Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-18
RAILROAD TRAFFIC HALTS;
ALL COMMUNICATION CUT
Loss of Life Feared and Heavy
Damage to Property.
WORST MAY BE YET TO COME
Higher Winds and Lower Barometer
Presage Bad Conditions-Surf
Beats Over Seawall at
st. Augustine.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla, October 49,
With a sinking barometer and wind:
slightly less violent than at times las
night. it is evident that the West In
dian hurricane will pass to the Atlantic
south of Jacksonville.
The wind has changed from north
east to east, indicating that the center
of the storm is somewhere off the mid
die peninsula.
No loss of life has been reported.
The strong northwest winds last nigh
have caused tides on the east coas
higher than in years. At ST. Augustine
the ocean was making a clean sweep o
the sea walls, with houses near the waite
in danger, according to the last messag
from there last night
Along the east coast several miles o
track are under water Other section
are washed away.
Water Floods Key West.
The last message from the Key Wes
Western Union office was that water wa
beginning to pour into the building.
AS practically every wire in soutf
Florida is down. it is impossible to ascer
tain the damage to property and tn,
possible loss of life. However, a con
servative estimate places the damage t.
the fruit trees of the east and west coas
at over a million dollars
The entire Florida peninsula south o.
itr,1 f.Ay1
to St. Augustine on the Atlantic ha.
been cut off from communication Of any
kind with the outside world since
o'clock last night, when q wind velocity
varying from seventy to ninety miles al
hour was reported, accompanied by i'll
OF the West Indian hurricane in thi.
trucking and fruit growing belt is &
matter of conjecture.
That the property damage had beer
heavy is indicated by the brief bulletin.
from the east coast and the extrem,
southern keys before communication wa.
cut off. Trucking has suffered heavily.
The Florida East Coast railroad is be.
leved to have sustained much loss. The
property damage along the 800 miles OF
the Atlantic coast south of St. Augustine
probably will be great.
Loss of Life Feared.
1t is feared that there has been loss OF
life. The last message from Key Wes,
reported a wind velocity of ninety miles
an hour, a barometer reading OF $3.50
depths in the seas.
Shortly after that message was sen,
the wireless apparatus, the last remain
ing means of communication, failed. Las,
year a similar disturbance wrought 81,
UOOOO damage in this southern city and
resulted in a small loss of life.
The last message from st. Augustine
reported the waves rushing over the sea
wall, endangering property on the water
front Marshes for miles around were
inundated. The wind was increasing and
the barometer falling.
Similar reports came from Fort Pierce
and Titusville before communication
failed.
Early this morning the wind grew less
violent here and shifted from northeast
to east indicating that the storm would
cross the peninsula and pass to sea
about 1oO miles south of Jacksonville.
Many miles of the Florida East Coas,
railroad were under water last night
Serious washouts occurred Traffic over
most of the line has been abandoned
For miles this road bridges stretches
of the ocean with concrete arches AL
though foTewarned, fears are entertained
for the working crews on the lower ex-
tension.
Railroad Traffic Halts.
Railroad traffic on all lines south OF
Jacksonville has been abandoned The
telegraph companies report all wires
down south of here 1t may be several
days before communication is re-estab-
lished.
The last dispatch received from Tampa
before daylight today reads
South Florida faces disaster. un-
known, but which. it is feared, will be
as bad as tine memorable freeze of 1895
AS yet Tampa has not felt the full force
of this eddying destroyer"
At 400 this morning the Associated
Press wire from Jacksonville to- Tampa
the last thread of communication with
any point in the storm-swept territory
south of this place. was severed.
Local officials of the Western Union re-
ported that the prospects Of re-establish
ing communication this morning were
slight.
St. Augustine Fears Worse.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. October 49,
The entire business section of st. Angus
tine is flooded with inrushing sea waite,
today. Wind and waves are still rising
with no indication of when their limit
will be reached.
The water is pouring over the seq wal
from the highest storm tide in sixteer
years 1t is feared that tonight's tide
will be still worse and that it will sweeI
high over the city.
So far there has been no loss of life
The property damage is confined mainly
to the unroofing of a few houses and the
uprooting of trees by wind.
Savannah Is Prepared.
SAVANNAH, Ga. October 1S-At I
o. clock this morning the wind had reach
ed thirty-three miles an hour, and was
apparently increasing steadily.
The barometer at . O'Clock read 275
having steadily declined since yesterday
Shipping in the harbor is preparing fol-
the expected blow. The local wireless
station is trying to warn vessels at sea
Telegraphic communication with The in,