CEDAR KEYS DEVASTATED.

The Florida Town Struck by a Hurricane and a Tidal Wave.

AN APPALLING LOSS OF LIFE.

The City Wrecked and Many of Its Inhabitants Killed or Injured – The Fleet of Spongers Caught in the Hurricane and Lost With the Crews – Many Bodies Recovered – Dead Buried in Mud.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., October 8. -- Cedar Keys is a place of desolation and death. Before the hurricane visited it it was a thriving town of 1500 inhabitants. To-day many of the people are dead, scores of others are injured, and few houses are left standing. Twenty bodies have been recovered, and it is known that many other persons have been killed. But few of the bodies have been identified, so mutilated were they by falling timbers.

The storm struck the town at 3:30 o'clock on Tuesday morning and continued for several hours. At 4 a. m. it blew a perfect hurricane. The wind suddenly changed to southeast, bringing in a deluge of water, the tide rising two feet higher than it did in the memorable gale of 1884, which was at the time said to be the severest storm on record.

At 7 o'clock an immense tidal wave came in from the south, carrying destruction with it. Boats, wharves and small houses were hurled from the shore and broken into fragments, covering the streets with wreckage and rendering them impassable, while the torrents of water rushing through every open space took the strongest men off their feet. This tidal wave caused the principal loss of life, many houses being swept from their foundations, and the inmates drowned.

Of the twenty bodies recovered, twelve are white and eight colored. Of the whites, six – a mother, four children and a young woman visitor – belong to the WHITSON family. The other four white victims are men, and have not yet been identified. Of the colored people only one, PETER WOODSON, has been identified. Most of the victims were buried deep in mud by the tidal wave, and many of the bodies will probably never be recovered.

Continued on page 2