The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1910-10-18
HELD BY THE HURRICANE
Ocala and All Florida in the GRASP
of Great Storm.
the the Wind
and he Farmer sareH Happy

Florida is in the grip of 4 great
storm. The extent Of the damage and
the scope it covered will not be known
for several days. The information at
hand is very meagre.
II is certain that Ocala has not ex-
perienced such storm in many years
and yet, as far as we are able TO
learn, very little damage has been
done. The streets are filed with small
limbs and some large ones and few
telephone and electric light poles are
down and several top-heavy trees. Out
in the country hear the roads are
pretty we'll blocked with fallen trees.
The heavy rains have softened the
ground and many trees will doubtless
topple over. The wind blew in great
gusts all night and all today, but
dropped to a moderate gale about
noon.
News from the outside world is
vague and unreliable. y message was
received here last night from Miami.
where the storm seems to have struck
before it did here. that the train ser
vice was cut of and the city mostly
under water
One Of the railroad officials in
Gainesville last night heard some rail
road messages going over the wire. y
message from Key West. early last
evening. stated the water was then in
the Western Union office and great
damage was being done. No Western
Union or railroad wires were working
south of Ocala to any distance all
morning. but Manager Sage kept up
communication and handled all mes
sa ges in and out Of Jacksonville up to
1890 this morning, when that last
wire went dead and since that time
there has not been the click of a key
in the Ocala office of the Western
Union. The silence in that busy place
was something unusual Mr.. Sage
says it is the first time in about IS
years that every key was dead in the
office
The telephone office is badly tangled
up; many of the city phones are out
Of commission and the men out
getting the wires Strengthened out and
the phones working as fast as posi-
BILE. Very few calls have gone into
the office, less than on any one day in
many years. All long distance con-
nections are OFF. The last call that
came in over any of the out Of town
calling the Star office. but before the
connection could be made the wire
ceased to work. Mr.. Phillips, just out
Of sick bed. with several of his force
sick, has been making every possible
effort to get the system in shape
again.
Supt. F.. G. Bennett Of the electric
light plant, caught it on the hip and
thigh BY working all night long he
kept the power on till about o'clock
this morning, with many Incidents and
near calamities and a number of very
short breaks in the current. At 9
o'clock this morning, there being a
number Of wires down, crossed and
broken, he shut the power off all over
town till tie damage could be repair
ed and the wind should go down some
what. The danger to life and property
from exposed live wires or short cir
cults was to imminent to admit any
other alternative.
There was positively nothing do
ing in the Star office until l o'clock,
as all of our machinery. including the
linotype machine. is operated by indi
vidual electric motors, the whole shop
was shut down and the best Foreman
Benjamin could promise was a small
sheet, printed by foot power on the
job press. with statement of our
it was turned by hand power and 4
fly wheel. from another machine.
The reports from Tampa. though
not authentic. state that a good deal
of damage has been done there.
There was no one stirring this
morning on the streets except those
who were compelled to come out and
we did not see a single person from
the country on the streets. We will
be safe In stating that the smallest
volume of business for many years
was done by our merchants today.
In the two entire grades taught by
Miss Stevens and Miss Williams at Tie
primary school, there were only elev-
en- pupils in attendance Quite a good
deal of glass was broken about the
city by the force of the wind. Much
to everyone's surprise the sOuthbound
Seaboard came feeling its way in, only
a half hour late. She ran "by the rule
entirely as there We're no orders by
wire.
The train from Homosassa came in
an hour late, and the train from St
Petersburg arrived an hour and
twenty minutes behind time.
The rain has done an immense
amount of good and the farmers are
patting each other on the back
II. III. Whitworth's milk man who
came to make his regular milk deliv-
been blown across the track by the
storm and any number of trees blown
down in the woods.
Mr. and Mrs. George Townsend and
Of