Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1884 — HAVOC BY THE WINDS. [ARTICLE]

HAVOC BY THE WINDS.

A Series of Cyclones in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and the Carolinxs. Great Loss of Life and Incalculable Damage to Property—lncidents of the Storm. ..In Kentucky. large section of the rich films Grass region of Kentucky was recently visited by a great calamity in the shape pf a cyclotjc, which destroyed some half a dozen villages, killed about twenty people, and inflicted incalculable damage to lurm property. During the afternoon the oppress! e atmosphere and gathering clouds go-, e evidence of au approach ng storm, and a light rain began to fall. This gave way Jjct hail, wh ch ppurod down like shot, aceompaniud..by h'gh winds. Fhr tnttrw tncrcr.°e f in fnry nnt W it formed a Cyclone, whith struck Colemansvil e full on • the southwestern side, and in a few momente. had almost obliterated the town from existence. The inhabitants rushed frantically irom tbi ir houses, which tottered and fell, l arge tre torn i tom their roots were . violently throw n against dwellings, carrying them along.. Entire buildings were carried away, leaving not a vestige behind except thd foundation. Other hol dings were carried a distance of from one hundred yards to n half mile distant. Shattering debris of legs, stones and trees as so much dust. Every one either ran into the street or fought reluge in cellars, and many were injured by falling timbers, which dropped around in all directions. In the midst of the storm a Mrs. A. H. Lail rushed out of tho house with her infant, three weeks old. The storm tore the child from her arms, while she was blown across ti!<> street against a neighbor's house. Fhe was picked up insensible and badly injured, and the baby was found dead 210 yards distant. Seven or eight people were killed atcolemansvllle., and many were badly wounded. No one in -the - village escaped injury. Reaching Monnt Nebo, it destroyed every house and occasioned a great loss of life and property. Stock of all kinds was seen flying through the air. Still onward bound, the storm with greater force next struck Conroy, tearing down every building. This place suffered greatly. Going thence to Antioch, it is now impossible to ascertain whether a towneverstood there ornot. But little idea of the havo; occuaioned by the tornado can be conveyed in a word picture. Some few incidents may, however, serve to convey to the reader an Impression of the power of the storm. Trees we.e torn from the spots where they had grown tz> large proportions from little shrubs, carried a distance of live niiles,nnd then again d.opped to the earth, denuded of their bark and stripped of their limbs. Two boys, who were fishing in the Licking River, took refuge at the mouth of a railway tunnel, and were blown through it to its other opening, a distance of 800 yards. A negro discovered his crunk in - a tree top several hundred yards distant. Babes were blown from their mothers' arms and killed. Those who went to their work in tho morning have not yet returned to I heir families. Two children supposed to have beon lost were next morning found in a cellar and rescued. Bodies of dead perions were found strewn along the roads, immense numhera of cattle and other stock were also slaughtered. At one place a man flying through the air was seen, but he can not now be found. A church was lifted from sight and lias not yet _beenYieaEd-0t..-nie_prganjsras-£oiind jteont five miles distant. Rocks weighing- three tons were tdrrie quite a distance, and the ground was much torn up. Vast quantities o 1 vvater wcreffird'ivn irom SBeYlyer. " A man. sought refuge behind a freightcar; flying debris was seen to ene mpass h tn, and he I can not now be foun I. Tho chimneys and foundations of buildings were carried awav. I lead chickens and she :p were picked up in the adjoining cornty, which were recognized as having been blown from points several miles distant. When the cyclone first appeared it looked like an im-men-e circus tent filled with and being carried along by the wind. After the tornado had finished its work a heavy hail-storm prevailed. Houses, cattle, and all kinds of stock were carried through the air as t iough they were but chaff, and being thrown to the ground dead, or with limbs broken so thiit it was necessary to shoot them in order to relieve their Bufferings. Fragments of destroyed buildings, cooking utensils, etc., were found twelve or fifteen miles from where they wtre blown. At Putnam, Ky., a number of hoius were demolished, several people killed, and a number wounded. John Hartman, a brakeTnan on a freight train, was blown from a freight-car and carried about forty feet, alighting on bis head in a creek, breaking his neck, and causing instantaneous death. In Indiana. Tho village of Fcipio, Ind., near the Ohio liije, was wiped out by a tornado, Only two houses were left Intact. Rev. Joseph W inston was killed. In the region about Shelby- , ville, dwellings were swept away, and out- : houses, fences, hay and straw-etack i scattered all over the farms. Fon-sts were up- ! rooted and destroyed. Near Connersville a 1 cyclone forty rods wide swept everything clean for a distance of two mllles. i In crossing Whitewater River,- the war I ter was lifted in an immense sheet, and the stream left momentar ly dry. A cyclone fifty feet wide swept through Richmond with alarming velocily, tearing all sorts of rubbish wLh it. A Baptist church was wrecked, and several buildings unTowed: “* W Oreenfieia ty? wtMtry twoirrflesiffongwaKdevasistcd, t>arna.-:feffleoß; and hay-etacks being mixed into' an inextricable mass and swept away like chaff. . In Ohio. A clyclone swept through a section of Ohio contiguous to Dayton, at about the. same time the Kentucky storm was performing its work of destruction. The towns of Ridgeville, Shakertown, Centervil o, Spring Valley, aad | South Charleston suffered greatly. Two men '■ were killed at Ridgeville, and another, who i had taken refuge on a covered bridge, was I blown into the stream and drowned. At' I Ripley many houses were unroofed, and farm dwellings, barns and fences were demolished. In North Carolina. A large section of North Carolina was swept by a fierce cyclone, and many people ! killed. At Newton thirty houses were blown down, one woman killed anff fourteen persons wounded. In Lenoir a whole family were killed. At Mecklenburg six residences were leveled an-1 a number of people injured. In Iredell County everything was swept clean in the truck of the ton: ado, trees being carried a distance of two miles. In South Carolina. A fierce cyclone for the third time within a few weeks devastated a large section of South Carolina. In Chester County many dwellings and barns were blown down, and several persons killed and wounded. A 7-year-o d boy was eaught in the storm and has bees miss ng ever since. In Grtenvil e County serious damage was wrought, and two lives were lost.