Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1883 — THE CYCLONE. [ARTICLE]

THE CYCLONE.

Us Terrible Work of. Devastation in Illinois and Wisconsin. Immense Destruction of Life and Prop* erty. . The cyclone which recently swept over ' portions of Illinois and Wicomin was one sf the most extensive and damaging visitations of the kind ever experienced in the Rortkwe-t. Its trail of desolation end death Is visible from Montgomery ccnnty, in Missouri, to Bacifie, in Wisconsin, a distance o it ever :00 miles. The storm seems to lave consisted of a series of funnel-shaped clouds, that burst out here and there, darting to the earth, pulverizing farmhouses, sweeping away trees, fences and every object that interposed, and then, sailing up into the heavens, only to pounce . down again at some other point and resume their horrible work of destruction. Thus lids frightful phalanx of funnels pursued their course, bobbing up and then down again, for a course of 1500 miles until the waters of Lake Michigan arrested them in their wild career. The loss of life inflicted by the awful visitation numbers at least seventy, while hundreds of unfortunates have been more or less severely injured, many of them, it is feared, beyond the hope •f recovery. The vagaries and recent*icitßs cf the •yclore defy enaise ati n. Preserving or e rne a couj s-i ram no thwest to southeast. wobb’ed and twisted in every crnceivable way. It was no respeeter of persons or property. Ereryth'rg m its path was hurled violently to the earth or earned away. Massive oak and stalwart hickory trees were as pipe-stems before the terrible b’ast; and as frr telegraph poles and fence-rails, the windy monster played with them as if they had been iucifer matches. Not seti fled with raining homes, it scattered their contents upon every hand In one instance a tea-poo was landed in the boughs of a tree, where it was caught and held At another place, piece t cf a lady’s necklace were found in a hedge fence, under careened stoves, and in various out-of-the wav plaoes. All of the wearing apparel •f one family was torn to shreds, so taut it could not 1 e worn. One mjp’B vest was blown several miles away, and a roll of money was blown out cf one of the pockets and tom into small bits. In one case a farm was swept clean of cornstalks, which were imbeded in a hedge on the opposite side of the fteld The cyclone took off the porch and chimney of a man’s house, nothing else being injured A piano was lifted up, carried half a mile, and damped into the cellar of a house that had been blown away. Many miraculous escapes are reported In Sangamon coHnty, 111., a farm laborer was prostrated on the ground by . tbc wind jn t as a house passed over him, sailing'in the air Lks a balloon. Had he been standing up he would have been killed In the same vicinity a whole family was buried beneath the ruins of their dwelling, and all escaped injury. A man was blown out of h:'s house and landed in his orchard, several red* away. The houre was wrecked One man’s house called away in the air, and at last accounts h<? had not heard of it, although he had searched fay and wide for his property. Peter Shaver, es Brown oounty. 111, opened his door to see (he makeup of "the storm, when tbe house was taken and shaken to atoms. He found himself in the top of a cotton-wood tree, and his wife and babies were all scattered about and insensible. Luckily they all came to, scratched and l raised, but with no bones broken. Those who describe this terrible stormking, tell of a sudden hush, of the descent •f a track cloud with & heat fiery and wbi e; of a glare of lightning and a roar of un- - chained elements. The rumble of the approaching storm was like the thunder of innumberuble wheels. The next instant it was over, leaving in ibstraok ruined homesteads aud-graen fields, blasted os if by lire. One man describes it as consisting of three clouds of smoke and fire, rushing along through the air with the smaller •nd of the funnel near the earth. As the clouds drew nearer they seemed to unite. Then there was a deafening roa , resemb'ing the passage of a hundred railr . ad trains, only shriller, then there was a crash, and in another moment it was over. Tbe demon of the air had sped on his course to repent the performance somewhere elße. Along the ma'n path of the ey clone the deeds assumed the appearance cf a revolving Bl.est es fire. The spec ac.'e was grend and yet horrible. At times it seemed that immense balls of fiie were sent ■p, and these would burst, fiLing the heavens with flame. At such times there was a 'cracking sound like the burning of an im- < aaense forest The storm seems to have had its birth weßt of the Mississippi and just north of the Missouri river. It first made itself felt in Montgomery county, Mo., where it blew down a good many houses, killed four or five people, and maimed a dozen or so more. It thence crossed the Mississippi river into Madison oounty, HI., passing four miles south of Alton Houses, trees, fences and everything in its path were razed to the ground or carried into the air. Eleven people were killed and upward of twenty wounded in Madison oounty. In Jersey county a number of dwellings were demolished, thrdte Ole killed and several severely injured. ontgomery county a great many buildings were borne down by the fierce blast, and several fatalities occurred. At Woodboro a church and a school-house were blown down At a farm-house near there, caw-logs two feet in diameter were picked up and carried away like feathers. In Macoupin county the cyclone tore several farm-houses to pieces. George Baker's‘house, near Brushy Mound, was blown to atoms, and his wife and three children killed. They were blown into a tree and found dead Two other children were badly injured. Eleven persons were in one bouse that was demolished, and, strange to say, only one was killed. Green county suffered severely. Farm houses, barns, fences and fruit trees were leveled to the ground. Three people were killed and about a dozen badly hurt A number of farm-houses were wholly or partially wrecked in Christian county, and several persons injured, though no fatalities are reported. It was in Morgan county, however, that the hurricane was more severely felt, both in regard to loss of life and damage to properfar, than at any other. point in Illinois. Two funnel shaped cyclones passed almost simultaneousiy within a row miles Of Jacksonville, one north and one south of the town, and both traveled from a southwesterly to a northeasterly direction. One of the funnels Struck the village of LI ter burg, containing about 100 inhabitants, and wreoked nearly every building, in the town. Beven people were killed and about thirty injured, sonke of them so badly that they will hardly recover. A good many farmhouses in the vicinity were wrecked and several persons wounded. The other funnel swept over a motion known as Greasv Prairie, and did nearly as much damage as the first Fourteen farm-hoores were demolished, six people "killed and a large number injured. Mi Mason county several farmkouses were blown down, two persons

