19th Century

–21 Boston Post. “Twenty-One Drowned. Nine Rescued…Ariosto Stranded…” 12-25-1899, p6.
–21 Gentile, G. Shipwrecks of North Carolina – from Hatteras Inlet South. 1992, pp. 16-21.
–21 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 692.
–21 US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…Fiscal year Ending June 30, 1900, p. 39 and 126.

Narrative Information

Nash: “1899…Dec. 24 Ariosto. The 2,920-ton steamship, built in 1887, foundered off the coast of North Carolina.” (Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 692.)

U.S. Life Saving Service: “Wreck of British steamship Ariosto.”

“The most calamitous, because entirely needless, loss of life during the entire year, or indeed for many recent years in the history of the Service, occurred on December 24, 1899, at the wreck of the British steamship Ariosto on the coast of North Carolina about 2 miles to the southward of the Ocracoke Life-Saving Station. Of 30 persons on board the vessel, 21 perished, while there was in the conditions not the slightest necessity that a single one should have been lost.

“The Aristo was a schooner-rigged steel vessel of 2,265 tons, laden with a very valuable cargo of wheat, cotton, lumber, and cotton-seed meal, carrying 30 men, including officers, and commanded by Captain R. R. Baines. When lost she was bound from Galveston, Texas, to Hamburg, Germany, via Norfolk, Virginia, the object of the call at Norfolk being to refill the coal bunkers.

“During the evening of Saturday, December 23, the weather was clear overhead, but hazy around the horizon, and a smart wind was blowing from the southwest, driving before it a very rough sea. At midnight the weather was thick all around, and heavy showers of rain passed over from time to time, while the sea was constantly making. About 3.45 o’clock (Sunday morning) Captain Baines, who was then lying down in the chart room, heard the telegraph bell ring, and instantly sprang up to inquire the reason, when he was met at his door by the second mate, who had come to request his presence on deck. Proceeding at once to the bridge, the captain saw that his ship was entirely surrounded by ‘white water.’ He says he did not know precisely what part of the coast he was on, but that since he could see no land or light he had an idea that he had struck the Diamond Shoals, off Hatteras. As a matter of fact, he was some 15 miles to the south-west. The engines were working hard astern, but were not able to stop the headway of the vessel, which took the bottom, and remained, as the master says, ‘bumping and thumping in such a manner that it seemed probable her masts would come down.’ All hands were at once on deck, and rocket signals of distress were fired, the first having been sent up about 3.50 o’clock, as he thinks. ‘While still firing,’ the captain says, ‘a red flash was seen in the north, which was taken to be from some source whence assistance might come.’ And so in fact it was, being the red Coston signal of the life-saving patrol.

“Believing his ship to be among the Diamond Shoals, the master feared she might work off into one of the numerous deep holes or channels and founder there, and besides he was serious worried by the fact that the heavy seas on the starboard side broke away the three starboard boats, while the ship was constantly heeling over to the starboard, making the destruction of the boats on the port side likely to take place at any moment. He therefore held a consultation with the chief officer, which resulted in a determination to launch the port boats. Here was where the fatal mistake occurred. Signals indicating that assistance would be afforded from the shore had already been seen and correctly interpreted. As subsequent events proved, to a demonstration, if all had simply stood by the ship every soul would have been rescued by the life-saving crews. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Captain Baines supposed his vessel be stranded on the Diamond Shoals, a place of extreme danger, so far from shore that he might well have doubted the ability of any boat6 to reach er, and of course miles beyond the range of any life-saving gun or rocket. Having in view these facts, it may not be a matter of great surprise that he should deem it the part of wisdom to save his two remaining boats and man them alongside until the dawn of day should make it possible to determine his true position and the proper course of action then to be taken.

“This he asserts to have been his purpose. Accordingly the pinnace was first got out and manned by eleven men, including the chief and second mates, who were placed in charge with instructions to ‘get away clear’ and then lie by until daylight. As soon as the pinnace cleared the ship the lifeboat was successfully put over and manned by fifteen men. Twenty-six persons were now in the boats, while there still remained on the ship four others who were also to go in the lifeboat. These were Captain Baines, Third Officer Reed, Chief Engineer Warren, and Carpenter Peltonen. Fortunately for them the lifeboat got away before they could embark in it. To the providential accident, which probably then seemed to them the worst of ill luck, they owed their lives. It would appear that these entire operations were conducted with such haste that they were completed in less than thirty minutes from the moment the vessel stranded.

“Meantime she was entirely intact (as indeed she remained for several days) and the life-savers were constantly firing signals of assurance that aid would be afforded. It would therefore hardly seem unreasonable to suppose that the officers of the Ariosto should have realized that they were on the shore and not on the Diamond Shoals. However, the boats were now afloat, and the entire crew in them, save four men. In obedience to the master’s instructions they lay to under the lee of the ship, the men at the oars backing and pulling to keep them head to the waves. It was an awful position, the sea constantly growing rougher and rougher, while the suction of the water around the bows and stern of the steamer was getting to be irresistible.

“Captain Baines thinks the pinnace held her position for at least an hour, and the lifeboat for fully half that time (having been launched last), but at all events, from his place on the bridge he saw the former carried by the swift tide to the north into the breakers, and the life-boat overwhelmed and capsized, throwing all its occupants into the sea. As a matter of fact both boats were upset, and all in them were cast adrift. Twenty-six persons were now battling for their lives in one of the worst seas with which desperate men have ever contended. And yet one of them, Seaman Elsing, a man of infinite skill in the water and of brave heart and wonderful physical power, actually swam ashore, absolutely unaided even with so much as the slightest piece of wreckage to help bear him up. Two others who left the ship in the lifeboat – C. Pettersen, a fireman, and C. Saline, a seaman – were hauled back on board the steamer by means of the boat tackle which hung alongside, while Fireman Henroth and Boatswain Andersen, who embarked in the pinnace, were dragged from the surg by the life-savers who were on the beach. By this time daylight was faintly showing, and Keeper Howard of the Ocracoke Station, having gained some ocular information of the status of affairs, at once set the international code signal ‘M K’ (Remain by your ship).

“Knowledge of the wreck was obtained at the station in the following way: About 4 o’clock Surfman Guthrie, while on south patrol, discovered, during a brief interval when the weather lighted, the masthead light of a steamer having such a bearing that he knew she must be ashore, whereupon he immediately fired a red signal and hastened as fast as he could to the station and turned out the crew. David Williams, the north patrolman, having also discovered the wreck, likewise returned to the station, finding his comrades already moving.

“The coast runs about northeast and southwest, and the steamer lay about 2 miles southwest of the station. An accident to one of the shafts of the beach-apparatus cart caused considerable delay soon after the crew started, but as it was yet very dark, and as subsequent events clearly showed, this fact in no way adversely affected the operations. The tide making over the beach was specially deep at a point where the hurricane of August 16-18 had cut an inlet, and the keeper was obliged to secure the aid of five citizens of the vicinity to help his crew get the gear to the wreck, but notwithstanding all the difficulties, the life-savers were on the scene between 5 and 5.30 o’clock. Hardly had they arrived when they made out in the darkness which still prevailed, a shadowy figure staggering along the beach, who proved to be Seaman Elsing, above named as having swum ashore unaided. He seemed only half conscious, but was able to tell them of the capsize of the boats and to suggest that they might yet find men in the surf. None could be seen however, and the life-savers went quickly to work with preparations to set up the beach apparatus.

“On account of the surf running over the beach there was very serious difficulty in finding a place sufficiently high and solid to bury the sand anchor where it would hold and to place the Lyle gun where it would be out of water. Both had to be frequently moved during the operations.

“The first shot was fired at about 5.45 o’clock, but the steamer was at least 600 yards distant, and the line failed to reach her. It was therefore hauled in, and with it came a half-drowned man, who was later found to be Boatswain Andersen. He was unconscious, but was resuscitated by the surfmen, and subsequently told them that the line fell across him as he was struggling in the surf; that he had sufficient consciousness to hitch it around his arm, and was thus drawn ashore – an almost miraculous escape from death.

“About this time other persons were dimly discernible in the water making desperate efforts to reach the beach. The life-saving men strenuously attempted to reach them, boing into the water up to their necks, but the surf was so strong that their utmost exertions resulted in saving only one, Fireman Henroth, was insensible when taken from the water, but happily not past resuscitation, which was finally effected.

