The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-10-15
KEY WEST WAS
HALF RUINED
Cyclone Makes Property Loss tx-
Ceeding Two Million Dollars
DECLARE MARTIAL LAW
Much Damage in Havana and Western
Cuba - fs,ention Escapes Serious In
jury Damage North of Miami.

Sweeping Key West and the lower
Florida coast in terrible fury the tropi-
cal hurricane which was lowering near
that city Monday morning broke in
full fury later in the day and left de-
vastation in its wake. Key West is a
mass Of wreckage. No news whatever
can be secured regarding the safety of
the 5000 workmen scattered along the
Key West extension of the Florida
East Coast Railroad.
After sweeping over the lower coast
the cyclonic disturbance was showed
out to sea by the area of high pressure
moving down over the country from
the northwest and this alone saved
other sections of the coast from suffer-
ing equally with Miami and the other
towns along the lower coast of Florida,
south of Miami.
The last advices received before the
wires went down were to the effect
that the workmen were being rushed
to shelter at Marathon on Knights
Key. If the effort to center all of the
laborers there was successful little
doubt is felt but that all are safe. The
only fear is for the scattering work.
men along the lower keys whom it
may not have been possible to reach.
Every effort is being made to get in
communication with the extension.
Miami suffered heavily although ad-
vices as to the full extent of the dam
ages are meager. Key West is under
martial law and the damage is estimat-
ed to exceed 81, 100000.
In Miami several houses and ware
houses were unroofed, among them
being the Masonic temple. The new
March Villa, the four and five story
hotel, which had been completed, ex-
cept the inside plasterng, is COM
plete wreck, the loss being more than
800 The fine shade trees are de-
stroyed and small damage is scattered
all over the city. .'" .
The storm did not extend north of
Miami In Fort Pierce the wind did
not exceed four miles an hour, and, ex-
cept, that the day was cloudy, there
was no indications of storm anywhere.
A dispatch to the Miami Metropolis
says: Have Just met R. W. Carter of
the corps of engineers OF the Florida
East Coast Railway Extention, on the
launch Ell Moro, who reports the loss
of the tug Sybi with all men on board.
There were eleven OF these, Captain
Parker and crew of ten men. He re-
ports also the drowning of j. H. Brown
of Marthon. There was no loss of life
at Spanish Harbor, West Summerland,
Pigeon Key camps or Boot Key. =.
A dispatch from Key West dated
Tuesday. says: Half the city is prac-
tically in ruins, over 500 homes have
been destroyed and more than a hum
dred ships wrecked as a result of the
hurricane which swept this city yester-
dav afternoon. Seven churches and
nine of the largest cigar factories IN
the south also were destroyed.
The Florida East Coast railway eX..
tension steamer Phil Sheckle arrived
here this afternoon from Sugar loaf,
bringing the first direct news from the
thousand of men employed on the ex-
tension, concerning whom there was
crave al. prehension. The camps at b.
ea Chica and Sugar Loaf were destroy.
ed and the grade for thirty miles above
Stock Island is badly damaged, but
there has been no loss of life along the
line. -,
The launch Lunette, with the crew OF
the dredge Nimke, arrived here. at D
O'Clock this afternoon, bringing ad-
dtional details of the effects of the
hurricane along the coast. The dredge
Nimke, of the East Coast extension
feet, lies disabled in No. 5 trestle be-
tween Matacumbie and } Ong Key,
which is badly washed in places. The
grade of the extension at Jew Fish
Bush. is washed away. the dock at
Pigeon Key is wrecked, the fill at
Knights Key is washed away; leaving
the trestle firm, the approach to the
dock at Long Key is gone and wreck,
AGE is piled on shore everywhere. All
of the massive concrete viaducts OF the
extension are reported safe, as is the
bridge from Knights Key to the piers;
The master of the Lunette reported
that in coming down he saw several
dredges and concrete mixers sub
merged along the coast, in some cases
miles from the work.
1~o.a,rnsN ENnEnlEAlHE