The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-10-22
HURRICANE SWEEPS COAST.
THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE STORM
IN RECENT YEARS.
Gale Coming From West Indies
sweeps Cuba, Florida and Moves
on NOrthward-Lines of Commune
cation Destroyed.

| cation Destroyed.
| Jacksonville, Fla. Oct. 1S.-What
undoubtedly will prove to be the
most destructive storm in the his
tory OF southeastern extremity of the
| United States last night and today
swept the entire Florida peninsula,
doing damage estimated at several
million dollars. Forty thousand square
miles south of Jacksonville has been
! without any means of communication
! with the outside world for more than
"a hours. The last reports from this
/ section, embracing all that territory
! south of a line from Tampa to st.
Augustine. told of hurricane winds,
| hourly increasing in intensity and
| rapidly falling barometers. The
! orange crop and vast trucking in
dustry were reported as probably
ruined.
Jacksonville sustained heavy prop
erty loss, sbut it is believed there
was no loss Of life in this vicinity.
| Along the eastern coast many lives
I are believed to have been lost and
the property damage must have been
great.
The maximum wind velocity. 70
| miles an hour. was reached here at Z
| o'clock tonight, when the centre of
the disturbance appeared to have
passed up the Atlantic coast toward
Savannah. The wind velocity along
the coast was greater than in the
| city, Mayport, at the mouth of the
st. Johns river, experienced a wind
of so to 80 miles an hour and half
! of the houses We're wrecked.
There has been no communication
with any point south of Jacksonville
with the exception of st. Augustine
| since late this afternoon and all
| wires north were severed with one
| exception shortly before dark.
1t will probably be several days
before the telegraph companies can
restore their service to the storm
swept territory of southern Florida.
| heavy downpour of rain accom-
| panied the winds everywhere. At
ST. Augustine houses in the business
| section were flooded tonight at low
| tide, with promise of immense dam
| age to property at flood tide. The
| city is in darkness. A gale was still
| blowing at o'clock tonight the tide
| was running over the sea wall and
heavy damage has been done to
| property along the water front.
Not word has come from Tampa
| since $50 this morning when the
| wire to this city failed in the midst
OF a story telling of increasing winds
and falling barometers The tele-
| graph companies do not expect to
| restore communication with Tampa
before tomorrow, although several
hundred men We're rushed out from
| here on the construction gangs today.
The only loss OF life reported was
| that of the drowning of three ne
! groes at Key West contained in an
| Associated Press dispatch via Ha-
| bana. The territory from which no
| reports have come for "a hours,
| however, is expected to show a heavy
! death toll.
| Extraordinary Drecautiops uera
! taken by the officials of the East
| Coast railway, which stretches out
| into the ocean for miles in the vi
| cinlty of the lower keys, and the
] officials here believe all hands are
| safe.
| BY reason of the warnings issued
by the weather bureau, shipping is
believed to haye suffered very little.
All of the steamers in Florida waters
| nave kept within harbors since yes
| terday morning with the exception of
few Of the big liners. A number
| OF barges and launches were sunk
| at points along the east coast but
| there were no mon aboard when they
| went down.
While the damage will be heavy
along the coast, the greatest prop
erty loss was in the interior, where
the storm came upon the people
| with little warning and in some in
stances with none at all.