“It was immediately after this rescue that Keeper Howard set the signal for those on board the ship to remain there, and then began firing to throw a line across the vessel. While this was going on, and owing to the great distance, the projectiles were falling short, three sailors were dragged from the surg apparently dead, but nevertheless some of the surfmen devoted themselves to every effort to effect their restoration, although without avail. Not until well-nigh 11 o’clock was it possible to put a line over the steamer. By that hour she had worked within 400 or 500 yards of the beach, and a projectile carrying a No. 4 shot line was finally landed on board. To this was attached a No. 7 and to that a No. 9 line (for fear that the smaller one might give way to the intense strain of dragging the tail block and whip line through the powerful longshore current) and when the No. 9 was safe on board, the whip line was attached to it and sent out. The hawser followed, and the actual rescue then began, but the tremendous roll of the ship, which lay broadside to, threatened to part the hawser every time she rolled offshore, and the most critical attention at the relieving tackle was necessary to prevent that disaster. Besides all this the vessel was gradually edging closer in and consequently the gear frequently had to be reset. For these reasons the operations were necessarily so extremely difficult that their completion without mishap affords the best of evidence that they were judiciously and skillfully conducted. Captain Baines was the last to leave the ship, and when he put his feet upon the beach, about 2.30 p.m., a loud cheer was sent up by all the people who had by this time assembled. Every man was saved whom the life-saving crews could by any possibility have rescued under the most unfortunate circumstances following the launching of the boats, and if all had remained patiently on board not one would have been lost.

“Keeper Burrus and his crew, of the Durants Life-Saving Station, located next to Ocracoke on the north, were requested by telephone to join Keeper Howard’s crew after the latter had begun operations to set up the beach apparatus. They started at once, but were obliged to use the station supply boat on account of the rough sea, and to go on the inside of the beach by way of Pamlico Sound, which consumed about two hours. They made, however, the best possible time, arriving just as the shot line was fired over the vessel, and performed their share of the work….

“All the testimony taken by the investigating officer demonstrates the entire efficiency of the life-saving crews, and the nine survivors of the wreck addressed to Keeper Howard a letter written by Captain Baines….[praising their work].” (Annual Report of…for…Fiscal year Ending June 30, 1900, 1900, pp. 38-42.)

Blanchard note: On page 179 of the Life-Saving Service report it is noted that on Dec 27 “A body from the wreck of the British steamer Ariosto having washed ashore S. of station, the surfmen noted that it was 5 feet 7 inches in height, weighed about 175 pounds, and had reddish complexion, and then gave it decent burial.

Newspaper

Dec 24: “Twenty-One Drowned, Nine Rescued.”
“British teamer Ariosto Stranded Near Cape Henry, Va.”
“Heroic Work of Life Savers.”

“Cape Henry, Va., Dec. 24. – The weather bureau official at Hatteras, N.C., reports that the British steamer Ariosto, Captain Barnes, from Galveston to Norfolk for coal, thence to Hamburg, loaded with cotton, corn, wheat and meal, stranded on Ocracoke Beach, six miles south of the Hatteras weather bureau office, at 4 o’clock this morning.

“The steamer carried a crew of thirty men. Twenty-one men abandoned the steamer and took to the boats soon after she stranded. The boats were wrecked in the heavy seas and the entire twenty-one were drowned….” (Boston Post. “Twenty-One Drowned. Nine Rescued…” 12-25-1899, p. 6.)

Sources

Boston Post. “Twenty-One Drowned. Nine Rescued…Ariosto Stranded…” 12-25-1899, p. 6. Accessed 2-12-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-dec-25-1899-p-6/

Gentile, Gary. Shipwrecks of North Carolina – from Hatteras Inlet South. Philadelphia: Gary Gentile Productions, 1992.

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1900. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901. Accessed 2-11-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0004411781&view=1up&seq=45&q1

— 61  Kohn. Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence… 2001, p. 137.

— 61  Narr, Isaac. Sep 9, 1902 letter, Honolulu HI, to J. H. Mitchell, Chair, Investigating Com.[1]

 

Narrative Information

Amazon.com description of Mohr’s Plague and Fire:[2] “A little over a century ago, bubonic plague–the same Black Death that decimated medieval Europe–arrived on the shores of Hawaii just as the islands were about to become a U.S. territory. In this absorbing narrative, James Mohr tells the story of that fearful visitation and its fiery climax–a vast conflagration that engulfed Honolulu’s Chinatown.

“Mohr tells this gripping tale largely through the eyes of the people caught up in the disaster, from members of the white elite to Chinese doctors, Japanese businessmen, and Hawaiian reporters. At the heart of the narrative are three American physicians–the Honolulu Board of Health–who became virtual dictators when the government granted them absolute control over the armed forces and the treasury. The doctors soon quarantined Chinatown, where the plague was killing one or two people a day and clearly spreading. They resisted intense pressure from the white community to burn down all of Chinatown at once and instead ordered a careful, controlled burning of buildings where plague victims had died. But a freak wind whipped one of those small fires into a roaring inferno that destroyed everything in its path, consuming roughly thirty-eight acres of densely packed wooden structures in a single afternoon. Some 5000 people lost their homes and all their possessions and were marched in shock to detention camps, where they were confined under armed guard for weeks.

“Next to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Chinatown fire is the worst civic disaster in Hawaiian history. A dramatic account of people struggling in the face of mounting catastrophe, Plague and Fire is a stimulating and thought-provoking read. (Book description on Amazon.com

Cunningham: “In June 1899…plague arrived in Hawaii aboard the merchant ship the Nippon Miru. Though authorities sent the ship to the local quarantine island, the rodents aboard made their way to land. Beginning in September, massive numbers of dead rats turned up, especially around Honolulu’s Chinatown district. Local health authorities declared a local man dead of plague on December 11. Two days later, the newspapers announced the disease had arrived in Hawaii.

“In 1899, Hawaii was a territory of the United States, and a small National Guard unit handled emergencies. Regulations banned travel in and out of Honolulu, and authorities quarantined Chinatown. Guardsmen set up barricades and lines of men around the part of Chinatown under suspicion of harboring infection. The quarantine held in a population that included Chinese, Japanese, and native Hawaiians. Hardship followed for those quarantined. Food ran short. Businesses suffered. Honolulu’s shipping slowed because workers were not available to unlad cargo.

“When plague seemed to disappear, Hawaii’s health officials faced criticism that they had done too much. Chinese and Japanese called the quarantine racist. Businessmen wanted to get back to making money. Officials, faced with pressure, lifted the quarantine.

“Plague resurfaced by the end of the month. The quarantine went back into effect, and the guardsmen returned to keep it in place. Clifford B. Wood, a physician with the Board of Health, soon went public with a new anti-plague strategy. ‘[A]ll wooden buildings in which a case of plague occurs, and all wooden buildings [nearby]…[would be] burned as soon as possible.’

“Those inside Chinatown resented the policy. Some of those outside, however, pushed for even more extreme measures when plague killed Sarah Boardman, a suburban woman. Health officials fought off demands to burn all of Chinatown.

“Wood and his colleagues stuck to their original policy. On January 20, 1900, firefighters began a controlled burn of shacks suspected of harboring plague. The controlled burn became an inferno and fire blazed through Chinatown. Volunteers outside of Chinatown rushed in to help residents evacuate. But a large group of armed men also set up a line to prevent residents from leaving for fear they would spread plague. Chinese leaders and government officials, however, managed to calm the situation. The fire left 6,000 people homeless.” (pp. 87-89)

HawaiiHistory.org: “By 1900, Chinatown – bustling as ever – was jammed with dilapidated and flimsy wooden structures, plagued by poor sanitation, periodic flooding, dense living conditions and rat infestations. Such conditions practically invited an outbreak of bubonic plague. December 12, 1899 You Chong, a bookkeeper for Wing Wo Tai’s business on Nu`uanau Avenue, died of the plague. By the end of December, nine more cases of plague were reported.

“The Board of Health established a quarantine station in Kaka`ako with military guards enforcing victims’ isolation. To clear contaminated areas, the Board set 41 controlled fires, cleaned and disinfected buildings, burned garbage, filled old cesspools and dug new ones.

“On January 20, 1900, another planned fire cleansing was begun at Beretania between Nu`uanu and the old Kaumakapili Church. This time wind gusts spread the fire to the church and from there flames leapfrogged all the way to the wharf. The huge fire burned 17 days, destroying 38 acres and 4,000 homes (mostly Chinese and Japanese). After the disaster was brought under control, the Board of Health successfully set an additional 31 controlled fires. Four months later, Honolulu was deemed plague-free.

“The 1900 fire had a major impact on Chinatown’s demographics. Many Chinese residents, made homeless by the fire, left and settled elsewhere. Most businesses continued to be owned by Chinese, but many business owners did not return to Chinatown as residents.”  (HawaiiHistory.org. Library. “Chinatown fire of 1900.” 2013.)

