Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1902 — DEATH RIDES THE WIND. [ARTICLE]

DEATH RIDES THE WIND.

Thirteen Are Killed by Destructive Tornado at Baltimore. Thirteen persons perished and millions of dollars' worth of property was destroyed by a hurricane which swept through Baltimore Sunday afternoon. The storm broke shortly after noon and came almost without warning. The wind swept all before it. Roofs were sent whirling like so many cards, trees were stripped and uprooted, buildings were wrecked, fences blown down, and big windows in the business houses smashed. St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church was demolished, entailing a great loss, while the roof on the Merchants and Miners’ steamboat pier was blown off, permitting the water to leak in and causing the goods there to be damaged to the extent of $400,000,

In North Baltimore, where a camp meeting was in progress, a tree blew over on the tent, causing it to fall. The worshipers were buried under the canvas, and one man was killed and many Burt. It was along the water that the greatest loss of life occurred. Being an extremely warm day, the shore resorts were liberally patronized by pleasure seekers. All of the fishing boats along Middle and Black River were taken, while Spring Gardens and adjacent Patapsco streams were alive with pleasure craft of every description. When the storm came up, almost without warning .boats were tossed a lout and cries for help could be heard coming from every direction. Tugs and steamboats put out to the rescue, but so thick was the weather and so choppy the seas that the efforts of the life savers proved futile for a time. The vessels picked up dozens of survivors from capsized Iwata. The hurricane exhausted its fury in less than fifteen minutes. It was in the residence portion of the city, along the river front, and in the harbor, where the wind spent its violence. The weather bureau reports that the storm was more in the nature of a whirlwind than a tornado. The wind blew at the rate of sixty-four miles an hour, and the rainfall was fifty-six one-hundredths of an inch.