Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1895 — LIVES DASHED OUT. [ARTICLE]

LIVES DASHED OUT.

NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY SWEPT BY A CYCLONE. More than a Dozen Little Villages Suffer by the Sweep of the DestroyerCherry Hill Annihilated—Financial Loss Is'Enormoua—Nine Are Hnrt. Nine Killed and Many Hnrt. New York and New Jersey were swept by a death-dealing cyclone Saturday afternoon. Nine persons are known to have Seen killed and scores were hurt. One of the dead, Mrs. Louisa Ketrequin, was killed in East New York. All of the other victims lived in and about the little villages of Cherry Hill, N. J., and Woodhaven, L. I. The cyclone descended upon the upper part of East New York, known as the Cypress Hills, at 4:30 o’clock, continued on its way to the lower plains district, and from there traveled to Woodhaven. The cloud was first seen going over Cypress Hills. It was funnel-shap-ed, and hung very low to the ground. At the upper end was a red spot that appeared more like an incandescent light than anything else. The cyclone swept over the cemetery, wrecking handsome and costly monuments. It tore down trees for about 200 feet and then turned into Jamaica avenue at Crescent street, and went up Jamaica avenue for about half a mile. Trees were torn down and telephone and trolley wires demolished. Right in the middle of the wreckage six cars were caught. They belonged to the Brooklyn and Southern Railroad and were struck when in front of the Stewart home. The cars were filled with passengers and there was great excitement. Half a dozen persons were slightly injured. The cyclone wrecked thirty houses gt Woodhaven and a very large schoolhouse there. There were twenty residents of Woodhaven hit by the various objects which were carried through the air. Chimneys sailed through the air as though they were no heavier than feathers.

Between 40,000 and 50,000 persons visited the scene of the ruin and devastation at Cherry Hill Sunday. Some of the unfortunates whose homes were wrecked sat about during the day wondering what was in store for them. Hackensack and the other towns have responded promptly to the call for aid made by the people of Cherry Hill. Viewed in the light of day the ruin appeared more complete. Everywhere in the path of the storm were ruins. The tangled heap of timbers by the railroad track told where the depot went to pieces. That pile of wreckage showed where a house had been thrown down and that one where a barn had been razed by the winds. The leafless trees that withstood the strain of the whirlwind gave the appearance of midwinter. On two sides, as viewed from the center of the town, there were banks of green, but where the storm swept everything was black and bare.