Kohn: “Hawaiian Plague of 1899-1900 — Epidemic of plague that killed 61 of 71 people infected, beginning with Hawaiian Asians, between November 1899 and March 1900, as part of the third plague pandemic reaching toward the New World…

“In November 1899, two ships from Hong Kong carried bubonic plague victims into Honolulu. One of the ships, the S.S. Nippon Maru, arrived with two human corpses and rats infected with plague. Hawaii first discovered it had plague when a Dr. George Herbert treated the first fatally ill patient in December; shortly thereafter, four Chinese (three clinically diagnosed) died of the disease. Because the plague first took root among Hawaiian orientals, Honolulu/s Chinatown was quarantined and searched for more plague victims. Despite the lifting of the quarantine and pronouncements that the plague was gone, the disease persisted, killing 36 of 44 patients within the next month….

“The epidemic continued to rage in Hawaii in 1900, despite a major fire in Honolulu that the destroyed the homes and possessions of many Chinese; the fire began when the fire department’s burning of a plague-contaminated house went out of control in Chinatown. More than 5,000 people were left homeless and without possessions. Rats were thought to be plague carriers, which was evidenced in folklore among oriental Hawaiians, and burning houses was thought to kill them. As new cases appeared regularly in Oahu and later in the other Hawaiian islands, Asians were the first victims. Ships brought the plague infection again and again to the islands.”[3] (pp. 137-138)

Naar letter: “During the week ending the 16^th day of December, 1899, a case diagnosed as bubonic plague was discovered in this city, and was followed by 70 other cases of a similar character. The last case was received at the detention hospitals in the latter portion of March, 1900, and in all 61 of the unfortunates died….The bubonic plague afflicted only 18 natives and 7 whites, while 46 Mongolians felt its terrific grasp.” (Letter of Isaac Naar to Hon. J. H. Mitchell, Chairman of Senatorial Investigating Committee of Honolulu, Hawaii, September 9, 1902, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp. 188-189 in U.S. Congress, Senate.)

 

Sources

Cunningham, Kevin. The Bubonic Plague. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Co., 2011. Google digital preview accessed 9-12-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=qhZ6AgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

HawaiiHistory.org. Library. “Chinatown fire of 1900.” 2013. Accessed 1-19-2013 at: http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ig.page&PageID=548&returntoname=year%201900&returntopageid=184

Kohn, George Childs (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence From Ancient Times to the Present (Revised Edition). NY: Checkmark Books, 2001.

United States Congress, Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico. “Bubonic Plague,” Beginning at page 188 in Hawaiian Investigation Part 3: Exhibits, Memorials, Petitions, and Letters Presented to the Subcommittee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1903. Google digitized. Accessed 9-12-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=DrDvFQD4FqEC&dq=bubonic+plague+hawaii+1899&q=plague#v=onepage&q=plague&f=true

 

[1] Mr. Mitchell was Chairman of Senatorial Investigating Committee of Honolulu Hawaii, in U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, GPO, 1903.

[2] Mohr, James C. Plague and Fire: Battling Black Death and the 1900 Burning of Honolulu’s Chinatown. NY: Oxford University Press, 2005.

[3] Suggests further reading: Ackerknecht, History and Geography of the Most Important Diseases; Gregg, Plague: An Ancient Disease in the Twentieth Century.

Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, Jan 2010; modified Jan 2020, for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  3,507  Blanchard U.S. tally of NC (~73) and Puerto Rico (3433)

—  3,500  Davies. Inside the Hurricane: Face to Face with Nature’s Deadliest Storms. 2000, 247.

–~3,477  Blanchard tally based on FL, NC and PR breakouts below.

—  3,433  Harmswaystormstories.com. San Ciriaco August 16-18, 1899. Accessed 1-3-2020.

North Carolina          (   ~74)

—  74  Blanchard tally of sea-related losses noted by Barnes, Stick, and Garriott.

—  58  Blanchard tally of maritime losses noted by Stick in Graveyard of the Atlantic.

–>50  Stick. Graveyard of Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. 1952, pp. 163-168.

—  44  Barnes. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). 2001, pp. 52 and 55.

—  14  Swan Island fishermen drowned. (p. 52)

–>30  “…at least thirty lives were lost in…shipwrecks.” (p. 55.)[1]

—  25  Barnes. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). 2001, p. 304.

Breakouts (74):

—  8  Barkentine Albert Schultz, Baltimore for Savannah, lost off NC coast. Stick 1952, p. 168.

—  8  Brig Henry B. Cleaves, Haiti for Stamford CT, lost off NC coast. Stick 1952, p. 168.

—  5  Schooner Aaron Reppard grounds on Cape Hatteras reef Aug 16.[2]

–Captain Osker Wessel; tried to swim to shore and drowned.

–Passenger Cummings; fell from rigging, leg caught in rope, slammed against mast.

–Sailor Tony Nelson; thrown from rigging to deck and washed overboard.

–Two of five crew flung from foremast into the breakers; the others reaching shore.

–1  Gulf Shore. Body of cook from wrecked Aaron Reppard found, Aug 19.[3]

—  8  Schooner Chas. M. Patterson, Philadelphia for Savannah, lost off NC coast. Stick 1952, 168.

—  7  Schooner Elwood H. Smith, NYC for Jacksonville, lost off NC coast. Stick 1952, p. 168.

—  5  Schooner General E. L. F. Hardcastle foundered in Pamlico Sound; all of crew lost.[4]

—  9  Schooner John C. Haynes, Tampa for Baltimore, lost off NC coast. Stick 1952, p. 168.

—  2  Schooner Lydia Willis, sunk near mouth of Ocracoke Inlet; two of six washed overboard.[5]

—  7  Schooner M. B. Millen, New London, CT for Brunswick, GA, lost off NC coast.[6]

—  1  Steamship Agnes, off Hatteras beach; all lost, but no number; body of cook washed ashore.[7]

–14  Swan Island area, drownings. From group of 20 fishermen. Barnes. NC Hurricane History.

 

Notations of lives lost, but the recovered bodies could well have been from one of listed vessels.

—  1  Cape Hatteras. Body of man found on beach, Aug 25. North Carolina Shipwrecks.

—  1  Creeds Hill, Aug 21. Body of man found washed up onto the shore. NC Shipwrecks.

—  1  Durants shore. Body found on shore, Aug 18, with name Agnes on nearby plank.[8]

—  1  Gulf Shore. Body of man found washed on onshore Aug 23. North Carolina Shipwrecks.

–35  “Newspaper accounts concluded that at least 35 lives were lost in…shipwrecks.”[9]

 

Puerto Rico                (3,433)

—  3,433  NOAA, NHC and CPHC. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996.

—  3,433  Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones…, 1993.

—  3,433  Univ. of Rhode Island. “1899 San Ciriaco Hurricane.” Hurricanes: Science and Society.

–~3,400  Library of Congress. “Hurricane San Ciriaco.” 6-22-2011.

—  3,369  Landsea, Christopher and Jose Fernandez Partagas. Year 1899.

–2,569  Drownings

—   800  Hurricane winds

—  3,369  NOAA. Hurricane No. 59, “1899 Aug. 8-9 San Ciriaco.” Accessed 1-3-2020.

–>3,000  Carolina Country. “Remembering the San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899.” August 2014.

–>3,000  Schwartz. “The Hurricane of San Ciriaco.” Hispanic Amer. Hist. Rev., 72/3, 1992, 304.

— >500  Ponce, “mostly from drowning.” P. 305.

 

Montserrat                ( ~100)

~100  Daily Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica. “The Recent Cyclone. US Storm Bulletin.” 8-28-1899, 10.

 

Dominican Republic (       ?)

 

Narrative Information

 

LOC: “On August 8, 1899, Puerto Rico experienced one of the most destructive hurricanes in history. It rained for 28 days straight and the winds reached speeds of 100 miles per hour. The loss of life and property damage were immense. Approximately 3,400 people died in the floods and thousands were left without shelter, food, or work.

 

“The most devastating effect of San Ciriaco was the destruction of the farmlands, especially in the mountains where the coffee plantations were located. San Ciriaco aggravated the social and economic situation of Puerto Rico at the time and had serious repercussions in the years that followed.”  (Library of Congress. “Hurricane San Ciriaco.” 6-22-2011.)

 

Rappaport:  Footnote “m” in Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas: “Garriott (1900) and Alexander (1902) indicate thousands of additional deaths in Puerto Rico due to subsequent starvation. Stick (1952) and Chapman indicate at least 50 deaths in shipwrecks along coastal Carolina. Barnes (1995) has at least 30 along the coast of North Carolina and 14 inland in that state.”

