dead; Loss Five Million.
| Boston. Dec. 27--Masses of wreck
age, apparently from the five masted
schooner Davis Palmer of Boston,
were found on the beach at Hull to-
day and it is believed the vessel
struck one of the outer lodges of the
harbor during the storm and went to
pieces with a loss of az on board
twelve men. A five million dollar loss
| is the estimate made today of the
havoc wrought in and around Boston
+. by the blizzard which yesterday
swept New England and drove rec.
ord tide over the coast.
The gale drove a tide into Massa-
/ chusetts Bay which nearly equalled
the famous storm Of 1851, the wet
snow prostrated wires, telephone. tele-
graph, electric light and trolley, and
! railroad trains were stalled. Three per-
sons lost their lives at Everett and
Chelsea by the sudden rise of the
tide.
From midnight until late yesterday
the storms destructive powers were
unusually extensive and severe. Its
center was somewhere off Nantucket,
but the gale swept over the greater
: portion of New England and was 40.
companied by heavy fall of snow.
Tidal Wave browns Three.
The gale, coming on a full moon,
rolled wave along the coast which in
some places reached a height Of over
fourteen feet above low water mark
,, and has only been exceeded according
! to local records by that which swept
: the coast at the time that Minots
: light was destroyed in 1851.
: In this city the tide went across
. Atlantic avenue on the water front
and, filing hundreds of cellars, caused
an estimated damage Of over $1,000,
J, 900.
Ii Everett, Cornelius Harkin and his
, wife were caught in their beds and
: overwhelmed by the flood, while an
. infant child lost its life in Chelsea un
! der similar conditions. In many places
= along the coast persons were taken
from their homes in boats. hundreds
of summer cottages were undermined
bulkheads were destroyed and per
a sons living some distance from the
a coast found themselves looking oyer
q the open ocean.
a Seaweed Carried Far Inland.
In Everett and Chelsea hundreds o
persons were driven from their homes
by flood resulting from the breaking
- of dam gate at place known as
3, "The Dykes" in Chelsea, just over the
O Everett line.
& At Lynn the tide made a clear
T. sweep across the narrow isthmu.
which connects Nahant with tn,
mainland, and for several hours tha
rocky peninsula was an island, Tht
70 state highway was covered to a depti
" of four feet with seaweed.
If Fifty families in the vicinity of Sau
d gus river were driven from their homes
by the tide and many were taken on
of their homes in boats.
Fallen wires for radius of twent,
= or thirty miles around Boston an,
Of throughout southeastern Massachu
y. setts and Rhode Island made it neces
C. sary to cut out completely electri
lighting plants in those communitie
that were served by the overhead sys
tenn Large cities, such as Cambridge
II Somerville, Lynn, Brockton, Prov
r. dence Fall River and New Bedford