Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1896 — OHIO HAS A CYCLONE. [ARTICLE]

OHIO HAS A CYCLONE.

Two Men Insthntly Killed—Scores of Houses and Barns Demolished. A dyclone which proved fatal to two persons and which did damage amounting to many thousands of dollars passed across Sandusky County, Ohio, Monday afternoon. It was just 3 o'clock when a big, black, whirling cloud was seen in the southwest approaching at a fearful speed and apparently headed for the heart of Fremont. People on the streets cr.ed out to each other in fear and ran in search of a place of refuge. In five minutes the cloud had gone on its way, passing close to the city’s western outskirts and disappearing in the distance. In its wake was a path of desolation, ruin and death. William L. Greene, together with his son, James, and the latter’s family, occupied a large frame residence on a farm directly in the path of the storm. The house was crushed, W. L. Greene was killed outright and his mangled remains carried some distance from the site of the building. Mrs. James Greene was badly injured and will probably not recover. Her infant child was peacefully sleeping in a cradle when the house was struck. The cradle and its occupant were picked up like a feather and carried quite a distance in an adjoining field. When discovered the cradle was smashed, but the babe was unharmed. At the farm of Amos Hetrick John Low and Hetrick were shearing sheep in a barn. The barn was leveled to the ground. Low was blown out of the barn across a forty-acre field against a tree and instantly killed. Hetrick escaped W’ith light injuries. A young child of Charles Tucker's was badly injured by flying pieces of timber. Abraham Fought, a farmer, was struck and an arm and leg were broken. Ruins, scattered far and wide, are all that are now left of what were a few hours ago many ideal country houses and farms. At Muscalong creek, where the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad lies in the path of the storm, fearful damage was done. A large tree was blown across a freight train, striking the caboose, crushing it like an egg shell. Several trainmen were in the caboose at the time, but they miraculously escaped injury. Booktown, the small hamlet, was laid waste. Not a building is left standing. The roof of the Hatfield brick school house, three miles northwest of Fostoria, was blown off and the gable ends fell in, while school was in session, breaking the arm of the teacher, Miss Belle Norris. Several children were injured, one little boy named Hatfield being carried several hundred feet by the wind. At New Castle, Pa., there w T ere many narrow escapes from death. The front of Charles Earle’s west side store was blown in. Three school buildings were completely unroofed, while the Catholic’ Church suffered a similar fate.