 

URI: “Hurricane San Ciriaco was an intense, long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that appeared east of the island of Martinique on 7 August (the system was first detected on 3 August as a tropical storm by a ship west-southwest of Cape Verde, however it was not identified on US Weather Bureau reports until 7 August). Moving at a speed of 27 km/h (17 mph), the storm crossed directly over the island of Guadeloupe on the afternoon of 7 August and passed 80 to 120 km (50 to 75 mi) to the south of St. Kitts. Here wind speeds of (192 km/h) 120 mph were recorded, making the storm at least a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

 

“The hurricane strengthened as it passed through the islands, reaching a peak intensity with 240 km/h (150 mph) winds and a central pressure of 930 mb near the island of Montserrat. Continuing on its west-northwest track, the hurricane made landfall on southeastern Puerto Rico early on 8 August with 224 km/h (140 mph) winds. After moving off of Puerto Rico, the hurricane then skimmed the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic on 9 August as a Category 3 hurricane. The hurricane continued to move at a slow forward speed of less than 16 km/h (10 mph), passing through the Bahamas and taking a turn for the north. On 13 August, the hurricane’s center was proximal to Jupiter, Florida. Traveled almost parallel to the U.S. coast over the next few days, before turning west-northwest to come ashore on North Carolina’s lower Outer Banks near Diamond City on 17 August as a Category 3 hurricane with winds gusting to (224 km/h) 140 mph. The storm drifted over this area for two days before turning eastward and exiting the U.S. coast as a weakened Category 1 hurricane on 19 August. After leaving the United States, the hurricane moved eastward over the open Atlantic until it became extratropical on 22 August. The remnants of the storm managed to reorganize over open water and redevelop into a tropical storm on 26 August after turning to the north. As the storm was drifting, it again turned eastward and again strengthened into a hurricane while moving through the Azores on 3 September. The born-again hurricane was short lived, as it dissipated the next day moving northeastward.

 

“The hurricane’s impact in Puerto Rico would prove to be one of the largest losses of life in relation to a hurricane in the history of the Atlantic basin. Overall, the island would be swamped by 28 days of rain. The official death toll from the storm in Puerto Rico was 3,433, with millions of dollars in crop damage. The U.S. mid-Atlantic coast, especially the Outer Banks of North Carolina, was also significantly impacted by this hurricane. Almost all of the houses in Diamond City and Shackleford, NC, were lost to storm surge, which was as high as 3 m (10 ft) in places. The hurricane also destroyed all fishing equipment in these towns, and as a result, the residents abandoned these establishments and searched to start over elsewhere.” (University of Rhode Island. “1899 San Ciriaco Hurricane.” Hurricanes: Science and Society. 2010-2011.)

 

Stick on NC Coast: “….So intense were the winds and so high the tides accompanying San Ciriaco that it was impossible for lifesavers to maintain their patrols, with the result that most of the vessels wrecked on the coast were not reached – were not even discovered – until the morning of the eighteenth, when the winds had begun to subside.” (p. 164.)

(Stick, David. Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast.)

 

Sources

 

Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

 

Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). Chapel Hill and London:  University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

 

Carolina Country. “Remembering the San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899.” August 2014. Accessed 1-3-2010 at: https://www.carolinacountry.com/carolina-stories/remembering-the-san-ciriaco-hurricane-of-1899

 

Daily Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica. “The Recent Cyclone. United States Storm Bulletin.” 8-28-1899, p. 10. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kingston-daily-gleaner-aug-28-1899-p-10/

 

Daily Press, Newport News, VA. “Worst in Seventy-Five Years.” 8-30-1899, p. 1. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/newport-news-daily-press-aug-30-1899-p-1/

 

Davies, Pete. Inside the Hurricane: Face to Face with Nature’s Deadliest Storms. New York:  Henry Holt and Company, 2000.

 

Garriott, E. B. “Forecasts and Warnings.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXVII, No. 8, August 1899. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/mwr_pdf/1899.pdf

 

Harmswaystormstories.com. San Ciriaco August 16-18, 1899. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://www.harmswaystormstories.com/san-ciriaco-1899

 

Ho, Francis P. NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS HYDDRO-43: Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. Silver Spring, MD: Office of Hydrology, NOAA, March 1989. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/7224

 

Landsea, Christopher and Jose Fernandez Partagas. Year 1899. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/Partagas/1898-1900/1899_1.pdf

 

Library of Congress. “Hurricane San Ciriaco.” 6-22-2011. Accessed 11-24-2012 at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/sanciriaco.html

 

New York Times. “Hundreds Dead In Hurricane; Destruction in Path of the West Indian Storm. Ponce A Total Wreck…May Be 300 Killed…” 8-11-1899. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1899/08/11/archives/hundreds-dead-in-hurricane-destruction-in-path-of-the-west-indian.html

 

New York Times. “West Indian Hurricane Carried Death and Destruction to Several Islands. Great Havoc in Puerto Rico.” 8-10-1899. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/08/10/100447432.pdf

 

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Hurricane No. 59, “1899 Aug. 8-9 San Ciriaco.” Accessed 1-3-2020 at: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/perez_21_34.pdf

 

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996. Accessed 1-3-2010 at: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadlyapp1.shtml?

 

North Carolina Shipwrecks. “San Ciriaco Hurricane ~ August 1899. 3-28-2011. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: http://northcarolinashipwrecks.blogspot.com/2012/03/san-ciriaco-hurricane-august-1899.html

 

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

 

Schwartz, Stuart B. “The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899-1901.” Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 72, No. 3, 1992, Duke University Press. Accessed 1-3-2020 at: http://latinamericanstudies.org/puertorico/hurricane.pdf

 

Stick, David. Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952.

 

University of Rhode Island. “1899 San Ciriaco Hurricane.” Hurricanes: Science and Society. 2010-2011. Accessed 11-24-2012: http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/pre1900s/1899/

 

 

 

 

[1] Cites newspaper reports of the time and notes “the real number of deaths was probably much higher.”

[2] Stick, David. Graveyard of Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. 1952, p. 163.

[3] North Carolina Shipwrecks. “San Ciriaco Hurricane ~ August 1899. 3-28-2011.

[4] Stick, David. Graveyard of Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. 1952, p. 165.

[5] Stick, David. Graveyard of Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. 1952, p. 164.

[6] Stick, David. Graveyard of Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. 1952, p. 168.

[7] Garriott, E. B. “Forecasts and Warnings.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXVII, No. 8, August 1899.

[8] North Carolina Shipwrecks. “San Ciriaco Hurricane ~ August 1899. 3-28-2011.

[9] North Carolina Shipwrecks. “San Ciriaco Hurricane ~ August 1899. 3-28-2011. Goes on to note: “…the real number of deaths was probably much higher.” Notes the names of

Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, Dec 2012; modified Jan 2020, for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 

–109,750  US Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 8, 1902, p.116.[1]

 

AL       2,666   (25,699 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 116.^[2]              

AZ          152   (  1,223 total deaths). Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 116.  

AR      1,889   (22,518 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 116.

CA      3,480   (22,506 total deaths). Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 117.   

CO         874   (  7,428 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 117.   

CT       1,529   (15,422 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 122.^[3]

DE          382   (  3,075 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 123.

DC         851   (  6,364 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 128.^[4]

FL          557   (  6,482 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 128.

GA      2,651   (26,941 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 128.^[5]

ID             86   (  1,242 total deaths). Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 129.

IL        6,786   (61,229 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 129.

–2,953  Chicago, calendar year. City of Chicago Municipal [TB] Sanitarium. 1915, p. 86.

IN        4,232   (33,586 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 134.

IA        1,805   (19,573 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 135.

KS       1,414   (16,251 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 140.^[6]

KY      3,916   (27,091 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 140.^[7]

LA       2,016   (20,955 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 141.^[8]

ME      1,145   (12,148 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 141.^[9]

MD     2,318   (20,422 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 146.^[10]

MA     5,224   (49,756 total deaths). Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 146.

MI       2,438   (33,572 total deaths). Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 159.

MN     1,844   (17,005 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 164.^[11]

MS      2,129   (20,251 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 165.

MO     4,107   (38,084 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 165.

MT        164    (  2,188 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 170.

NE          592   (  8,264 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 170.

NV           56   (     438 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 171.

NH         627   (  7,400 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 171.

NJ       3,392   (32,735 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 176.

—3514  Calendar year. NJ Board of Health. 31st Annual Report of… 1908, p. 10.[12]

NM        152   (  2,674 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 177.

NY    14,110   (130,268 total deaths).            Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 182.

          13,590  Calendar year. NY State Dept. of Health. 38^th Annual Report of… 1918, p. 540.[13]

8,162   NYC. “     “     NY State Dept. of Health. 38^th Annual Report of… 1918, p. 540.[14]

NC      2,350   (21,068 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 189.^[15]

ND         246   (  2,287 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 194.^[16]

OH      5,789   (53,362 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 194.

OK         288   (  3,181 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.