killed and others injured. Hall fell in great chunks that killed live stock. The hurricane was very damaging in Brown oounty. Dwellings and barns without number went down, and many people were injured, a few of whom will probably not recover. De Witt county also suffered severely. About fifty farm-houses were wrecked in the county, five people were k : lled end about twenty injured, some of-them very severely. Macon county was likewise a sev< r > sufferer by the terrible visitant Farmhouses, barns, fences and trees were swept away like feathers. Four people were killed 'and more than a dozen crippled. In Logan county several farm dwellings 1 end outhouses were lorn to pieces, three people killed end qu te a number injured In Menard county about a dozen dwellings were wrecked and a child wai killed. In Bangamon county a great l umber of houses were blown down, three lives were lost, and several persons received injuries more cii less sevefe. In Sullivan and Champaign counties the tornado did considerable damage to property, but no i/es'were lost In Livingston county one woman was killed, four or five persons were injured, afid much damage to property wasinflicted. Thecyclone seems to have paused here in its terrible work, and is noo heard of again until McHenry and Boone counties, in the extreme northern pare of Illinois, are reached Here it bobbed down to the earth again, and resumed its fantastic tricks with increased fury. In Boone county several houkea were swept down, two men were kiUed, and considerable live stock was Jo -t In McHenry county the damage was still greater. Between thirty and forty farm-houses were blown down, five people were killed and a great many wounded, and the damage to farm property was immense, fenoes, orchards and live stock forming the principal losses. This completes tbe work of destruction by the fanuel-shaped demon in Illinois. From McHenry county it jumped over the State line, and is next heard cf at Bloomfield, Wia, where it blew down several bouses and killed one main. Thence it passed between Geneva Junction and Geneva Lake, doing little damage, however. Its next work was in the vicinity of Union Grove, where it demolished churches, school-houses, dwellings and barns, killed four persons and wounded seven or eight. In this region at least four separate tfhd entirely distinct funnels were seen within a radius of three or four miles. They seemed to unite, and thus strengthened" the storm demon shaped its oourse for the ill-fated city of Racine, where it resumed its terrible work of dea’h and devastation. The first reports of the tornado’s work at Racine exaggerated the casualties, but the damage to property was greater than the first accounts indicated. Only eight people were killed outright, but the injured number ninety-nine. Many of these are horribly maimed and some of them will never recover, while others will be cripples for life. About thirty of tbe injured were sent to the hospital for treatment The others were caied for in private houses. About 250 people were made homeless by the cyclone at Ilacine. Prompt action was taken by the iocal authorises to relieve the sufieriDgs of the homeless. From Racine the demon of destruction passed into Lake Michigan, where it became dissipated and lost its power for further harm before reaching the eastern shore.