Florida's Great Hurricane/Chapter 17

JOHNSTOWN FLOOD—A dam on the little Conemaugh River nine miles above Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa., broke on May 31, 1889, during an extraordinary rainfall. The impounded water swept over the city, destroying property estimated at a value of $10,000,000, and causing a loss of life estimated at from 2,300 to 5,000.

CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE—A large part of Charleston, S.C., was destroyed by earthquake August 31, 1886, with the loss of many lives and much property damage.

JACKSONVILLE FIRE—A third of the residence district and half of the business houses, and, with few exceptions, all of the city and county buildings in Jacksonville, Fla., were destroyed by fire May 3, 1901, with a property loss estimated at $12,000,000.

IROQUOIS THEATRE FIRE—The Iroquois theater in Chicago was burned December 30, 1903, causing the loss of 582 lives, with over 300 others missing.

BALTIMORE FIRE—The business district of Baltimore was destroyed by fire in February, 1904, causing a property loss of $80,000,000. No loss of life reported.

SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE—Earthquake rended and fire swept San Francisco April 18, 1906, causing the death of 500 and rendering 200,000 homeless. Property losses were estimated at $350,000,000.

DAYTON FLOOD—Overflow of the Miami River in Ohio March 25, 1913, caused what is known as the Dayton flood, drowning a total of 255 and other loss of life made a total of 361 in the Miami Valley. The property loss was $66,000,000, a fifth of which was caused by fire.

STEAMBOAT SULTANA Sunk in Mississippi River, seven miles above Memphis, by boiler explosion, with 1,400 exchanged Union prisoners of war on board, April 27, 1865.

ROYAL MAIL STEAMERS Rhone and Wye, and about 50 other vessels were driven ashore by a hurricane and wrecked at St. Thomas, West Indies, October 29, 1867, with a loss of 1,000 lives.

​U. S. BATTLESHIP MAINE blown up in Havana harbor February 15, 1898, with the loss of 260 lives.

SEVERAL STEAMSHIPS, including the Main, the Bremen and the Saale were burned at Hoboken docks June 30, 1900, with the loss of 140 lives and $10,000,000 property damage.

STEAMSHIP GENERAL SLOCUM was burned going through Hell Gate, East River, New York, June 15, 1904, with the loss of 1,021 lives.

STEAMER NORGE wrecked off Scottish coast June 28, 1904, with the loss of 646 lives.

WHITE STAR STEAMSHIP TITANIC sunk from collision with iceberg April 14-15, 1912, North Atlantic, lives lost 1,517.

JAPANESE STEAMER Kickermaru went down off the coast of Japan carrying 1,000 to death, September 28, 1912.

EMPRESS OF IRELAND, Canadian Pacific steamship, sunk in collision with Danish collier Storstad in St. Lawrence River May 29, 1914; lives lost 1,024.

LUSITANIA, Cunard, bound from New York to England, sunk by German submarine, May 7, 1915, with 1,198 lives lost, including 124 Americans.

PROVENCE, French auxiliary cruiser, sunk in Mediterranean February 26, 1916. Nearly 4,000 on board and only 870 saved. This probably was the greatest of all marine disasters; the Titanic next.

CHINESE STEAMER HSIN YU sunk off the coast of China with the loss of 1,000 lives, August 29, 1916.

VANGUARD, British warship, blown up at her dock in a British port with the loss of 800 lives, July 9, 1917.

U. S. S. CYCLOPS, with 293 on board, left the Barbados, West Indies, March 4, 1918, and has never been heard of since. Presumably she went down with all on board.

FRENCH STEAMSHIP sunk in Bay of Biscay January 12, 1920, with the loss of 500 lives.

CHINESE STEAMER HONGKONG sunk March 18, 1921, by striking a rock near Swatow, with the loss of 1,000 lives.