OR         433   (  3,396 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.^[17]

PA       7,791   (90,199 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.
2,717   Philadelphia. Calendar year. City of Philadelphia. An. Rpt. (V. III), 1907, p. 112.^[18]

RI           837   (  8,176 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.

SC       2,133   (17,166 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.^[19]  

SD          425   (  3,088 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.^[20]

TN       4,451   (30,572 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 200.

TX      2,951   (34,169 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 213.

UT          143   (  3,079 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 213.

VT          524   (  5,829 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 213.

VA      3,223   (25,252 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 218.^[21]  

WA        563   (  4,910 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 218.^[22]  

WV     1,273   (  9,588 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 219.  

WI      2,350   (24,928 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 219.^[23]    

WY          51   (     767 total deaths).  Census. Reports Vol. IV…Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 224.  

 

Sources

 

City of Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. City of Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium: Its History and Provisions. Chicago: 1915. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=5hhAAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

City of Philadelphia. First Annual Message of John E. Reyburn, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia with the Annual Reports of the Departments of Public Health and Charities, Supplies, Public Education, Law, City Controller, City Treasurer, Commissioners of the Sinking Funds, Receiver of Taxes, and Board of Revision of Taxes for the Year Ending December 31, 1907 (Vol. III). Philadelphia: Dunlap Printing Co., 1908. Google digitized. Assessed 12-5-2012: http://books.google.com/books?id=0ihNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

New Jersey Board of Health. Thirty-First Annual Report of the Board of Health of the State of New Jersey, 1907, and Annual Report of the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Trenton: John L. Murphy Publishing Co., 1908. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=XDAcX3uIVssC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

New York State Department of Health. Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the State Department of Health of New York For the Year Ending December 31, 1917 (Vol. 1). Albany: J. B. Lyon Co., 1918. Google preview accessed 6-3-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=XE49AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

United States Census Office, Department of the Interior. Census Reports Volume IV, Twelfth Census of the United States, Taken in the Year 1900. Vital Statistics Part II, Statistics of Deaths. Washington: U.S. Census Office, 1902. At: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] State death statistics are from Table 7. “Deaths in the United States, each State, State group and Registration city, during the Census year ending May 31, 1900, from each reported cause.” The Census year began on June 1, 1899, and ended May 31, 1900, thus the Census year and data are not reflective of the calendar year 1899 nor 1900.

[2] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second.

[3] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second.

[4] Leading cause of death in the District in 1900.

[5] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia a close second at 2,598.

[6] Second leading cause of death in the State in 1900, behind pneumonia at 1,436 deaths.

[7] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second at 2,427 deaths.

[8] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second at 1,945 deaths.

[9] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia a close second at 1,139 deaths.

[10] Leading cause of death in State in 1900.

[11] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second at 1,379 deaths.

[12] “Table 6. – Showing Number of Deaths in New Jersey from Certain Classified Diseases for Twenty-Eight Years, 1879-1906.” p. 10.

[13] From: Table 19 — Movement of mortality from certain important causes of death in New York State, showing the annual number of deaths and death rates per 100,000 population: 1885-1917.

[14] From Table 21 — Comparative movement of mortality from the chief communicable diseases in New York city and rest of State, showing the annual number of deaths and death rates per 100,000 population: 1898-1917.

[15] Leading cause of death in State in 1900.

[16] Leading known cause of death in State in 1900

[17] Leading cause of death in State in 1900.

[18] Table entitled “Deaths from Consumption of Lungs, from 1862 to 1907, inclusive, by Months.”

[19] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second with 1,323 deaths.

[20] Leading cause of death in State in 1900.

[21] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second with 2,429 deaths.

[22] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second with 379 deaths.

[23] Leading cause of death in State in 1900, with pneumonia second with 2,022 deaths.

Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, Dec 2012; modified Jan 2020, for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 –35,379  US Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 8, 1902, p. 228.[1]

Summary of State Breakouts

Alabama                    1,713               Oregon                          106  

Arizona                           41               Pennsylvania             2,779

Arkansas                    1,172               Rhode Island                102

California                     512               South Carolina             970

Colorado                       222               South Dakota                  73

Connecticut                  249               Tennessee                   1,709  

Delaware                         90               Texas                          2,013

District of Columbia    225               Utah                                 73

Florida                          290               Vermont                        107

Georgia                      1,685               Virginia                         914

Idaho                              37               Washington                  171

Illinois                           926               West Virginia                671

Indiana                       1,496               Wisconsin                     865

Iowa                               549               Wyoming                        16  

Kansas                          688

Kentucky                   1,669

Louisiana                   1,077

Maine                            200

Maryland                      510

Massachusetts             625

Michigan                       289

Minnesota                    386

Mississippi                 1,370

Missouri                     1,790

Montana                         42

Nevada                            12

New Hampshire             69  

New Jersey                   398  

New Mexico                  102  

New York                   1,776  

North Carolina          1,250  

North Dakota                  65  

Ohio                           1,795  

Oklahoma                     201  

Breakout of Census Year 1899-1900 Typhoid Fever Deaths by State and Sample Localities

 

AL       1,713   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 120.

                 31   Mobile, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

AZ            41   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 120.

AR      1,172   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 120.     

CA         512   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 121.

51   Los Angeles, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.        

                 22   Oakland, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

               135   San Fran., census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

CO         222   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 121.     

                 57   Denver, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

31   Pueblo, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

CT          249   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 126.  

                 11   Bridgeport, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

11   Bristol, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

                 45  Hartford, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

     33   New Haven, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.

21   Waterbury, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

DE            90   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 127.  

                 50   Wilmington, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

DC         225   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 132.

FL          290  Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 132.

                 19   Jacksonville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

GA      1,685   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 132.

            1,766   Wilson. Drugs and Pharmacy in the Life of Georgia, 1733-1959. 1959, p. 242.^[2]

98   Atlanta, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

107   Savannah, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

ID             37   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 133.

IL           926   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 133.

10   Aurora, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

14   Belleville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

   470  Chicago, census year. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

               337   Chicago, 1900 calendar year. Jordan. “Typhoid Fever…in Chicago.” p. 3.

17   Danville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

10   Jacksonville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 80.

IN        1,496   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 138.

45   Evansville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

                 77   Indianapolis, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.

IA           549   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 139.

                 23   Davenport, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

15   Keokuk, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

18   Marshalltown, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 80

13   Muscatine, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.80.

18   Ottumwa, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

13   Sioux City, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

KS          688   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 144.

11   Hutchinson, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 80.

                 17   Wichita, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

KY      1,669   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 144.

               150   Louisville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

31   Paducah, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

LA       1,077   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 145.

               191   New Orleans, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.

30   Shreveport, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p80.

ME         200   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 145.

18   Bangor, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

13   Biddeford, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

                 21   Portland, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

MD        510   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 150.

               177   Baltimore, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

   189  Baltimore, 1900 calendar yr. Rohrer. “MD’s An. Typhoid Problem.” MMJ, 59.[3]

MA        625   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 150.

153   Boston, census year. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

               143   Boston, 1900 calendar year. Jordan. “Typhoid Fever…in Chicago.” p. 5.^[4]

19   Cambridge, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p79.

     23   Fall River, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

13   Holyoke, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

     18   Lowell, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

13   Lynn, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

16   New Bedford, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79

17   Somerville, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p79.

18   Springfield, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p79.

21   Worcester, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

MI          289   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 163.

                 54   Detroit, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

34   Grand Rapids, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

15   Menominee, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 80.

MN        386   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 168.

23   Duluth, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

83   Minneapolis, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.

36   St. Paul, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

MS      1,370   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 169.

                 27   Natchez, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

MO     1,790   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 169.

               125  Kansas City, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.

37   St. Joseph, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

               199   St. Louis, census year. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p78.

MT           42   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 174.

NE          260   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 174.

41   Omaha, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

                 24   Omaha, 1900 calendar yr. Lumsden. “Report…Typhoid Fever at Omaha…” p.16.

NV           12   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 175.

NH          69   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 175.

NJ          398   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 180.

356   State, calendar year. NJ Board of Health. 31^st Annual Report of… 1908, p. 10.[5]

22   Camden, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

19   Hoboken, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

46  Jersey City, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p78.

31   Patterson, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

25   Trenton, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

NM        102   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 181.

NY      1,776   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 186.

1,948   State, calendar year. NY Dept. of Health. Annual Report of…1917, p. 540.^[6]

41   Albany, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

88   Buffalo, census year. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

53   Cohoes, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

594   NYC, census year. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

               372   NYC, 1900 calendar year. Jordan. “Typhoid Fever…in Chicago.” p. 3.^[7]

718   NYC, 1900 calendar year. NY Dept. of Health. Annual Report of…1917, p. 544.^[8]

     38  Rochester, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

     25   Syracuse, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

     53   Troy, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

NC      1,250   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 193.

