Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 September 1885 — A DEADLY DESTROYER. [ARTICLE]

A DEADLY DESTROYER.

A Section of Ohio Devastated by a Cyclone, Many Persons "Perishing. Washington Court House and Blooming* burg Almost Wiped Out of /Existence. .1 [Springfield (Ohio) special.] A terrible cyclone struck Washington Court House, a city of 4,000 inhabitants, twenty-five miles from here, at 8 o’clock this evening, and almost swept it from the earth. The storm came from the northwest, and broke upop the town very suddenly, carrying everything before it. The tornado whirled up Court street, the main business thoroughfare, and ruined almost every business block in it—at least forty or fifty in all. Hardly a private .residence in the town escaped, fully four hundred buildings going down. The Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic churches ail suffered the common fate. The Ohio Southern, Panhandle, Narrow-Gauge, and Midland Railroad stations were blown to smithereens, and every building in the vicinity was carried away, "making ingress or egress almost impossible. As eveiy wire within a circle of two miles is down, it is utterly impossible to get accurate details of this catastrophe. The only reports that- can be had are through au operator who tapped a wire two miles west of the town, and is sitting in a heavy rainstorm to work his instruments. The panicstricken people were, taken completely unawares, and lied from the tumbling buildings in every direction through the murky darkness. A mad frenzy seemed to seize them, and they hurried hither and thither in their wild distinction, little knowing whither (hey were fleeing. After the whirlwindj which lasted about ten minules, a heavy rainfall set in, which still continues unabated at this writing. As soon as a few of the cooler heads recovered their senses searching parties were organized, and the sad work of looking for the dead began. So far fifteen bodies have been recovered from the debris of various ruined buildings. It is probable as many more will be found before morning. The glimmer of lanterns procured from farm houses in the vicinity and from the few houses left standing is the only light they have to work by. Two or three bodies have been stumbled upon in the middle of the street, where they were stricken down by flying bricks or timbers'. The cellars of houses and every sort of refuge were filled with shivering people, huddling together in the vain attempt to keep warm. One baby in arms has died from exposure. Advices from Blooiningburg say that town was struck by a funnel-shaped cloud and almost entirely demolished. Three or four persons were killed.