Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-18
WEST PALM BEACH
CALLED SHAMELESS
Man and Wife Tell of Terror
Stricken City as Hurri-
cane Ragged.
BY the Associated Press.


JACKSONVILLE. Fla, September
| l8-Mr. and Mrs. John w. Muskoff, jr.
were back in Jacksonville today after
watching the storm that bore down on
West Palm Beach, wrecking buildings
and homes and wounding their occu-
pants. The storm struck West Palm
| Beach Sunday afternoon and the
Mlskoffs reached Jacksonville last night
after drive over miles of debris
Uttered highways.
1.-The town." said Mr.. Muskoff, a
young Jacksonville attorney, was one
mass of debris. The streets were so
! Uttered as to make them almost i'm
| paSSable.
I'VE were driving up from Miami and
reached West Palm Beach shortly after
denly roof of building went sailing
through the sky I looked around for
the most secure hotel I could find and
drove there. When we got out of the
car we could not walk against the wind.
Tiles Blown Of Roof.
"As we entered the hotel there were
many others already there. The crowd
stood about looking outdoors. BY this
time a drenching rain had set in
There could be heard crashes and rum
clanked off to the pavement at irregu
lar intervals.
THE first storm struck about or
4:30 In the afternoon. 1t must have
lasted couple of hours. Then there
was lull of an hour or so and it came
again. The second storm seemed to
be the worst of the two. The first wind
was from the north and the second
from the south.
II would estimate that nearly 20 per
cent of the houses in West Palm Beach
were wrecked or damaged. Many
buildings were wrecked. but the bigger
and more substantial buildings stood,
Of course. although many windows were
blown out
"A string of furniture stores on North
Poinsettia street were hard hit
The man where I put my car said
1t was the only storage garage of any
size to withstand the storm And the
walls OF this building-the service ga
rage-were only partly there
so vicious was the wind 1t snapped
off coconut palms-you know how
tough they are supposed to be?
Wind Whips Rain.
1.-THE high wind whipped the rain
into places it would not have gone
ordinarily. and this must have added
to the discomfort as we'll as to the
damage
Il saw number of people with cuts
and bruises and one or two with broken
limbs. 1t was a rather gruesome sight,
people with their heads tied up. and so
on. don't know whether there were
any deaths. I asked the police chief
and he said he didn't see how the town
could have escaped without some
deaths.
Some of the injured were taken to
our hotel and others of the wounded
to other buildings, including the court
house
THE crowds were as a whole orderly,
although some of them appeared little
excited. They stood about in the cor
ridors of the buildings. Some of the
youngsters were crying. There were no
lights, no water and no gas. Drinking
water was scarce until the American
Legion men found some. The Legion
also distributed blankets.
THE roads were Uttered much of the
way out of West Palm Beach for dis
lance of about As miles up as far as
Stuart; after that we did not see much
storm damage.
mot much was heard of Palm Beach,
as it is across some water and tele-
phone lines were down."