                 10   Wilmington, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 80.

ND           65   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 198.

OH      1,795   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 198.

               106   Cincinnati, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

               184   Cleveland, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

     68   Columbus, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

45   Dayton, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

12   Ironton, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

                 53   Toledo, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

51   Youngstown, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

OK         201   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 204.

OR         106   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 204.

                 22   Portland, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

PA       2,779   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 204.

134   Allegheny, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

18   Erie, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

20   Harrisburg, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

35   Johnstown, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

15   McKeesport, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

42   New Castle, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

489   Philadelphia, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 78.
449   Philadelphia, 1900 calendar yr. City of Philadelphia. An. Rpt. (V. III), 1907, p103.^[9]

474   Pittsburgh, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

35   Reading, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

41   Scranton, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.78.

14   Wilkes Barre, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79

RI           102   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 211.  

                 12   Newport, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

                 52   Providence, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p78.

SC          970   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 211.  

                 70   Charleston, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.79.

SD            73   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 216.

TN       1,709   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 216.

TX      2,013   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 217.

                 44   San Antonio, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

UT            73   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 217.

                 16   Salt Lake City, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, 79.

VT          107   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 217.

VA         914   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 222.

11   Alexandria, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p80.

17   Lynchburg, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p80.

                 27   Norfolk, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

18   Petersburg, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p.80.

66   Richmond, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78

WA        171   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 222.

                 31   Seattle, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 78.

19   Spokane, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

WV        671   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 223.

                 26   Wheeling, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 79.

WI         865   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 223.

19   Marinette, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p. 80.

                 52   Milwaukee, census yr. Census data cited by Fulton. “Typhoid Fever,” JAMA, p78.

WY          16   Census. Census Reports Vol. IV…Vital Statistics of Deaths. Table 7, 1902, p. 226.

 

Narrative Information

 

Census on data from 10 “registration” states (CT, IN, MD, MA, MI, NJ, NJ, NY, RI, VT), DC, and 37 “registration” cities with 100,000 population or more for five years, 1900-1904: “…the death rates from typhoid fever in the United States were higher than in any of the European countries except Italy, and were very much higher than in most of those for which the figures are given. It indicates that there is room for a great improvement in the application of well-known measures for the prevention of this disease.” For example in 1900 England and Wales had a death rate of 17.3 per 100,000 population, Scotland showed 17.3, Ireland 17.0 and German 11.0. The U.S. death rate within registration areas was 35.9. (U.S. Bureau of the Census. Special Reports. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. xxi.)

 

“The greatest mortality from this disease occurred in the cities in the nonregistration states, in which the average annual rate was 46.8 per 100,000. Excluding the District of Columbia, which is urban, the highest average rates in the registration states occurred in Indiana and Maine, and the lowest in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

 

“Comparing the rural and urban districts of the registration states it will be seen that the mortality from typhoid fever was greater in the rural districts than in the cities in each year except 1904, in which it was very slightly greater in the cities….

 

“By far the greatest mortality from this disease in the large cities occurred in Pittsburg, Pa., the rate being more than 120 in each year, and ranging from 144.3 in 1900 to 123.8 in 1901, with an average annual rate of 137. The next highest rates occurred in the adjoining city of Allegheny [annexed by Pittsburg in 1907], being over 100 for each of the three years 1902- to 1904, and averaging 103.4 for the five-year period.

 

“Other of the principal cities in which the average annual death rate from typhoid fever was excessively high are Cincinnati, Ohio (55.8); Cleveland, Ohio (58.7); Columbus, Ohio (65.8); Louisville, Ky. (58.5); and Washington, D.C. (62.8). The average annual mortality from this disease was much below the average in Fall River, Mass. (19.8); Jersey City, N.J. (18.6); Milwaukee, Wis. (17.1); New York, N.Y. (19.2); Omaha, Nebr. (19.1); Rochester, N.Y. (14.9); St. Joseph, Mo. (13.9); St. Paul Minn. (14.8); Syracuse, N.Y. (18.7); and Worcester, Mass. (16). …

 

“…the minor cities in which the death rate from typhoid fever exceeded 100 in one or more years:” [for 1900 shows Berlin NH at 123.8; Bristol town, CT at 134.8; Charleston, SC at 132.6; Cohoes, NY at 117.1; Columbia IN at 123.0; Duluth MN at 109.5; Escanaba MI at 125.7; Findlay OH at 113.6; Fresno CA at 240.6; Johnstown PA at 130.8; Leadville CO at 104.4; Lynchburg VA at 121.8, Massillon OH at 100.5, Muscatine IA at 120.8, Newcastle PA at 138.6; Niagara Falls, NY 107.9; Paducah, KY 138.8; Richmond VA 104.6, Superior WI 115.8; Troy NY 131.9, Wilmington, NC 100.1.]

 

(U.S. Bureau of the Census. Special Reports. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. 1906, p. xxii.)

 

Sources

 

City of Philadelphia. First Annual Message of John E. Reyburn, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia with the Annual Reports of the Departments of Public Health and Charities, Supplies, Public Education, Law, City Controller, City Treasurer, Commissioners of the Sinking Funds, Receiver of Taxes, and Board of Revision of Taxes for the Year Ending December 31, 1907 (Vol. III). Philadelphia: Dunlap Printing Co., 1908. Google digitized. Assessed 12-5-2012: http://books.google.com/books?id=0ihNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Fulton, John S., M.D. “Typhoid Fever.” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. XLII, No. 2, pp. 73-80, 1-9-1904, Chicago. Accessed 1-4-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=i7VJAAAAYAAJ&q=typhoid#v=snippet&q=typhoid&f=true

 

Jordan, Edwin Oakes. “Typhoid Fever and Water Supply in Chicago.” The Journal of the American Medical Association, 12-20-1902. Accessed 12-24-2019 at: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10723.html

 

Lumsden, L. L. “Report on an Outbreak of Typhoid Fever at Omaha, Nebr. – (1909-1910).” Hygienic Laboratory Bulletin No. 72, November 1910. U.S. Treasury Department, Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service of the United States. Washington: GPO, 1910. Accessed 12-24-2019 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ECdDAAAAYAAJ&ppis=_c&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

New Jersey Board of Health. Thirty-First Annual Report of the Board of Health of the State of New Jersey, 1907, and Annual Report of the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Trenton: John L. Murphy Publishing Co., 1908. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=XDAcX3uIVssC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

New York State Department of Health. Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the State Department of Health of New York For the Year Ending December 31, 1917 (Vol. 1). Albany: J. B. Lyon Co., 1918. Google preview accessed 6-3-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=XE49AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Rohrer, C. C. G., M.D. “MD’s Annual Typhoid Problem.” Maryland Medical Journal, Vol. LV, No. 3, March 1912. Accessed 12-24-2019 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=VY9FAAAAYAAJ&ppis=_c&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

United States Bureau of the Census. Special Reports. Mortality Statistics 1900 to 1904. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906, 990 pages. Accessed 1-11-2017 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsushistorical/mortstatsh_1900-1904.pdf

 

United States Census Office, Department of the Interior. Census Reports Volume IV, Twelfth Census of the United States, Taken in the Year 1900. Vital Statistics Part II, Statistics of Deaths. Washington: U.S. Census Office, 1902. At: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html

 

Wilson, Robert Cumming. Drugs and Pharmacy in the Life of Georgia, 1733-1959. 1959. Paperback edition published by University of Georgia Press (Athens), 2010. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=bNqilBFdfJ4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

[1] State death statistics are from Table 7. “Deaths in the United States, each State, State group and Registration city, during the Census year ending May 31, 1900, from each reported cause.” The Census year began on June 1, 1899, and ended May 31, 1900, thus the Census year and data are not reflective of the calendar year 1899 nor 1900.

[2] Writes this is of reported cases and that “unreported or undiagnosed cases probably a multiple of this number.”

[3] Cites: Dr. James Bosley, Health Commissioner of the city of Baltimore.

[4] Cites City of Boston Department of Health annual reports.

[5] “Table 6. – Showing Number of Deaths in New Jersey from Certain Classified Diseases for Twenty-Eight Years, 1879-1906.”

[6] From: Table 19 — Movement of mortality from certain important causes of death in New York State, showing the annual number of deaths and death rates per 100,000 population: 1885-1917.

[7] Cites New York City Department of Health annual reports.

[8] From Table 21 — Comparative movement of mortality from the chief communicable diseases in New York city and rest of State, showing the annual number of deaths and death rates p4er 100,000 population: 1898-1917. [We speculate the larger number includes all boroughs, especially Brooklyn, whereas we speculate the lower does not.

