272 PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



vicinity of New Orleans. Doubtless many of you have read the 

 press reports of the destruction of lives and property caused by 

 this great storm. Ample warnings were disseminated by the 

 Weather Bureau and afforded opportunity of taking every pre- 

 caution possible. The confidence displayed in the warnings by 

 certain railroad officials responsible for the safety of property 

 and the lives of passengers is shown by a letter s^nt after the 

 storm to the official in charge of the Weather Bureau station at 

 New Orleans. The letter is signed by the superintendent of the 

 Louisville & Nashville Railway Company. A portion of it reads 

 as follows : 



For your information I should say that in each case your warnings 

 were repeated by us to the headquarters of the system and men and 

 material were assembled and held in readiness until the danger had 

 passed. 



At threatened points employes were put on the alert, "track walk- 

 ers" to guard the roadway were increased in number and every precau- 

 tion taken required by the circumstances. 



As a consequence, though every sort of damage was occasioned by 

 the wind and water during the storm of September 29th to the roadway, 

 there was not a single accident to the trains, and, having been prepared 

 in advance for the emergency, the road was reopened for business a 

 month in advance of the possible time predicted by many familiar with 

 the character of the damages which the road sustained. 



Our route, as you are aware, is very much exposed as it skirts 

 so closely the sea shore, and no forest or hill range affords protection, 

 hence our great dependence upon the service of your Bureau which has 

 been so well rendered. 



I believe you are aware that we gave out your warnings to the 

 people as requested by you on the 28th. Many heeded the warnings and 

 escaped the fate of those unfortunate people who stubbornly refused 

 to believe because "the weather was so fine," and lost their lives when 

 the cataclysm came. 



Our bridgemen chained their cars to the track at Rigolets, as the 

 force of the storm increased, and advised by this office of what to ex- 

 pect upon information given by you, actually had to put people in the 

 cars by force. 



Upon receipt of your last and conclusive report of Tuesday after- 

 noon I personally notified the people on the coast train and spread the 

 intelligence on the streets of Bay St. Louis. As a result yachts, power 

 boats, and other craft sought refuge up the Jordan and the Wolf rivers 

 and escaoed. 



