Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1888 — A HEAVY STORM. [ARTICLE]

A HEAVY STORM.

Several People Killed or Injured in West Virgin'a and Kansas—Great Damage to Property. A terrific thunder-storm w ith a gale of wind, hail, and almost unprecedented rainfall prevailed at Wheeling, W. Va., ford 50 miles down the river, Monday afternoon. At Bridgeport a six-year-old son of Joseph Taylor was. caught by a swelling stream and was drowned. The tent of Clements & Russell’s circus, on Wheeling island, was almost demolished and no show was given. ' At Ravertsw r ood, Jackson aeunty, hail-stones weighing four ounces fell, many windows were broken, and fruit trees badly damaged. Near Charleston, Robert Shannon w:as struck by a tree which was blown down and his neck broken. At Stevensville, opposite Ravenswood, Mrs. Wm. Fow’ell was killed by a stroke of lightning while sitting in her house. The Ohio river train from Wheeling to Parkersburg had every pane of glass broken by hail.

One of the heaviest rain-storms known for years accompanied by wind and hail, visited Kansas, commencing on Saturday night and continuing all day Sunday. In many places hailstones of an exceeding large size drifted to a depth of three feet. Small grain sustained heavy damage, and in some places was driven into the soft ground almost out of sight. The loss in window-glass was very heavy. In Cloud and Clay counties, where the storm was the severest, the damaged district is about ten miles in width. The hail fell With great force, tearing shingles off the roofs and cutting cattle so that blood ran. At Stanton the Salmon river was more than a mile wide. Everything movable on the river bottom was carried away.- Two families were carried away by the flood Monday morning, and three little children were drowned, _ A Greenfield, Ind., dispatch says: “The tornado that passed over this county at midnight, Monday night, was the most devastating ever known in this region, and while there was destruction along its path, luckily no lives were lost. Entering the county from the west, a few miles south of Cumberland, it took a northeasterly course; with a swath varying from one-half to three-quarters of a mile wide, and swept, the full length of the county. From the time it entered the county till it crossed the eastern boundary it snantffil off nearly all the trees in its path, while fences, roofs of barns, and houses were scattered in every direction. Fortunately, its course was such that it missed all towns or the destruction of life would have been great. The roar and noise were heard a great distance and many people left their houses. Two houses and one bam on the farm of Wm. Schildmeier, near Gem, were blown down; both of the houses were occupied, but no one was seriously hurt. The barns of Chas. Reasner, Jacob Leonard, Henry Jones, Richard Smock, Jos. Boots, Robert McClarnon, and others, were unroofed, and the barn of Wm. Hutton, was literally destroyed. School house No. 2, inSugar Creek township,-and the- Ellis school’ house in Center, and the bridge on the national road over Sugar creek were unroofed and otherwise damaged. The derricks at the gas , wells near this city were blown down and broken into kindling wood. As there are no fences, cattle and hogs are roaming ,at will, and have damaged the growing crops considerably: Most of the farmers carry cyclone insurahce, and their losses will not be total. The damage to buildings, timber, fences and stock along the course of the hurricane in this county alone will be all of $50,000.