[9] Table entitled “Typhoid Fever Deaths from 1862 to 1907, inclusive, by Wards.

–29  Adams and Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania.  1992, p. 127.

–29  Evening Democrat (Warren, PA). “Responsibility For the Exeter Wreck,” 5-27-1899.

–29  Evening Herald (Syracuse, NY). “Brakeman Testifies,” 5-22-1899, p. 6, col. 4.

–29  Lebanon Daily Times (PA). “The Exeter Horror,” 5-16-1899, 2, Col. 4.

–29  New Oxford Item (PA). “Rear End Collision…Twenty-nine Killed…,” 5-19-1899, p.1.

–29  Snyder. “First History: Exeter Horror train crash killed 29…” Pottstown Mercury, 7-1-2012

–29  Titusville Morning Herald (PA). “The Reading Horror,” 5-15-1899, p. 1., col. 3.

–29  Tyrone Daily Herald (PA). “The Exeter Inquest,” 5-28-1899, p. 1, col. 7.

–29  Wellsboro Agitator (PA). “General News of the Week…,” 5-17-1899, p. 2.

 

Narrative Information

May 13: “Publishers’ Press Dispatch.  Reading, Pa., May 13. Daylight has revealed the horror of last night’s collision, that was caused by a fast running excursion train on the Reading Railroad crashing into the “Cannon Ball” express. A big pile of wreckage splintered timbers, twisted iron rods and broken car wheels and axles tells of the terrific impact of the trains.

“The whole is a grim, horrible witness to the great loss of life that occurred last night. From the ruins have been taken twenty-three bodies some of them dead, and some of them so badly injured that they have since died and beneath the mass are still more mangled forms. Men are working heroically to remove them, for it hoped almost without a thought that the hope can come true that life may be left in some of them.

“The list of dead will reach at least 25. Twenty dead bodies were brought here early this morning, and more are believed to be in the wreckage….

“Cause of the Wreck.

“Who is to blame for the horrible wreck has not yet been ascertained.  It is said that when Exeter was reached the engineer of the express saw the board was turned against him.  He backed to the station slowly to receive an order to cross over and pass around a coal train ahead, and before another start could be made the special crashed into the rear car, smashing it to splinters and driving the Pullman into the coach ahead. The Pullman was nearly cut in half.

“It is, thought that every passenger in the rear coach was instantly killed….

“In speaking of the accident [Engineer] Orvell said:

“My signals were all right. We were clipping along at about 35 or 40 miles an hour, and had just rounded the curve at Exeter when I saw just ahead of me the express.  I reversed and we had lost some speed when we struck the rear car and ploughed through it, striking the Pullman and sending that half way through the car ahead. It was all a blur for a minute and then I found myself on the ground covered with timbers and iron. There was no weight bearing down on me and I managed to make my way out.”

“Official Statement.

“Publishers’ Press Dispatch.

“Philadelphia, Pa., May 13. At noon today General Superintendent Sweigard of the Philadelphia and Reading gave out the following statement:

“Engine 574, running as second section of train No. 12, carrying excursionists returning from Harrisburg, collided with rear end of first section at Exeter station, six miles south of Reading, at about 8:45 last evening.  The last car of the first section was the through coach from Harrisburg to Philadelphia, and ahead of it was a Pullman parlor coach. The front end of this Pullman car was also crushed in by the car ahead. The first car of the second section was damaged to some extent, as was the car next to it.  The engine of second section was badly damaged.

‘The prime cause of the accident was the pulling out of a draw bar on a coal train which was taking side track at Birdsboro, to allow train No. 12 to pass. On account of this draw bar being pulled out considerable time was consumed in coupling up the coal train and it did not clear.  The block was against train No. 12 at Exeter, three miles north of Birdsboro. Train No. 12, with engine and eight cars, left Reading three minutes late and ran by the block at Exeter the entire length of the train, but immediately backed the length of the train while the conductor was receiving his orders at the telegraph office. The block ahead then being clear the train started, and just as it was leaving the second section collided with the rear of the train’.”….

“Reports of the dead and injured are still inadequate, but a fair estimate of the Norristown dead alone places it as eleven, two of whom have died since they arrived at the hospital.  In the charity hospital there are at least 15 injured persons, while at the insane asylum many more have been taken, making the total fully 30.  Without doubt many are so badly injured that they will die…. At 3 p.m. it was said the list of injured would reach fifty.” (Trenton Evening Times, NJ. “27 People Killed in a Collision,” 5-13-1899, p. 1.)

May 14: “Reading, May 14. – The total number of deaths as a result of Friday night’s [May 12] rear-end collision on the Philadelphia & Reading railroad at Exeter, six miles below her, reached twenty-nine today.

“William D. Jenkins of Norristown is dying today at the hospital at that place.  Of the large number of injured persons still in the hospitals here, three are in a serious condition, and small hopes are entertained for their recovery….All of the dead here have been identified and all the bodies have been claimed by relatives or friends and have been sent to their various homes.

“Almost 100,000 persons visited the scene of the wreck today.  Almost everybody was bent on carrying away some kind of a relic….”  (Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “The Reading Horror,” 5-15-1899, p. 1., col. 3.)

May 16: “Reading, Pa., May 16. – Coroner Rothermel last night announced his intention of beginning the inquiry into the cause of the wreck of the Philadelphia and Reading railway at Exeter on Monday next.  He spent the greater portion of yesterday in Philadelphia subpoenaing witnesses and making general inquiries concerning the wreck.  It is said that the district attorney may assist in the investigation….

“IT is the generally expressed opinion, although not from any official source, that the cause of the accident was a misunderstanding or mistake as to signals.  Train Dispatcher Rourke, it is said, ordered the tower man below Reading to turn the red light against the second section, and when the train came in sight to give him the green, or cautionary signal.  This was obeyed, but Orrell, running slow, saw a white signal about a mile north of Exeter and put on high speed, which was the fearful result of 29 killed and 50 injured.

“All but seven of the injured have been discharged from the hospitals in this city.  Although several of those still in the hospitals are in a serious condition, it is believed by the physicians that they will recover….” (Lebanon Daily Times, PA. “The Exeter Horror,” 5-16-1899, 2.)

May 18: “The Philadelphia ‘North America’ in an article on the railroad accident at Exeter makes the startling statement that ‘the Reading railroad officials have for some time past been more concerned with corrupt politics and outride business enterprises than with honest and efficient railroading.’  It declares also that “the political machine, misnamed a railroad, has bean an incubus on the business of this end of the state for some years past. The blood and groans of the Exeter dead cry loudly for the law’s vengeance.’

“In the same article some of the leading officials of this railroad company are charged with being engaged in personal schemes and active in politics.  It used to be said that the elder Garrett made the Baltimore & Ohio railroad the great success which it was in his time by attending strictly to the business of his road and not permitting anything else to distract or divide his attention. To be head or one of the mangers of a large railroad is a responsible position, one that requires a steady brain, clear mind and undivided attention, as too many lives are constantly at stake to permit any blunders to be made or employees to be indifferent in the discharge of their duties.

“The coroner’s investigation into the Exeter disaster no doubt will be thorough and it will be discovered then most likely upon whom the blame for it rests – whether upon one or more of the employees or the management.” (Lebanon Daily News, PA. “The Exeter Disaster,” 5-18-1899, p. 2, col. 1.)

May 22: “Reading, Pa., May 22. – Coroner W. H. Rothermel to-day began his inquiry into the Philadelphia & Reading railroad horror at Exeter, in which twenty-nine people were killed and nearly sixty injured. There was a large attendance and unusual interest was manifested by all.  District Attorney A. H. Rothermel, brother of the Coroner, examined the witnesses.

“The rear brakeman of the first train, Charles Miller, said he did not have time to run back very far before the collision.

“Major Henry Pennington said he stopped two men in uniform, probably soldiers, from robbing victims after they had taken valuables from dead bodies.” (Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Brakeman Testifies,” 5-22-1899, p. 6, col. 4.)

May 23: “Reading, Pa., May 23. – Coroner W. M. Rothermel’s inquiry into the Philadelphia and Reading railway horror at Exeter, in which 29 people were killed and nearly 60 Injured, opened here yesterday…

“…testimony established the fact that the first train ran past Exeter station, and that it was while it was barking near the front of the depot that the accident occurred.  The rear brakeman of the first train, Charles Miller, said he did not have time to run back very far before the collision.

“Another fact fully established by the…witnesses was that the dead and injured were robbed with the greatest freedom.

“Edward Sentman, conductor of a freight train lying at Exeter on the night of the wreck, gave important testimony.  He saw the collision and saw the brakeman running up the track waving a red and white light.  The air brakes of the second section were put on too Into.  Other witnesses said the trains were running but three minutes apart….” (Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “The Exeter Inquest,” 5-28-1899, p. 1, col. 7.)

