About three o'clock in the morning
This condition lasted for some time , and then came what everybody , even the most skeptical , had been secretly dreading . The ocean began to rise ! The first perception of this startling fact , according to a newspaper account , came in a very strange , roundabout way to a man living on the outskirts of the vast area of made ground where the great city had spread over what was formerly the Newark meadows and Newark Bay . About three o'clock in the morning , this man , who it appears was a policeman off duty , was awakened by scurrying sounds in the house . He struck a light , and seeing dark forms issuing from the cellar , went down to investigate . The ominous gleam of water , reflecting the light of his lamp , told him that the cellar was inundated almost to the top of the walls . `` Come down here , Annie ! ''