Saturday, May 7, 2011

Terrible storm - February 14, 1846

Oddly, no mention of this in the Brooklyn Eagle.

From the New York Herald, Feb. 17th.
THE TERRIBLE STORM,
On Saturday night and Sunday morning.

TREMENDOUS LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY.
Ten Vessels Stranded, on Squan Beach.
Sixty Human Beings Perished!!
&c. &c. &c.


Many years have elapsed since we were called on to describe a greater calamity to life and prosperity than that of the night of the 14th inst., and morning of the 15th. About sixty lives have been lost in one wreck-master's district, and the amount of property is not yet fully ascertained; but enough is known to say that, from a quarter to a half a million dollars will fall upon the insurers of Wall street, from this gale....

We learn that the New York and Offing Electro-Magnetic Telegraph withstood the storm without a single break, and operated from its present terminus, Coney Island, with perfect success during the whole of the late storm.

The Hartford Times - Feb 21, 1846

In addition to the Coney Island link, the article describes several tragic wrecks, including one where a captain and his wife and children (among many others) died. Like some other historic articles I've read, they left the most tragic stories to the middle of the article, for some reason.

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