May 24: “Reading, Pa., May 24. – The second day’s session of the coroner’s inquest into the horror at Exeter Station was attended by an audience even much larger than on the first day.  Additional witnesses have been subpoenaed, and the testimony will not all be in for some time.

“Calvin H. Lesher, the operator at Exeter, was the first witness. He declared he displayed the red signal to stop the express on orders from the train dispatcher’s office at Reading. The train arrived at 8:49 o’clock. He said;

“When the train stopped, I told Reading No. 12, the express, is here.’  ‘Wait a minute,’ Reading said, and next I was told, ‘Let No. 12 go,’ and I gave the fireman the clearance card. The fireman took the card, but the collision occurred before the train got away.”

“The second train came along at 8:51.  Lesher said he never saw a stop of this kind before where no man was sent back. Later he contradicted himself.  W. H. Wentzel, the agent and day operator at Exeter, said that trains are supposed to run five minutes apart.

“A. B. Magee of Norristown, conductor of the second section, who is an extra conductor, said his train left Reading at 8:42, the first section having departed six minutes earlier, at 8:36, and it was 8:53 by his watch when the second section reached Exeter.

“Harry Orrell, engineer of the second section, said his train was going about 45 miles an hour when he rounded the curve at Exeter. He saw two men on the north bound freight track with white lights, and he took them for signals.  He was told after the wreck that a freight flagman had been told to swing his red light, but by mistake took his white lantern.”  (Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Exeter Horror Inquest,” 5-24-1899, p. 1., col. 6.)

May 25: “Reading, Pa., May 25. – The taking of testimony in the inquest over the victims of the railroad wreck at Exeter was concluded at noon yesterday. The jury came in at midnight with a verdict. They found that the accident was due to negligence of certain employes of the company. They censure George C. Bowers, train master of Philadelphia, with equipping the special train with a crew unfamiliar with the main line; Engineer Orrell and Conductor Magee, for reckless running, Engineer Wildermuth for having passed the signal at Exeter and then backing up 236 feet, and Train Dispatcher J. Rourke is declared negligent in not notifying the special crew of the delay of the express. They recommend that the independent tower system below Reading be abolished and that the ten minute rule between passenger trains be enforced….”  (Lebanon Daily News, PA.  “Employees Are Blamed,” 5-25-1899, p. 1, col. 1)

May 26: “Reading, Pa., May 26. – By direction of the district attorney County Detective Kershner has sworn out warrants for four Philadelphia and Reading railroad men who were censured by the coroner’s jury for causing the disastrous wreck at Exeter. The accursed are:  William F. Wildermuth engineer of the first section, his conductor, A. E. Magee; James J. Rourke, dispatcher, and Engineer Harry Orrell of the second section. Bail in $1,000 will be demanded. Members of the jury expressed the desire that no manslaughter proceedings be brought against the men. The other legal remedy is charging them with a misdemeanor. The act of March 22, 1865, says the penalty shall not exceed $5,000 fine and imprisonment not exceeding five years, Trainmaster Bowers, who was also censured, will be prosecuted in Philadelphia.”  (Kane Daily Republican, PA. “The Exeter Horror,” 5-26-1899, p. 1, col. 4.)

May 27: “Norristown, May 27. – The coroners jury which has been inquiring into the wreck on the Reading Railroad at Exeter, in which twenty-nine persons were killed returned their verdict today finding the Reading Railroad Co., primarily responsible because of an inadequate system of signaling. They also found that the employees made a mistake in running the sections of the wrecked trains.”  (Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Responsibility For the Exeter Wreck,” 5-27-1899, p. 1, col. 2.)

 May 30: The Coroner’s Jury stated: “We most emphatically condemn the independent tower system below Reading operating as they did at the time of the collision, and would recommend the cutting down of a section of trees, which obstruct the view of the signal man of Tower 22.”  (Gettysburg Compiler, PA. “The Exeter Disaster,” 5-30-1899, p. 2.)

Adams and Seibold: After the Coroner’s inquest, “Berks County District Attorney Wilson H. Rothermel took charge of the investigation…joining with the Berks County coroner, and Montgomery County coroner G. R. McGlathery in an even more intensive probe.

“James Toal, an Exeter resident who said he witnessed the approach of the second section and the crash itself, told the jury he never saw the hind man of the first section run back, and never saw any danger signals displayed.

“Jonas Schwartz, telegraph operator at Exeter, confirmed that after the coal train broke down at Birdsboro, he informed the dispatchers in Reading of the breakdown. William Fox, conductor of the coal train, confirmed that following orders from Reading, he shifted 50 of his 73 cars from the southbound to northbound track. He was well aware that the move blocked both tracks, but felt the matter would be resolved in the towers and telegraphs between there and Reading.

“Throughout the hearings, dispatcher Rourke and Engineer Orrell leveled charges and counter-charges at one another. Rourke maintained that the necessary signals of danger were sent, but Orrell claimed he had seen no such warnings at any of the four towers between Reading and Exeter.

“But, Thomas Geiger, who was stationed at one of the towers, asserted that he positively did display the red board. Furthermore, Calvin Lesher, operator at the Exeter Station, said he, too, put up the red signal, and produced the order handed down to him from Reading that night.

“Interestingly, as the stories of the signal tower operators unfolded, it was discovered that one could not read, write or speak English, and another hadn’t had his eyes examined for 11 years.

“The tangled testimony continued, and the jury sorted through all details, eventually citing the individuals for their roles in the incident, burt deciding to charge them with misdemeanors rather than criminal manslaughter. Still, the misdemeanor charge under the ‘Safety of Travelers on Railroads’ act, carried a maximum punishment of five years in the state penitentiary and a five thousand dollar fine.

“The jury also suggested that the railroad tighten its procedures. There had been in effect a rule which kept trains dispatched at no less than five-minute intervals. The investigators suggested that because of increased traffic, and particularly at night, the span between dispatched trains be expanded to at least ten minutes.

“Further, the jury emphatically recommended that the entire signal system south of Reading be examined and revised. Orrell, who had appeared at the inquest wearing a bandage around his head, said the signaling system was antiquated, and while he as much as admitted to ‘reckless running,’ he said a telephone connection between the towers, and an automatic block system would probably have prevented the crash….” (pp. 135-137.)

Pottstown Mercury/Michael Snyder, 2012: “….it appears that none of the men went to jail or paid a financial penalty. The Reading Railroad conducted its own investigation and in the published report placed the responsibility for accident on the two engineers.” (Pottstown Mercury/M.T. Snyder. “First History: Exeter Horror train crash killed 29, injured 44.” 7-1-2012.)

Adams and Seibold: “The phrase ‘Exeter Wreck,’ became so vexing to the residents of the little village and to railroad officials that the name of the station, and thus the village, was changed to Lorane…after the crash.” (pp. 134-135)

 

Sources

Adams, Charles J. III and David J. Seibold. Great Train Wrecks of Eastern Pennsylvania.  Reading, PA: Exeter House Books, 1992.

Evening Democrat, Warren, PA. “Responsibility For the Exeter Wreck,” 5-27-1899, p. 1, col. 2.  Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=20341341

Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY. “Brakeman Testifies,” 5-22-1899, p. 6, col. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=37680842

Gettysburg Compiler, PA. “The Exeter Disaster,” 5-30-1899, p. 2. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3104230

Kane Daily Republican, PA. “The Exeter Horror,” 5-26-1899, p. 1, col. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=105857196

Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Employees Are Blamed For the Terrible Railroad Accident at Exeter Station,” 5-25-1899, 1, col. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=126729245

Lebanon Daily Times, PA. “The Exeter Horror,” 5-16-1899, p. 2, col. 4. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=126729213

Logansport Journal, IN. “Twenty-Eight Killed; Frightful Wreck…,” 5-14-1899, p. 2, col. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83189327

New Oxford Item, PA. “Rear End Collision; Results in Twenty-nine Killed…,” 5-19-1899, p. 1, col. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2896441

Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC

Snyder, Michael T. (Journal Register News Service). “First History: Exeter Horror train crash killed 29, injured 44.” Pottstown Mercury, 7-1-2012. Accessed 9-9-2017 at:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/MP/20120701/LIFE01/120709980

Titusville Morning Herald, PA. “The Reading Horror,” 5-15-1899, p. 1., col. 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=104687527

Trenton Evening Times, NJ. “27 People Killed in a Collision,” 5-13-1899, p. 1, col. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2327448

 

Tyrone Daily Herald, PA. “The Exeter Inquest,” 5-28-1899, p. 1, col. 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=139259908

Wellsboro Agitator, PA. “General News of the Week…,” 5-17-1899, p. 2. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=11082018